Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Okay, yes, The Force Unleashed did make us experience a rather uneven story with the stupidly named “Starkiller” as the protagonist. However, the opening allowed for playing as Darth Vader, feeling every bit as powerful and domineering as the movies made him out to be. Well, the good movies, that is.

With the stakes higher than ever before, you play as a variety of Transformers, including Grimlocks nearly indestructible T-Rex form and the legendary Combaticons forming into the colossal Bruticus. Fight through both sides of the Transformers most epic battles leading to their legendary exodus from their homeworld.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Activision is supporting the new Transformers game a lot, High Moon Studios, the developers behind the game have said. Transformers: War for Cybertron has received some great previews so far and looks to be much better than its predecessor.

“Frankly, multiplayer was pretty darn good in War for Cybertron. There were two problems with multiplayer,” Director Matt Tieger told Ausgamers.

“One, the community wasn’t big enough. I think with multiplayer games, there’s a certain tipping-point, where you just get this self-sustaining group. We didn’t achieve that, but I think we will on this game. Mostly because it’s a higher quality game, and Activision’s really getting behind this one.:

Gamers would enjoy customizing their Transformers in the menu and it’s something that’s a major improvement over the previous game.

“We barely delivered on expectations, I feel like for War for Cybertron, on what character customisation could we do. So we knew we had to turn that to 11, and we did. It is awesome. Players who like customisation – whether they’re Transformers fans or not – will spend ten hours in the menus just building Transformers; it’s awesome.”

Thanks, VG247.

Check out the latest trailer from Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. This is a cinematic teaser and looks really awesome.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. The game follows the events of Transformers: War for Cybertron as the Autobots struggle to defeat their Decepticon foes in battle for their home planet of Cybertron.

The game will be released in 2012 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Any Transformers fan should be happy to hear that Transformers: War for Cybertron will be getting a sequel released sometime in 2012 and being that the original game was great, we should not be let down by the next one.  It was announced at the Hasbro Investors Day along with release The Dark Moon, which is a spin off of the next movie and that the Transformers MMO will be released for everyone eventually, not just Asia.  As a Transformers fan I can’t wait for the sequel because of the fact that War for Cybertron was a super prequel to all the media releases, before the Transformers ever came to Earth and this game will continue that.  So both games deal with factions being different than what you are used to seeing in the movies and in the old T.V. show as well as seeing their original home planet.

Source via D’toid, via NeoGAF

– 2 New Playable Characters which are ‘Dead End’ and the ultimate ‘Zeta Prime’.  These characters are playable in Escalation mode in there true form while their chassis are available for customization in the other multiplayer modes.

– 2 New Escalation Maps which are called ‘Pulse’ and ‘Static’.
Pulse is an Autobot map and allows players to take a journey inside the Decepticon giant Trypticon, challenging fans to explore his twisted interior corridors to overload the central power core located within. Static is a Decepticon map that thrusts players into a bevy of multi-level rooms riddled with environmental traps that can be used for their advantage.

– 3 New Mulitplayer Maps called ‘Horizon’, ‘Sector’ and ‘Metropolis’.
.Horizon. is a picturesque statuary overlooking the war-torn Autobot home city of Iacon, complete with wide open courtyards and tight spaces for close quarters combat.
.Sector. is an old maintenance facility used by the Decepticons during the legendary war and allows for open vehicle navigation, especially dive-bombing jets and those with long range weapons.
.Metropolis. is set high above the clouds and drops players straight into the bombed out ruins of a high rise Iacon city building. Liquid energon drips from broken pipes and sparking electricity crackles from severed wires as it was once served as a fierce central battleground on Cybertron.

This package will run you 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360 and $9.99 on the Playstation 3.  It’s currently available right now so if you are a hardcore Transformers gamer, get to buying this.

The core mechanics of the game revolve around a standard third person shooter paradigm. Think Gears of War but without the focus on the cover. As boring as that might sound the gunplay in WFC is solid and packs a good pace: both fast enough to be addictive, but slow enough to feel tactical and methodical. You wage warfare using a variety of diverse, if uncreative, weapons. Augmenting the experience are two passive abilities assigned to the two bumpers (or L2 and R2 for PS3 players) that vary depending on the character you use. It may be a quick dash move, a limited burst of invisibility, or even an aura that increases your team’s attack power. Combine this with various passive abilities and the tactical possibilities start to open up. Much like the Transformers themselves, the basic gameplay in WFC is much more than meets the eye. And hey, even if you get really bored you can transform into a tank or other motor vehicle with a click of the left stick. It never gets old…

Most of your time will be spent rising through the ranks of War for Cybertron’s online multiplayer, so let’s start there. You begin by creating your transformers in one of twelve slots available (three for each class once you unlock them all.) It filled me with a giddy thrill being able to create my own transformers, and even though the customization options are fairly limited, you get a lot of control over what abilities and weapons you spawn with. The experience begins to open up as you unlock the new weapons, perks and abilities as you complete challenges and rack up kills online. They are well spaced out, always coming at the right time to keep your interest held, and they completely change the kind of tactics you employ as each class. Your starting tactic as the engineer class might be to heal others using your repair ray, but once you unlock the decoy ability that disguises you as someone from the enemy team, you can play it as if you were a spy: Team Fortress 2 style!

The beautiful lense flare shows of the capability of the graphics engine. But you are more likely to notice the GIANT ROBOT you’re up against

I mentioned the change within the individual classes as you gain abilities, but the different play styles required for each of the four seperate classes is commendable. You have the swift scout who wields a sniper rifle and can go invisible and mark enemies. The engineer class can heal with his repair ray or healing grenades and is the only class that can transform into a plane. The soldier is a standard tank/DPS class with a massive health bar and an even more powerful melee attack. Last but not least you get the leader, who’s buff abilities allow the whole team to benefit from increased stats. It’s a nice spread of classes and means you never get bored.

The multiplayer is a robust addition that is certainly worthy of your time, but it has a few blemishes that sadly prevent it from achieving true gaming greatness. On a cosmetic level the maps are a bit bland, and from a gaming standpoint they’re all just a bit standard. Nothing was particularly awful, but no maps really jumped out as teeming with ideas. Hopefully new maps provided by DLC would fix this problem (hint hint.) The matchmaking also suffers from a frustrating inability to migrate the host, so if the host leaves mid-game you all get kicked out. This one is annoying, but I found it wasn’t too regular an occurrence to become a deal breaker. Despite the odd bad spot, the matchmaking was actually quite good, with a solid party system and swift match searching.

Should you get bored of the standard deathmatch affair, there is a fairly good spread of game types in Transformers ranging from CTF and domination modes to King of the Hill and sabotage games. Even if you just fancy a purely co-op experience you’re well catered for with the escalation mode. It’s a horde style mode where you and up to two others compete to fend off waves of AI adversaries. Whilst the initial reaction is to liken this to Gears of War’s Horde mode, it shares more in common with World at War’s Nazi zombies mode, as you can unlock new weapons and areas using energy collected from your fallen foes. Escalation can be a little limited due to a lacklustre selection of characters and maps, but it’s still a blast and a welcome addition to War for Cybertron.

When you’re not online destroying your fellow gamers or fighting against AI hordes in escalation, you always have the story mode to fall back on. I usually find that in most shooters the story modes pale in comparison to the multiplayer due to a poor story or cheesy script. I found the story in WFC was actually pretty good on the whole. It consists of two campaigns, one for both the decepticons as they invade Cybertron, and the autobots as they try to defend it. The two stories link up well and feature most of the key characters from the show. The only ones missing are Unicron and the dinobots, but hopefully they’re saving them for the sequel (again, hint hint.)

The story mode captures the classic battle between the autobots and decepticons

The story isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s solid and filled with enough action and epic set-pieces to keep you interested throughout. Possibly the only complaints I can level are that the levels are, again, quite bland and the AI partners who accompany you offer very little assistance. Thankfully there is a simple solution in that you can play through the whole story with two buddies co-operatively. It’s a great experience being able to play through all of it in co-op and the multiple characters with different abilities spices things up. Sadly, with such a focus on mutliplayer and co-op, the lack of split screen and system link is intensely frustrating. No matter how you look at it it’s a pain having to make sure everyone has their own xbox and copy of the game to play. It really is the difference between WFC being just a good game and a must buy title.

War for Cybertron is supposedly the first segment of a new Transformers series that is being released later this year. Judging by the graphical style in WFC this probably means we’ll be in for a treat when it airs. The style cuts a fine line between the feel of the old animated series and the high octane production values of the recent live action movies. All the characters have been redesigned by Hasbro and it’s nice to see all your familiar favourites looking shiny and new. The visuals also shine from a technical perspective. Everything looks shiny, smooth and it all runs with a flawless frame rate. There are a few bland textures here and there, but WFC is certainly still a sight for sore eyes.

War for Cybertron is certainly a delight to look at, but the ears will be equally well pleased. The music is solid throughout, even though it isn’t entirely memorable. The voice acting is truly note-worthy, with all the dialogue delivered fluidly and in the same style of the old series. What captures the feel of the original Transformers even better are the sound effects. The guns sound beefy and as they should and the transformations are still accompanied but that cool mechanical noise. It brought a smile to my face every time.

Why walk when you can… Ride?

If I wasn’t grinning when hearing the nostalgia-inducing SFX, then I certainly was when I scanned through the achievements list. All of them are named after lines from the original series and animated movies and are witty and humorous throughout. They’re also a pretty fun list to go through comprising part level completion and part feats in both multiplayer and single-player modes. As if there wasn’t enough value for money already, then the sixteen hour story mode and the plethora of multiplayer modes will keep you coming back on a regular basis. It all adds up to help make War for Cybertron a game that is unlikely to leave your disc tray any time soon.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is a game that has it going on. It takes a fantastic shooter mechanic, and is able to infuse it with your favourite characters at the same time as extending it out into an entertaining and diverse online multiplayer. It’s all nicely wrapped up in a great presentation that oozes quality and was nostalgic enough to get me watching the old Transformers again. If only WFC could be played in split screen and LAN then it would definitely be in the list of top games of this year. Fingers crossed this will be something they build upon for a sequel. Regardless of this irritant I’d still recommend WFC whole-heartedly, whether you’re a Transformers fan or not. It’s a refreshing oasis in the usual drought of games that are released during the summer period. The moment you see anyone on your friends list playing this, go pick up a copy and join them immediately. If this doesn’t happen in the next few days then find your Xbox owning friends and grab them by the scruff of the neck and shout at them until they buy it as well. They’ll be better off in the long run having played this game.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

The event will begin this Friday, July 2nd at 6PM PST through Sunday, July 4th.  Players will gain double experience during online multiplayer matches during the event for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.  Get ready to roll out..

Let me start by talking about the single player campaign. The game starts a bit in the past, The Optimus Prime is just beginning his rise to power and putting together the Autobots, while Megatron is himself doing the same. The game uses two separate campaigns that guide you through the story. You can choose to play either the Decepticon or Autobot campaign first, but the Decepticon campaign takes place first in time.

There will be a cast of familiar robots, like Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime), Bumblebee (the original, not the version from the recent films), Grimlock, Ironhide, Jazz, and Kup. On the Decepticon side there is Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Thundercracker and Skywarp. All these names should be familiar to anyone who has seen the original animated series or movie.

The Real Bumblebee is Back

Developer interviews have revealed that the story of the game is going to heavily focus on the start of the conflict between the Decepticons and Autobots, as well as dig a little deeper into the motives and personalities of the Transformers themselves.

So what about the Multiplayer? Honestly, what makes this game perk players ears is not a single player campaign, its the well done multiplayer.

First off we have Escalation mode, a take on the ever so popular horde wave after wave of enemies survival mode. You can choose to play as Autobots or Decepticons, and the goal is to last as long as you can against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. What brings a refreshing twist is the class system in War for Cybertron, which is in effect during Escalation mode.

You will have the choice of playing 4 different classes in the multiplayer modes:

Scout- A small, quick, stealthy wielder of shotguns, pistols and sniper rifles.

Soldier- The Heavy Weapons Robot, wielding Rocket launchers, machine guns and gatling guns, as well as devastating melee attacks.

Leader- The Leader is exactly what he sounds like, a big robot who INSPIRES Buffs his teammates.

Scientist- Every game needs a medic, and the scientist is just that.

Expect Numerous Gritty Battles

The Escalation mode has also taken a few ideas from other popular Wave based survival games. By killing enemies, you earn credits, and at the end of each round, these credits are used to buy health, weapons, and ammo. Weapons and ammo are self explanatory, but the reason for buying health packs is because of the way health is handled. You have regenerating health, but your total health is divided into sections, and you can only regenerate enough to fill the section you are currently at. So for example, if you are shot down to 46% of your health, you will only regenerate to the 50% mark.

When you run out of health, you are knocked into the down-but-not-out stage, where you are crippled on the ground, but can still shoot, and still be revived, and as an added bonus, if you don’t get revived, you can activate a personal self destruct.

The actual head to head multiplayer has a few different game types such as Team Deathmatch, Free for all, and a Domination node like game type.

War for Cybertron is also using the character progression model that has worked so well for the Modern Warfare series, allowing players to level up each class, customize weapons, armor abilities and Perk like bonuses…as well as Kill Streaks. All of these upgrades are unlocked by leveling through playing each class. The upgrades and abilities give you the option to play each class in numerous different ways.

And by far the coolest multiplayer aspect: When you click in the left stick to sprint, you transform into a car, or plane…awesome.

Transformers: War for Cybertron has all the ingredients of a great game, add in the nostalga factor for Transformers fans, and it turns into a must have. Transformers: War for Cybertron hits stores June 22^nd for the Xbox360 and Playstion 3, and don’t miss the Gamestop pre-order bonus to get Shockwave as a playable character.

Don't Miss Your Chance to Play as Shockwave