Transformers: War for Cybertron

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This article is about the High Moon Studios video game. For the handheld versions, see Transformers: War for Cybertron (Nintendo DS). For the animated series, see Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy.
Transformers: War for Cybertron
PAL: June 25, 2010
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows in June 2010. Two portable versions were released for the Nintendo DS, one featuring an Autobot campaign, the other a Decepticon campaign. A game for the Wii, Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, was developed by Next Level Games and utilizes the same characters and setting as War for Cybertron.

Set on the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron, prior to their arrival on Earth, the game depicts the deadly civil war between Autobots and Decepticons. Players may pick either faction to play as, as each has its own separate campaign (though the Decepticon campaign chronologically takes place first). The game's plot revolves around Dark Energon, a more dangerous and destructive version of Energon, the substance which powers all Transformers. While the Decepticon leader Megatron seeks this substance for himself, believing it will allow him to return the planet to its "golden age", the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, attempt to stop him, knowing it would instead doom their homeworld.

War for Cybertron received generally favorable reviews, with many viewing it as an improvement over past Transformers games. It was praised for its multiplayer, character designs, and voice acting, with criticism reserved for the visual design of the game's setting. A sequel, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, was released in August 2012, and a third game, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, was released in June 2014.

Gameplay

War for Cybertron is played from a third-person perspective. Transformers are classified into four main categories: Leader, Soldier, Scientist, and Scout. Each character in the campaign is classified as one of these types, and their weaponry, abilities and vehicle form are largely influenced by their character class. Players can change between forms at will, and each form has unique abilities. While in robot form characters can also collect different weapons, reminiscent of those found in

first-person shooters.[1] While in vehicle form each character can boost their speed.[1]

Each campaign level gives the player a choice of three Transformers. The campaign can be played in single-player or cooperatively via online multiplayer, and players can enter or leave the game at any time.

split screen features available. The game levels are designed to allow characters to comfortably navigate and play the game in either mode.[1]

Multiplayer

Competitive multiplayer games do not allow players to control official, named characters, and instead must design their own Transformer. Similar to the campaign, generic multiplayer characters are split into four character classes. Contrary to the campaign, however, each created character features some amount of customization. Players can select a base model and vehicle form, then alter major colors for their character and modify weapon loadouts and abilities based on that character class. The multiplayer aspect also features an experience and leveling system, including perks, and upgrades reminiscent of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, another Activision game.[1]

War for Cybertron has several multiplayer modes to choose from.

Gears of War and the Halo series Firefight game modes. Players earn credits by defeating enemies which can be used to unlock ammunition, weaponry, health and new areas in each map.[1]

Synopsis

Setting

War for Cybertron is set on the planet Cybertron, prior to the Transformers' contact with the planet Earth. Robotic in nature, each Transformer has the ability to transform from their robot mode to an alternate form, usually a vehicle, such as a tank or jet. The Transformers are engaged in

Dark Energon.[2]

Both factions have their own campaign, each containing five chapters, and players may choose either to play through first. Chronologically, the Decepticon campaign takes place first, with the Autobot story directly following it.[2]

Characters

Autobots
Decepticons

^a Originally a pre-order bonus
^b Downloadable content for multiplayer
^c Not playable in campaign
^d Not playable in multiplayer
^e Unlocked as a multiplayer character

Decepticon campaign

The Decepticon leader

Brawl, in an assault on the station, fighting their way through Starscream's troops and seizing control of the Dark Energon manufacturing plant. After Megatron successfully immerses himself in it, Starscream offers his fealty to Megatron in exchange for teaching him how to control Dark Energon. Megatron accepts when Starscream reveals he knows how to manufacture more Dark Energon. Shocked by Starscream's betrayal, his partner Jetfire
escapes to warn the Autobot leader Zeta Prime.

Now Decepticons, Starscream and his fellow Seekers,

Omega Supreme
.

With Omega pursuing them and destroying everything in his path, Megatron, Soundwave, and Breakdown devise a plan to lure him into an ambush using commandeered Autobot turrets. They succeed, and Omega is shot down, plummeting into Cybertron's lower levels. Omega makes a last stand against the Decepticons but is soon corrupted with Dark Energon and taken prisoner. After forcing Omega to unlock Cybertron's core, Megatron infects it with Dark Energon, which quickly begins to spread over the entire planet, revealed to be a living Transformer.[2]

Autobot campaign

While defending Iacon from the invading Decepticons, Autobot soldier

Laserbeak
. The Autobots fight them off, but Zeta succumbs to his injuries. Optimus brings Zeta's body before the Autobot High Council, who name him the new Prime and inform him of Megatron's activities.

Tasked with purging Cybertron's core of Dark Energon, Optimus, his friend

Matrix of Leadership
into Optimus' chest.

With Cybertron beginning to shut down, Optimus orders the evacuation of all Autobot cities. As the evacuation transports reach orbit, many are destroyed by Starscream's orbital space station, which Megatron has converted into a superweapon. The Aerialbots—

Ark to transport the remaining Autobots into space, with only a small group led by Optimus staying behind on Cybertron to fight off Megatron's forces for as long as possible.[2]

Development and marketing

War for Cybertron was announced December 16, 2009,

Unreal Engine 3.[2] Physics for the game are handled using the Havok physics library.[2] A demo was released on June 10, 2010 which allowed for players to play various multiplayer matches using two of the game's character classes.[6] Developer High Moon Studios designed the friendly AI so that as a player progresses through the story any accompanying characters will help the player, but still require the player to advance through the game. "The buddies don't advance the story for you. They get to the point to kinda show you where to go, but then they'll take up defensive positions and wait for you to progress the story" said Game Director Matt Tieger. "They're not finishing objectives for you, but they like to stay near you, they'll heal you if you get too wounded, they're pretty smart."[7]

Setting and plot

Concept art of Megatron. The developers worked closely with Hasbro to create a new look for each character.

War for Cybertron developer High Moon Studios and publisher Activision worked closely with Hasbro to create the design and story for the game. "I want to make the game I've been waiting 25 years to play" said Tieger.[8] The studio brought the concept and idea to Hasbro for approval. It began with a sketch of Bumblebee. "That was that first sketch that we slid across the table to Hasbro and said 'What do you guys think?' And that's where it all started" said Tieger.[8] High Moon presented the idea of setting the game on Cybertron during the Transformers' civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Aaron Archer, Senior Design Director for Hasbro, stated of the Cybertron-based setting "that's a really cool place [...] and the early days of that civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons was a story that hadn't really been fleshed out in any format."[8]

Each of the characters was totally redesigned for the game, taking cues from previous iterations from the Transformers lore. "What they've allowed us to do is take a licensed property and treat it like a brand new

strafe while in vehicle mode. Taking the dilemma to Hasbro, the two companies agreed that characters would turn their wheels down and hover while in vehicle mode, allowing for more movement. The vehicles would then revert to the traditional wheeled mode while using a character's boost, maintaining what the Transformers license had established with previous canon.[7]

The world of Cybertron was designed in such a way that the Transformers would have a proper scale on their homeworld. "It doesn't make sense that things would be smaller than them in their world," Tieger said, adding "the key character in scale was making their world gigantic and huge."[7] Matt Krystek, Lead Designer at High Moon stated that since the game is not tied to a movie they were able to tell their own story. He cited the G1 universe as the inspiration for the game.[8] Jim Daly, Lead Concept Artist at High Moon also cited the G1 universe as the main inspiration for the design of Cybertron itself, also stating that there were elements from Disney's TRON, Blade Runner, and the Aliens franchise.[8]

Hasbro's Aaron Archer stated the game would be only part of a bigger group of media. "This won't be the only touch point. It's a big place that we're going to build off of."

Transformers: Exodus novel, and that this would be the primary continuity going forward.[10] Hasbro has released a toy line based on the War for Cybertron setting.[11]
Transforming figures of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron and Soundwave from the game have been released by Hasbro under the Transformers: Generations banner.

Audio

The soundtrack for the console versions was composed by

Steven Blum as Barricade and Shockwave, Nolan North as Brawl, and Sam Riegel as Starscream.[2]

Downloadable content

Two downloadable content packs were produced for console versions of the game. The first, entitled simply Character and Map Pack 01, was announced on July 2, 2010.[14] Character and Map Pack 01 contains the three previously pre-order exclusive characters, Demolishor, Jazz and Shockwave, as well as two new characters, Onslaught and Scattershot. Four new multiplayer maps are also included. Two maps are exclusive to the game's Escalation mode, while the other two are used in all other game modes.[14] It was released July 27, 2010.[15] The second pack, known as Character and Map Pack 02, adds the characters Dead End and Zeta Prime and five new maps. It was released September 7, 2010.[16]

Discontinued support

As of 2020, Activision has discontinued support for War for Cybertron, and the game's multiplayer servers have been shut down.[17]

Reception

Critical reaction has been generally positive, with many reviews citing that War for Cybertron is an improvement over past Transformers games. Aggregate scores across all three platforms were fairly uniform. The PC version holds a score of 76.25% at GameRankings and 76/100 at Metacritic.[18][21] The PlayStation 3 version has a 78.47% and 77/100 at the two aggregate sites,[19][22] while the Xbox 360 version reports scores of 79.45% and 76/100.[20][23] Individual review scores ranged from a 50% approval by Edge magazine to a 94% approval by Gaming Trend.[33][34]

Reviewers praised the in-game voice acting.

Wired.com's John Mix Meyer gave praise to the game's campaign length, stating "The game’s 10-hour single-player campaign means there’s plenty of time for the crazy transformations to strut their stuff."[35] John Hamblin of Eurogamer praised the transformation animations. He stated players will "occasionally wish there was a Max Payne slow-mo option so you could appreciate the nuance of these feats a little more."[25]

The repetitive visual design of Cybertron drew criticism from critics. Tom McShea of GameSpot stated that "the majority of the game entails walking through similar-looking corridors."[29] Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann also cited repetitive visuals, but conceded that "the metallic world of Cybertron doesn't lend itself particularly well to a lot of environmental variety."[36] 1UP.com's Matt Miller also raised issue with the repetitive visuals, but provided a counterpoint in saying "there are a host of features in place to save the game from spiraling into mediocrity."[24] John Hamblin of Eurogamer and Tom McShea of GameSpot also pointed out the game's vast lack of ammunition. "Watching Lord Megatron repeatedly suffering the indignity of being shot at by drones while he desperately scours the debris looking for an elusive ammo box [...] is just sad" stated Hamblin.[25] He was further critical of the game's checkpoint system, which often leaves players in difficult situations upon respawning.[25]

The first downloadable content pack received mixed reception from IGN's Arthur Gies. While he praised the design of the multiplayer maps, he noted that the lack of online players for War for Cybertron hurt the ability to play the new content online. Gies stated that he attempted to host the two Escalation maps, adding that he waited for several minutes for players to join, but had no success. "That's the problem", he stated. "War for Cybertron's multiplayer is all-but-abandoned."

Xbox Live, 800 on PlayStation Network, and only 158 players on the PC version at the time of his writing. Despite the lack of online players he felt the content may fit a player's needs, stating "If you've got nine other friends who bought War for Cybertron and can set up your own private matches, then Character and Map Pack 01 might be worth checking out."[37]

The game sold 219,000 units in the United States.[38]

Sequel

Main article: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

A sequel to War for Cybertron was announced in November 2010. "This is the most highly-rated, critical success of any game that's had the Hasbro brand yet and we're looking forward to a sequel in 2012," stated Hasbro representative Mark Belcher. The game was slated for a 2012 release,[39] and its official title, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, was revealed on October 6, 2011.[40] It is a direct continuation of War for Cybertron, completing the story of the planet Cybertron's demise and the exodus of the Transformers. One new Autobot character, Grimlock, was confirmed in the title announcement.[40]

References

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External links

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