Transformers: War for Cybertron

You can't judge a book by its cover. Thankfully, you can often make up for the time you've spent laboriously judging a book by other means by instead judging video games by their covers – in fact, more often than not, just reading the title will suffice.

This is why, when handed Transformers: War for Cybertron, large chunks of this review started writing itself in my head. "Ugly and derivative" ... "poor use of licence" ... "who the hell is Starscream anyway". Franchise-based action shooters rarely meet even the most basic expectations, and Transformers was unlikely to be an exception.

As it happens, we're encouraged to actually play the games we're given to review and, without wanting to get too carried away, I was pretty pleased to find something that didn't make me want to "transform" my game disc into a small pile of broken polycarbonate plastic within five minutes.

War for Cybertron is a co-op based third-person shooter in which you control Decepticon and then Autobot forces as they battle for control of their planet. It's a prequel set thousands of years before the movies, so thankfully there's no Shia LaBeouf (although I suppose an appearance by Megan Fox wouldn't have gone amiss).

To tackle my immediate assumptions: ugly and derivative – well, is it? The graphics, and particularly the cutscenes, are consistently impressive, and occasionally gorgeous. And while blasting robot aliens in space may not be the most original video game premise ever (actually, if you consider when Space Invaders was released it may well be the least original premise ever) there are enough inventive touches to make the game feel pretty fresh.

Clicking the left analogue stick "transforms" your character into one of an array of vehicles (with the fighter jet proving particularly fun), a function that works itself seamlessly into gameplay. Speeding high off a ramp, turning back into humanoid-shape in mid-air, and taking out a group of enemies with a rocket cannon as you sail over them is just about as fun as it sounds.

The more run-of-the-mill running and gunning is immediately evocative of Gears of War – though without the cover mechanic – and even this basic element of gameplay is pretty fun and satisfying. Most importantly, charging around as a huge robot with a turret mounted on your arm feels, somehow, completely authentic – no mean feat, and something developer High Moon Studios can be proud of.

Poor use of a licence? Hardly. Somewhat wasted on someone whose childhood was solely devoted to Star Wars, the attention to detail here is fantastic. The story has been approved as a legitimate part of the Transformers canon and, if you have spent the past 25 years wondering what happened during the civil war on Cybertron, here's your chance to find out. All the familiar characters are here, and you'll even have the pleasure of hearing the original voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, barking commands and rebukes at you as you make your way through the game.

This is anything but the standard, lazy licensed release we've got so used to. It not only feels like a completely authentic slice of the universe in which its based, but would be a pretty good game even if it were some nondescript bunch of robots shooting lasers on some other mechanised planet.

Sadly, there are just a few too many problems with War for Cybertron for me to recommend it too strongly for anyone that isn't a fan of the series. For starters it's a co-op based game and, surprise surprise, when you're not online you'll often get frustrated with your teammates' patchy AI.

There's also a disappointing monotony to the level and enemy design. Once you've run through your first corridor, blasted some Autobots and pressed a button to go up a lift you've experienced most of what the game has to offer. As a result, the campaign mode does become a bit of a chore after the first few stages.

A novel, Horde-like multiplayer mode and a raft of weapons and power-ups to try out means there is longevity here, but perhaps only for Transformers afficionados (who must add an extra star to this review). For the rest of us, this is simply a fun and well-executed title that gets boring just a little to quickly. Which is much more than I expected of it.