Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)

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Transformers: War for Cybertron »
It's like Gears of War, but you turn into the Centaur.
Developer	High Moon Studios
Publisher	Activision
Writer	Dan Jolley
Additional writing	Daniel Arey
Platform	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 PC
Release date	June 17, 2010
Ratings	ESRB: T PEGI: 12

Transformers: War for Cybertron is one of several Transformers: War for Cybertron video games. It was developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision, and it is set in the Aligned continuity family in the ancient days of the Cybertronian war. The game is an over-the-shoulder third-person shooter in which the player can choose their character from a small roster of either Autobots or Decepticons. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at Sears stores on June 17, 2010. On June 22, those and the PC version were released to the broader market.

Companion games, two for the Nintendo DS and one for the Wii, were developed by Vicarious Visions and Next Level Games, respectively.

One shall fall.Megatron

Synopsis

Prime auditions for Unreal Tournament. There were no survivors.

Unlike previous Transformers video games which feature distinctly separate campaigns for the Autobots and the Decepticons (traditionally depicting the playable faction utterly defeating the other), War for Cybertron features a single, linear storyline; the Decepticon campaign occurs chronologically before the Autobot campaign, but fans can play through them in whichever order they prefer.^[1]

Decepticon Campaign

Chapter I: Dark Energon

• Characters available: Brawl, Barricade, Megatron
• Boss: Autobot Swarm

It is the waning days of the Great War on Cybertron before the Transformers come to Earth. Megatron, genuinely believing a caste system will bring Cybertron back to its Golden Age, is researching a dangerous power source known as Dark Energon to fuel his conquest of the planet. Megatron discovers that the factory that produces Dark Energon is guarded by a neutral army led by Starscream, and he leads an attack on the station. After his ship crashes into the hull of the station, Megatron, Brawl and Barricade defeat Starscream's army and harness the power of the Dark Energon. Cornered, Starscream tells Megatron that he's the only one who knows how to make more of the energon and that he will help the Decepticon leader if Megatron takes him into his army. Megatron reluctantly agrees to this. Doing this also causes Jetfire to lose trust in Starscream and warn Zeta Prime of their ambitions.

In Exodus Chapters 18–19, Megatron laid claim to Trypticon Station and the Dark Energon contained within. By this point in the war, however, Starscream was already a full member of the Decepticon army. The Dark Energon was his trump card in case he ever chose to betray Megatron to the Autobots. The taking of Trypticon Station happened largely behind the scenes in the novel, without Starscream actively defending it—Megatron took advantage of a rare absence of Starscream from the station to make it his own. He returned from an errand to find his loyal pack of Decepticons brutalized by Megatron's gladiators, and his power base usurped.

Chapter II: Fuel of War

• Characters available: Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp
• Boss: Energon Bridge Guardian

Megatron sends the Seekers to reactivate the ancient Energon Bridge that will produce new Dark Energon. After encountering Autobot security probes, strange jellyfish-like life forms, and fighting legions of Autobot defenders, they succeed. They then start the assault on Iacon.

In Exodus Chapter 22, Starscream and his Seekers reactivate the Geosynchronous Energon Bridge to help Megatron conduct Energon from Cybertron's core to Trypticon Station. The events are basically the same as the game.

Chapter III: Iacon Destroyed

• Characters available: Megatron, Soundwave, Breakdown
• Boss: Zeta Prime

With his new powers, Megatron takes the fight straight to the Autobots' capital city. While Starscream and Brawl lead the main attack on the city, Megatron takes Soundwave and Breakdown on a flanking attack to recover the Omega Key, which will allow him to access the core of the planet. Arriving at the key's holding place, the Decepticons learn that the Autobot leader Zeta Prime has taken it to keep it safe. The team regroup with Brawl and Starscream, and use Dark Energon bombers to eliminate the remaining Autobots before storming the building in which Zeta Prime is waiting. Megatron defeats the Autobot leader, stealing the Omega Key and punching a hole in his chest. Zeta reveals that the key Megatron has just stolen only activates the real Omega Key, and that soon it will find him. Suddenly a huge ship awakens and takes off. This is the Autobots' last line of defense.

In Exodus Chapters 24–27, Megatron led a group of Decepticons to capture the Code Key of Justice while Starscream acquired the Code Key of Power. Together, the two could access the Plasma Energy Chamber. He was confronted with Sentinel Prime at the end, but only because the Prime had been Starscream's prisoner up until that point, and the Seeker commander had released Sentinel to delay Megatron. After defeating Sentinel Prime in personal combat (no holographic death rooms), Megatron found the Key inside Sentinel's body. At that moment, Teletraan-1 reactivated Omega Supreme to protect the Plasma Energy Chamber from Megatron, at Starscream's secret behest.

Chapter IV: Death of Hope

• Characters available: Megatron, Soundwave, Breakdown
• Boss: Omega Supreme (Vehicle mode)

An unknown amount of time later, Megatron is commanding his ship in search of the "Omega Key." The ship is suddenly attacked by Omega Supreme, who shoots them out of the sky, causing them to crash-land in Iacon. Megatron, Soundwave and Breakdown began a desperate retreat from Omega Supreme's attack and take cover in a large tower. Once inside, the group hear Starscream announce that Megatron is dead and that he is taking command of the Decepticons (surprise!). Enraged but unable to make any outside contact, Megatron leads his forces through the city, dodging attacks from Omega Supreme while searching for a way to fight him. Soundwave discovers that they can use some of the Autobots' Nucleon Shock Cannon turrets on a tower roof against the massive Autobot. Along the way, the group makes contact with Starscream and corrects his mistake, using him to distract Omega Supreme. Once they reached the turrets, the group manages to shoot down Omega Supreme, causing him to crash to the ground below. This is when Megatron and the others make the final assault on him...to unlock Cybertron's core.

In Exodus Chapters 27–28, Omega did nothing to pursue Megatron. Instead, he attempted to depart Cybertron altogether to keep the Plasma Energy Chamber, inside him, away from the Decepticons. Starscream and the Seekers shot down Omega in a brief aerial skirmish.

Chapter V: The Final Guardian

• Characters available: Megatron, Soundwave, Breakdown
• Boss: Omega Supreme (Robot mode)

The Decepticons descend into the impact crater to loot Omega's remains, but he transforms into robot mode, unleashing his full barrage on the squad. Megatron manages to corrupt Omega with Dark Energon, using him to reach and corrupt the core of Cybertron with Dark Energon. The planet itself is now under control of the Decepticons. Or is it?

In Exodus Chapter 29, Omega did not fight alone—Optimus Prime and his top aides were present fighting alongside Omega Supreme at his crash site, until Megatron brought the Guardian low and ripped the Plasma Energy Chamber from within him. Because that was all he needed from Omega, the Guardian was not captured in Exodus, but left badly wounded for the Autobots to retrieve and repair.

Autobot Campaign

Chapter VI: Defend Iacon

• Characters available: Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet
• Boss: Starscream

In a decimated Iacon, the young Autobot messenger Bumblebee is sent to tell the soldier Optimus that Zeta Prime is dead. Optimus decides to take temporary control of the Autobots, adopting Bumblebee into his team. The two of them and Ratchet kick off a counterattack to push out Decepticon forces. They manage to reactivate the planetary guns, clearing the skies over Iacon, and proceed to aid Ironhide in reclaiming the Decagon, tangling with Starscream along the way. Entering the Decagon, Optimus receives a message from Zeta Prime, revealing that he is not yet dead but is being held in a prison in Kaon. Optimus gathers up a bunch of Autobots to rescue their fallen comrade.

A direct conflict with Starscream like this did not take place at this point in the novel. Iacon was the last bastion of Autobot resistance for most of the novel, and did not need to be reclaimed. Furthermore, Sentinel Prime had been captured since the beginning of the war, so Optimus Prime had already accepted his role as leader.

Chapter VII: Kaon Prison Break

• Characters available: Optimus, Sideswipe, Bumblebee
• Boss: Soundwave

Optimus allows his team to be captured by the Decepticons and enter the prison. The three are just barely saved from a firing squad by Air Raid, but as they escape into the tunnels below, Air Raid is captured. The three Autobots sneak through the prison, rescuing Air Raid and releasing all the Autobot prisoners (including Arcee and Jazz). Using the chaos as a distraction, the trio sneak to the high security bunker Zeta Prime is being held. When the Autobots try to save them, Soundwave attacks, sending out Frenzy, Rumble, and Laserbeak. The Autobots defeat them, but Soundwave manages to retreat. When Optimus tries to rescue Zeta, the Prime tells him that he is already dead and collapses. Optimus returns the body to the High Council, who tell Optimus that he must accept that he is a Prime and take up his role as leader. Thus, he becomes Optimus Prime. He then travels to the core to stop its corruption by dark energon.

In Exodus Chapter 32, Optimus Prime, Jazz and Prowl stormed Kaon to recover a dying Sentinel Prime. It did not involve being deliberately captured or a battle with Soundwave.

Chapter VIII: To the Core

• Characters available: Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Warpath
• Boss: Corrupted Worm

Optimus's first task as Prime is to cure the currently infected core. Heading to the entrance, where Omega Supreme is being held by the Decepticons, the three Autobots manage to free Omega, then call in Ratchet to repair him enough to open the Omega Gate. Thanks to the help of some space slugs, Prime, Warpath, and Ironhide defeat a corrupted space slug and reach the core. However, the core tells Optimus that, in order to repair itself, it will have to shut down for millions of years, forcing Optimus and the Autobots to evacuate Cybertron. Before the core shuts down, it gives Optimus the Matrix of Leadership. A vessel of pure energy and the collective wisdom of the primes.

In Exodus Chapter 33–34, Optimus Prime, Jetfire and Bumblebee traveled down to the Core, disconnected the corrupted Plasma Energy Chamber, and Optimus received the Matrix of Leadership. It was a largely uneventful trek, as Megatron staged no troops around the Core and trusted the sheer intensity of the Dark Energon in that region to ward off any Autobots. Also, no space slugs.

Chapter IX: Aerial Assault

• Characters available: Silverbolt, Air Raid, Jetfire
• Boss: Trypticon

Returning to Iacon, Optimus Prime orders the launching of a full-scale evacuation of Cybertron's surface. However, as the transports leave the atmosphere, Megatron, feeling slighted by his "brother", begins shooting them down with his giant purple griffin massive orbital space station. Optimus quickly realizes the need to shut down the station, and hastily sends a group of fliers to shut it down from the inside. The team manages to disable the power core, but Megatron taunts them as he activates a back-up generator. Then the station itself begins to mock them. Realizing the station is a Cybertronian, the team flies in deeper to find its Conversion Cog to force it into its robot mode before it can finish leveling Iacon, and "The Last Prime" along with it. Succeeding, the Autobots race out of the quickly transforming space station as it reveals itself to be Trypticon. The Autobots manage to shoot out the massive Decepticon's thrusters, causing it to hurtle towards the surface of the planet, just outside Iacon. Meanwhile, Optimus and the others decide to investigate the crash site and finish off the beast themselves.

In Exodus Chapter 36–37, Trypticon Station began firing on the Autobot fleet as it fled Cybertron. Optimus Prime and a crew aboard the Eight Track commandoed their way into Trypticon and blasted apart the station from within. The novel made a point of (mostly) treating Jetfire as the only Autobot Seeker, and so there were no Air Raid and Silverbolt to act as his wingmen for a flying assault. Also, Trypticon did not transform in freefall.

Chapter X: One Shall Stand...

• Characters available: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide
• Boss: Trypticon

All seems quiet as Optimus, Ironhide, Bumblebee, and others search the wreckage, but soon a very much alive and enraged Trypticon emerges to wage a long and difficult battle with Prime and the Autobots. After repeatedly targeting key weaknesses, Optimus uses his axe to knock Trypticon off balance, sending him plummeting into the deep Energon pool below, causing the last of his systems to shut down. Later, as the remaining Autobot transports escape the planet's dying surface, Optimus informs his primary contingent of their new transport—an Ark that will allow them to keep Cybertron's legacy alive, wherever their adventures may take them. So begins the fall of Cybertron...

In Exodus Chapter 38, Trypticon Station transformed after making planetfall. Optimus Prime and the core Autobots left Cybertron aboard the Ark, avoiding conflict with it. Instead, the Wreckers led by Ultra Magnus remained behind to confront the creature and cover the other Autobots' escape. Soul-crushingly, the battle between the Wreckers and Trypticon was not depicted and, instead of being destroyed, Trypticon transformed into the Nemesis to pursue the Ark through space.

Characters

At the start of each Campaign level, the player can choose from one of three characters.

Featured Characters

Quotes

"Megatron, when this is over can I rip off Starscream's head and boot it into space, please?"

—Brawl asking to kill Starscream…with Megatron's permission.

"Fascinating…according to this a quantity of Dark Energon became unstable, and the resulting explosion destroyed this part of the station."
"Dark Energon did all of THIS?"
"Those fools had no idea how to control it…I'll not make the same mistake."

—Megatron and Brawl discuss Dark Energon

"Unbelievable! These Autobots are dumber than Skywarp!
"'Dumber than Skywarp?' I'll show you dumb, Starscream!"
"You always do."

—Starscream and Skywarp bicker.

"Did you see that?!"
"You mean that creepy looking thing that just jumped over the side?"
"Yah!"
"Nope, I didn't see anything."

—Skywarp and Thundercracker

"More Cloakers? These guys creep me out!"
"What's the matter Skywarp, afraid?"
"At least I'm not ugly!"
"Ugly? You and I look the SAME!

—Skywarp and Thundercracker bicker.

Skywarp: "Wait, what's happening?!"
Thundercracker: "Precisely what I was afraid of, Cybertron is trying to purge itself from contamination!"
Skywarp: "What contamination?"
Starscream: "He means US, you idiot!"

—Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Starscream bicker.

"Enter the tunnels Decepticons. And try not to get crushed by the trains."
"You're joking, right?"
"Yes, Breakdown. I am famous for my sparkling sense of humor. Now get moving! Before I dismantle you myself!"

—Megatron and Breakdown

"We made it! I can't believe it! WE MADE IT!"
"Yes, Breakdown, your constant whining saw us through"

—Breakdown and Megatron

"Yes…YES! I Megatron, have defeated Omega Supreme!"
"Uhh…all hail Megatron!"

—Megatron and Breakdown

"Uh…is that good or bad?"
"Bumblebee… we're locked inside an enemy prison, surrounded by countless Decepticons bent on our destruction."
"So it IS bad."
"It's purely a matter of perspective."

—Bumblebee and Optimus Prime

Multiplayer

The multiplayer options make up a large portion of War for Cybertron's content.

Campaign

The single-player campaigns can be played online, with players taking control of the other two allies that are, in singleplayer, rather low-quality A.I. If other players are participating, a tally of each participant's kills is kept.

Escalation

This cooperative mode puts several friends together against an unending horde of enemies. With each horde vanquished, tougher ones come in. The players can get points from killing enemies, and these points can be used to get new weapons, ammo, health, and to access new areas. Characters in Escalation mode are the same as those selected in Campaign (as well as bonus and DLC characters); custom multiplayer 'bots are not available here.

Multiplayer

This broad option is where you will be spending most of your hours after you beat Trypticon. Here, players can create their own Cybertronian combatant and pit them against the multitude of online transfans and 12-year-olds that will more than likely slaughter you. Custom characters can be leveled up by killing dudes in matches, with specific bonuses being given for specific actions. As they level up, more abilities become available.

Characters

Characters are created from four different bases, each of which feature different weapons, abilities and alternate forms. They are:

• Scout - Cars. Fast, usually cloakers.
• Scientist - Jets. Also fast, usually medics and buffers.
• Leader - Trucks. Balanced, with emphasis on defense and ally-aid.
• Soldier - Tanks. Slow and powerful, with offensive abilities.

Initially, players are only able to create one of each class, but as they level up, more slots open for a maximum of three of each class. Names can be chosen for each, but don't get too excited about making the Transformer you always dreamed of: bodies are limited to about three options per faction and look exactly like characters from single-player (for example, the Autobot Scout category lets you choose from Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jazz or Arcee). And while you can pick your color scheme, the palettes are rather limited, especially for Decepticons. Downloading or unlocking additional characters will also make their chassis available for customizing.

Playlists

Choosing a playlist will automatically send you into a lobby, where the service will do its best to form balanced teams (I.E., you hopefully won't see a team of level 25 leaders fighting one level zero Scout). The service will also select a random stage, which players can veto. Finally, when the game begins, combatants select their character. If your scientist gets butchered too many times, you can pick a different character at any time during the match, and you will switch to it upon dying. Players also cannot pick a faction; the game does it automatically. Weapons can only be picked up from defeated enemies; ammo caches, overshields and energon are scattered throughout the stages.

Playlists include:

• Team deathmatch: Kill 40 opponents to win. Games can range from four to sixteen players.
• Deathmatch: Kill 20 opponents to win. It's a free-for-all.
• Conquest: Capture and defend several "power nodes" until your team gets 400 points.
• Code of power: Capture the flag. Team with highest score after two rounds wins.
• Countdown to extinction: Plant the bomb in the enemy's base three times to win.
• Power struggle: Control the active power node until you get 400 points.

Players can also set up private matches, where the game options and maps can be adjusted as you see fit, but they are invite-only. Hopefully, you've got a lot of online friends!

Production

As an early marketing campaign, the game's website included the feature "Operation Transmission Recovery": using transmission and coordinate dials, you could pick up "transmissions" from Cybertron (or "video clips" to you and me).

The art and design team did intense research (i.e. watched the original cartoon, looked at comics, and watched "typical sci-fi cool stuff" like Blade Runner) to work out the aesthetic of Cybertron; lead artist Ivan Power remarked that the original cartoon was the main inspiration, and that Cybertron wasn't shown there so they had to rewatch the same few clips "over and over". While many of the city designs are elaborate and shiny, Decepticon Kaon was deliberately designed to be sharp-edged, rusting, and slapped together to show the Decepticons weren't interested in building a functioning society.^[2]

Tyler Bates composed the score.

Trophy/Achievement list

When completing various goals and tasks during the game, the player will be rewarded as part of their console of choice's meta-goal system. Players can earn up to 51 Trophies on PlayStation 3, and 50 Achievements on the Xbox 360. The PlayStation version's trophies come in four types: Bronze, which represent easier tasks and are worth the least experience; Silver, which are awarded for challenges of mid-level difficulty; Gold, which are given for harder tasks and worth more experience; and Platinum, the highest-level trophy unlocked only after earning all of a game's other trophies. On the Xbox, each achievement has a Gamerscore value that adds to the player's total Gamerscore across all games played; up to 1000 Gamerscore can be earned in War For Cybertron.

Icon	Achievement/Trophy name	Achievement/Trophy description	Gamerscore	PS Trophy
	A Prime Problem	Complete "Defend Iacon" on any difficulty	10
	The Last Prime	Complete "Kaon Prison Break" on any difficulty	10
	You Got the Touch	Complete "To the Core" on any difficulty	10
	The War Within	Complete "Aerial Assault" on any difficulty	10
	The Harder They Fall	Complete "One Shall Stand" on any difficulty	10
	Paging Ratchet	Revive 5 Autobot soldiers in "Defend Iacon"	15
	Beak Breaker	Shoot the 3 hidden Laserbeaks in throughout "Kaon Prion Break"	15
	Slugfest	Save the slug before it is executed in "To the Core"	15
	Powerglide Performer	Fly through the coolant tunnels in under 23 seconds in "Aerial Assault"	15
	First We Crack the Shell...	Get smashed by Trypticon's hand as he falls into energon goo in "One Shall Stand"	15
	Autobot Recruit	Autobot Campaign Complete (Easy)	15
	Autobot Commander	Autobot Campaign Complete (Medium)	30
	Autobot Prime	Autobot Campaign Complete (Hard)	45
	Dark Awakening	Complete "Dark Energon" on any difficulty	10
	Starscream's Brigade	Complete "Fuel of War" on any difficulty	10
	The Fall of Iacon	Complete "Iacon Destroyed" on any difficulty	10
	The Secret of Omega Supreme	Complete "Death of Hope" on any difficulty	10
	Victory is Mine	Complete "The Final Guardian" on any difficulty	10
	Your Lucky Day	Kill all but 1 of the neutral prisoners in "Dark Energon"	15
	Thief in the Night	Find and disable all of the security trip-wire switches in "Fuel of War"	15
	Chaos Bringer	Destroy the planets in the Stellar Galleries in "Iacon Destroyed"	15
	Motormaster!	Race across the Chasm Bridge in under 33 seconds in "Death of Hope"	15
	Devastator	Destroy all cover in the arena in "The Final Guardian"	15
	Decepticon Grunt	Complete the Decepticon Campaign (Easy)	15
	Decepticon Seeker	Complete the Decepticon Campaign (Medium)	30
	Decepticon Warlord	Complete the Decepticon Campaign (Hard)	45
	Till All Are One	Complete both Campaigns (Any Difficulty)	30
	Brute-a-kiss!	Ignite a Brute's back 5 times in Campaign or Escalation	15
	Footloose and Fancy Free	Destroy a Jet Soldier's foot thrusters 5 times in Campaign or Escalation	15
	That's No Mirage	Headshot a Cloaker when it is invisible in Campaign or Escalation	15
	Targetmaster!	Kill two snipers in 5 seconds	15
	There Are Parts Everywhere	Multi-Kill 3 car soldiers at once using an explosive weapon in Campaign or Escalation	15
	Blast-arachnia!	Destroy 100 spiders in Campaign or Escalation	15
	Fire in the Sky	Melee kill a Jet Vehicle in Campaign or Escalation	15
	Friends to the End	Complete a level in Co-Op	15
	Unlikely Allies	Complete a level in Competitive Co-Op	15
	More Than Meets the Eye	Earn a 1st Place MVP award in any Multiplayer mode	15
	You Got Spark, Kid	Reach level 5 in any single class in Multiplayer	5
	Spike's BFF	Reach a combined class of level of 25 in Multiplayer	15
	The Kup's Half Full	Reach a combined class level of 50 in Multiplayer	25
	Only the Strong Survive	Reach a combined class level of 75 in Multiplayer	50
	Top of the Scrap Heap	Reach a combined class level of 100 in Multiplayer	75
	Prime Directive	Unlock Prime Mode	30
	Powermaster!	Spend 25,000 power in Escalation	15
	Heavy Metal War	Complete the 15th wave in Escalation	50
	Scavenger Would Be Proud	Destroy all hidden Autobot symbols in the Decepticon Campaign	25
	Grimlock, Smash!	Destroy all hidden Decepticon symbols in the Autobot Campaign	25
	Action Master	Get 10 kills with a single detached turret in any mode	15
	Wait! I Still Function!	Get 3 kills while downed in a Co-Op campaign or Escalation	30
	Ramhorn	Ram-kill an enemy who is stunned by an EMP Grenade in Campaign or Multiplayer	15
	Vector Sigma Victory	Unlock All Trophies

PC version notes

The PC port of the game was handled by High Moon Studios, but due to their lack of experience of making PC ports, the PC port has some... noteworthy issues.

• There are a few graphical bugs with the PC port, with textures being super blurry, and sometimes the game might not even launch!
• The PC port does not support gamepad input, leaving mouse and keyboard as the only viable gameplay option. While controller input CAN be accessed via Steam's key-to-controller setting, not all the controls are successfully mapped, leaving the control-input incomplete.
• When the game was delisted from Steam, Amazon still sold the digital version of the game, but some reviews suggest that the purchased codes don't work sometimes.
• The PC version of the game is capped at only 30 frames per second, which isn't good, but there are some fixes for that.
• None of the console versions' DLC was ever released for the PC port.

Cut and unused content

While the unused content in this game is small, it definitely shows a lot in the grand scheme of things.

• There are multiple unused weapons in this game, most notable one is the Ceremonial Staff, which only appeared in a cutscene. The others either appeared in other cutscenes and trailers, or were just cut entirely.
• Every character in the game has a tag that identifies if their a locked character or chassis, which all of the DLC characters have as True (having false means they're unlocked). Zeta Prime has one, and so do the DLC characters, and setting his Locked tag to false reveals that he is fully included in the PC version of the game, no bugs, no nothin'. Setting the other's Locked tags to false works, but they need some modding to be fully playable.
• An unused cutscene in the files shows Starscream rambling something with no audio present. The filename likely suggests it would've been in the first Decepticon chapter of the game.
  • However, Starscream has his Decepticon insignias on his wings, which he doesn't get until the ending cutscene of the chapter. It's unknown just where it might've been placed.
• In the game's localization file, there are listings for 8 more DLC maps. It's unknown which ones were for Escalation or Multiplayer (or both), but they have names such as Surge, Turmoil, Impact, Void, Pressure, Beacon, Badlands, Desolation, Exodus, Unobtanium, Fusion, Fragment, and Citadel. These names sound very cool, but sadly, there are no files or even level thumbnails relating to these maps at all. Maybe it's evidence of an unreleased 3rd DLC pack? Who knows!
• There is an unused Co-Op/Split Screen mode in the game's files which never made it to the retail release. It's possible this would've involved up to three controllers used in a Campaign level at the same time, probably for the PS3/360 versions of the game. It's obviously unfinished.
• An unused grenade ability which is OP as heck exists in the files, probably for testing. To show how OP it is, if you spam it, Escalation waves will pass by in literal seconds. No wonder why it was unused.
• A weapon called TankVehicleMG exists in the files, which is a modified and very small Neutron Assault Rifle that deals very little damage.
• Silverbolt (an Autobot) is in the files for Remnant (a Decepticon map) for some reason. The Decepticon shotgunner is also in the files.
• There exists vehicles modes of Heavy Soldiers, the Decepticon variant uses Megatron's alt mode meanwhile the Autobot counterpart uses Brawl's tank mode
• The modding community behind this game have managed to port all of the DLC into the PC version of the game. This includes DLC characters, Multiplayer and Escalation maps, albeit a bit buggy. They also made Escalation playable offline. Wicked!

Demo

On June 10, 2010, a demo for the game was released on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo is multiplayer only, and only two of the four classes, Soldier and Scout, are playable. Only one "Create a Character" slot is open for each class, but customization for chassis is not available. Players can only level up to Level 3 in each class. The only map available is "Molten", and the two gametypes available are Team Deathmatch and Conquest.

Reception

The game has received many positive reviews from critics and fans alike. IGN has given the score 9/10 because of its "Great Presentation", "Fun Multiplayer", "Classy Fan Service", but subtracted from its score due to the "Repetitive Visuals".^[3] GameRankings sums up the average score of numerous reviews with 79 points,^[4] Metacritic averages 77 points,^[5] and other scores include 85 from GameInformer,^[6] B+ from 1UP.com,^[7] and 4 out of 5 stars from GamePro.^[8] The lowest, however, is 6.5 from GameSpot, citing the weaknesses: "Lack of visual and gameplay variety in the campaign, Paucity of ammunition, Boss fights are incredibly tedious, Friendly and enemy AI is poor, Transformations are integrated poorly with the core action".^[9]

Transformer references

• Steve Blum does his best Victor Caroli impression for his role of the narrator. Though, this role may also retroactively be considered Blum's role as Shockwave, archiving the events in-universe.
• A variety of callbacks to The Transformers: The Movie:
  • Ironhide greets the space slug with the universal greeting, to Warpath's confusion.
  • In the Kaon prison, an Autobot is pronounced guilty and pushed off a gantry into a pit. He responds with "Spare me this mockery of justice!", quoting Kranix during his trial on Quintessa.
  • Rumble repeats another line from the movie: "First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!"
  • When Starscream declares himself as Decepticon leader, Megatron retorts that "[he] still function[s]."
  • Whenever Megatron picks up the Ion Displacer, he calls it a "real instrument of destruction.
• The Punch of Kill Everything is a multiplayer Leader Class ability and a Soldier class upgrade.
• When Skywarp calls Thundercracker ugly he replies that they look the same. Hmmm.
• Stan Bush's BotCon 2007 theme song, "Till All Are One (Transformers Theme)" is used in the credits, and the special thanks claim that the families that were involved "rock like Stan Bush".
• Several scenes in the credits are homages to the commercial bumpers used in the G1 series (Jazz transforming and shooting off-screen, Laserbeak flying past a Decepticon logo, etc.).
• Air Raid pokes fun at Silverbolt's fear of heights.
• The in-game menu for stat tracking and leaderboards is called Teletraan 1.
• When Ironhide asks Optimus how he knows Megatron, Optimus replies that it is a story for another time.
• Pretty much all the Achievement/Trophy names are references to other parts of Transformers history, mostly G1.
  • The ones for completing the campaign chapters include Dark Awakening, Starscream's Brigade, A Prime Problem, The Last Prime, You Got The Touch, The War Within, and Till All Are One.
  • Gameplay names include Thief in the Night, Fire in the Sky, Chaos Bringer, Motormaster!, Devastator!, Brute-a-kiss!, Slugfest, Powerglide Performer, First we crack the shell..., Blast-a-rachnia and Ramhorn.
• Autobots and Decepticons alike are heard to swear by 'Primus', confirming his 'existence'.
• Trypticon has a 'conversion cog' that controls his transformation, and is probably a less 'branded' term for G1's transformation cog.
• The game's Rocket Turret, when ripped from its mounting, is named the "Nucleon Shock Cannon" on the HUD.
• Just before you go into the Stellar Galleries in Iacon Destroyed, above the doors is the Marathon logo.

Errors

• In Chapter III, when fighting Zeta Prime, in one of the subtitles Megatron said "ZetaPrime".
• Megatron has multiple glitches when controlled by the computer, among them shrinking (quite hilariously), losing his Fusion Cannon, and having his Tank mode cannon stick straight up (also humorous). He may be the most glitchy character in the game.

Notes

• In the intro, and in some concept art, Soundwave is shown to have a red visor, despite him having a yellow visor in-game. It's possible this was a late change, as his toy had the red visor, too.
• The Plasma Cannon is treated as a rapid firing weapon in cutscenes instead of the charged weapon it is in game.

References

External links

• Official site