Written by Lee Clifford
It’s here. Outside of Mass Effect 3, there has been no game this year that I’ve been more eagerly anticipating than Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Anyone who read my review of the game Transformers: Dark of the Moon knows of my very unhealthy love of the prequel to this game, and how I’ve gone on the record many times to state that this was the Transformers game I’d been waiting for since my childhood. War for Cybertron is one of my top favourite games of this current console generation, that leaves some pretty big shoes to fill and as Dark of the Moon proved, you can’t just slap a new coat of paint on something already awesome and expect it to be better.
Fall of Cybertron had a big expectation to live up to, as following up War for Cybertron, and trying to find a way to be better, is no small feat. Somehow, Fall of Cybertron has been able to live up to the lofty expectations put on it, and I think I have found one of my personal finalists for 2012 game of the year.
Taking an already successful recipe, adding to it and tweaking it where it needed, while not feeling like what isn’t broken hasn’t been fixed. While I played this game, an old commercial for Super Mario World went through my head, as all I heard in my head over and over again was “a bit bigger, a bit better, a bit more fun, a bit harder…” and this is a perfect example of this game, High Moon didn’t reinvent the wheel on this game, they just found how to improve it.
Story
Like any good sequel, Fall of Cybertron picks up shortly after where War for Cybertron left off, with the autobots preparing to escape Cybertron and lead to their adventures on Earth that would become my childhood memories. After an awesome intro level, the player is flung back to six days prior, when War for Cybertron truly ended, and Fall picks up.
War for Cybertron boldly took some chances and dared to be grim and dark when time required it, and that disparity flows in Fall. The player truly feels like they’ve been placed in the middle of a civil war that is destroying the world; the entire narrative isn’t all doom as there are still plenty of fun and humourous moments, but the gravity of the situation is translated well in this telling, and the senses of frustration, fear and concern from the characters is played off well.
Characters
These are the characters I grew up with and loved. Optimus Prime and crew are back, but Fall has expanded the roster to include several classic favourites like Grimlock, while including lesser-known but still awesome characters like Metroplex; this is a personal joy for me as I always loved the Metroplex character from the first time I saw him in the later generation Transformers. Omega Supreme did little for me and Fortress Maximus was little more than a larger, recoloured Metroplex in my eyes, this guy was the real big man of the autobots for my money AND he has possibly the funniest moment in the game (fans of Megatron may not find it too funny however).
On top of the expanded roster, Fall of Cybertron has recreated some of the characters and their personalities in a minor, but still noticeable fashion. Previous characters like Cliffjumper, who was a bland, recoloured Bumblebee, has been overhauled with his own look and a much more endearing personality. Moves like this work in many cases, but leave others as head-scratchers. Grimlock ,for example, is widely known to be pretty much a dumb oaf who’s all brawn and no brains (except when he got super smart and made the technobots but that was years down the road) and though he’s still hardly a scholar in Fall, he has a much more acute intelligence than the classic Grimlock we all know. Mind you I’ve not finished the game and maybe something happens to take his intelligence down even lower so that it jives with the Grimlock of the old cartoon show, but if they’re going to redo a character’s origin, I can overlook a mild character alteration, my nostalgia goggles just hope for a more simple-minded and loveable badass.
At the end of the day, the characters are all done well and do their origin personalities proud while being updated for a more mature generation (come on, we all know us 80s kids are the ones this is made for) The Transformers fans have aged and grown up, and likewise so have these characters, growing more depth than simply being good or evil, for the most part, and adding third dimensions to their personalities while staying true to the characters I loved as a child.
Controls
War for Cybertron has perfect and intuitive controls, and that hasn’t been changed for Fall. New abilities and skills have been added to the gameplay, but these additions don’t make the game, at its core, feel foreign; the transition from War to Fall is a smooth one and the game plays just as fluidly as its predecessor.
Graphics
The game looks great, in some cases almost too great. War for Cybertron looked awesome but still had a grit and grime layer over it to make it feel more like a wartime era. Fall of Cybertron is too beautiful at times, the light bouncing off shiny metallic surfaces and the fine detail of the structures are gorgeous, which makes it feel almost like it’s cleaner than War for Cybertron, when it’s supposed to be at the end of the planet’s life. The characters have also lost a little of the subtle animations that made them seem more lifelike in the previous title. Little shifts and twitches still show the robotic characters to have a more human side, it just seems less busy though, and to some that is a good thing, but I miss seeing Optimus’ wheels on his back shuffle and move when he was nervous.
The animation is extremely smooth in this outing, at times almost dizzyingly so. The frame rate has been greatly improved in Fall of Cybertron and the motions are so fluid that it took me some getting used to as I’m not used to games that flow so gracefully. This is definitely something I can get used to, however, and I applaud the great frame rate despite how much is going on on the screen at all times.
Sound
The bots make the iconic transformation sound, and Soundwave sounds like Soundwave, what more do you want? How about the beloved voice of Optimus Prime in all his glory being supported by an amazing voice acting cast? All old and new voice actors alike provide spot on performances for their characters, whether it be some of the characters with their monotone, robotic droning or the main bots with voices brimming with character and emotion, the voice work is fantastic.
The music, oh the music. I didn’t mind the Michael Bay Transformers movies, yes hiss and boo as you wish but I didn’t think they were THAT bad, but the thing I loved more than anything else was the brilliant music, and the thematic orchestras and choirs from the score of those films have found their way into Fall, while a synth edge a la Mass Effect 3 has joined the melodies, creating truly chilling, triumphant and exciting music to accompany this tale of two warring factions and the planet that literally is crumbling beneath their feet.
What I Liked
Pretty much everything. The great gameplay, the stellar music and the memorable story make this a total package. Oh yeah and finally customizable characters for multiplayer! After two years of me going on about how badly I want to create my own Transformer it’s coming to fruition! It’s not perfect but this is a great step in the right direction and being able to finally pick and choose pieces for my bot to look how I want them to is so satisfying.
Oh yeah and aforementioned scene with Metroplex and Megatron, gold.
What I’d Change
I am a little iffy on the choice to change the dinobots’ origin story from being made by the autobots on earth to being there during the Cybertronian wars. They’re welcome additions but my inner child is screaming foul. Again, I’ve not played the game through entirely yet so there may be some genious wrap-up for them to make them fall into continuity with the old television show, but ultimately it’s a minor gripe.
Final Thoughts
Yes, my rose-coloured nostalgia glasses are on. My childhood fondness for Transformers certainly helps me like this game more than maybe I would if it was another franchise, but I also can’t get behind a game if I don’t enjoy playing it. War for Cybertron was the Transformers game I’d always wanted (primarily shape-shifting multiplayer, awesome) and Fall delivers just as soundly as its older sibling. Again, a great way to introduce new audiences to these memorable and iconic characters, but deep down, us kids of the 80s, we know that this game is for us, and High Moon, we thank you for it.