It's been a while since i wrote this. I wrote it straight out of high school and to be honest, its not my best. But there's no reason to hide it. I thought it was good and I know that writing isn't my strong suit. Oh the poorly written memories. I tried.

I don't know about you guys but the Transformers Movies really suck. I was born a little late to watch the cartoon but I still got the gist of what Transformers should be. Honestly, why in the world were there humans, let alone the likes of Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox. They were really the wrong choice. But I digress... Anyway iterations of Transformers were slim, the last video game, based on the movie, was simply terrible. So fans, and late ones like me, were longing for an original yet true to it's past Transformers game. Enter War for Cybertron. Simply put: Slightly above average. But more meets the eye after an hour of play (see where I went?). But terrible jokes aside, I was really surprised with this iteration. I played the demo when It was released and really had a good time. It was really like being a kid running around blowing stuff up. But that was the multiplayer, an early version at that. 

The campaign, while not Oscar worthy, featured a great backdrop for fighting robots. I don't want to give away the details of the story but it takes place on the planet Cybertron prior to the events of the animated series Transfomers: Prime. This is when the Transfomers still lived on their planet and hadn't traveled to Earth yet. Megatron is after a great power to take over Cybertron and then the Universe while the Primes are simply trying to retain peace from their civil war. The campaign itself is divided by two, with the Decepticons acting as prelude to the Autobots campaign. Popular voices return with Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and a very familiar sounding Soundwave. Overall the story works and serves the fans, new and old for some good ol' play time. All of the voice acting is pretty good with decent writing and the banter between the characters often leaves you wanting to hear more. I got a few chuckles out of some quips made during the Decepticon set of missions.

There are three characters to choose from before starting a stage and the campaign has full co-op with up to three players and when no one is around the AI takes over. Here,there's a slight problem. The AI isn't very smart and when there are objectives they seem to gaze at the stars as you try and manage everything. It would be far easier to take down bosses if you're partners would aim straight. But this never makes the game unplayable. Obviously, T: WfC, was built for co-op and with in mind. I played solo, because I role that way, and on the normal difficulty. At a glance it's a standard third person, over the shoulder type of style game. Anyone familiar with the controls with basic third person controls can easily pick this up. There's decent variety is weapons, machine guns, snipers, pistols, and different types of launchers. There's a simple HUD with clear objectives that come onscreen, it doesn't feel like hand holding and although the entire game is scripted, it's not completely predictable. (People, I mean Robots, die). Definitely what sets apart War for Cybertron from other Third Person Shooters is the vehicle transforming. This is incredibly fun. They all have unique attributes and mounted guns as well as their own abilities (boosts, dashes, etc.) You can change on the fly without a hitch and its great flanking enemies, jumping in the air and raining hell. While in Bot form, you also receive varying special abilities and these really depend on who you are playing as. There are defensive, turrets and shields. Supportive ones like ammo, and a plethora of offensive/tactical abilities. This includes cloaking, to whirlwind attacks, to a hover mode which increases damage during the duration of that ability. There are many benefits to these all and each can be both supportive for a team and individual boosting. These more highlighted in multiplayer.

Speaking of which, the multiplayer features a lot of creative play. There are four classes, with customizable weapon and ability choices. This includes a scout which transforms into a fast car and is mostly good for sniping and doing sneak attacks. Another class is called the soldier. This class has a tank transformer and unlike the car which has a machine gun, the tank is much stronger, but slower, but the soldier hasmore health. There are two other classes which are the scientist and leader. The scientist can fly whereas the leader is more of a bulky-type war machine. There's a leveling system that, as you progress, unlocks better weapons and abilities and as you continue you can create up to three different combos for each class. There are quite a few maps to play on and there are the standard match types like death match, team death match, CTF, and other variations of what we know and love. In addition, there's a horde-like mode which, similar to co-op is highly competitive and enjoyable.

I keep things vague because Transformers: War for Cybertron has a lot to offer which anyone who is a fan or wants a nice change is pace of gaming. It's not completely unique at a glance but the parts do add to the whole and if you give a chance, there's a lot of fun to have. There's definitely a nostalgic feeling that comes from a game like this.There is nearly no other game that stays true to its source material and does something with it. (Other than Batman: Arkham Asylum) I hope this trend continues. It just proves there doesn't need to be a sell out and if you focus on who your audience and realize you can't make every demographic, something often attempted with other games on a weekly basis, you satisfy who matters the most: the fans. It's so refreshing to see just robots doing what we want and no freaking humans thrown in for some dramatic effect, especially that Shia Lebouf. Which is why I'm comfortable giving Transformers: WfC a three and a half out of five stars. I'm really basing this on the fun factor and with a couple of buddies for a weekend, you can't go wrong. There are little flaws here and there but there's a lot do to and more importantly, its just plain fun. I know I mentioned this several times and it's only because I was playing Assassin's Creed II earlier today and even though I really like it and the game is overall really great as a whole, I kept saying to myself, " I just want to have fun and skip all the deep story I enjoyed the first time around. I'm not saying I don't like complex games but at times its nice to fall back to some old roots where there's a clear good and bad guy and you go in there and go crazy.

If anything, rent this because the campaign does shed some light on how
some of the main bots met for the first time. It's simple enough and the
multiplayer keeps giving and giving. Feel free to learn more from
IGN.com and Gametrailers.com which have gameplay footage.

..."I can't wait to star in a movie about a robot civil war! And Micheal Bay
is going to direct it, I can't loose!!! Well, at least I get to dry hump
Megan Fox"....