Hands-On: Transformers: War for Cybertron

[rickthetrick]

OH man I'm gonna jam out to some Stan Bush and run around the house making transforming noises until this comes out!!!

 

[F-I-D-O]

I guess it's kind of a tricky call, Wrench. As much as Transformers may well have turned into something funky or way-out-there back on Cybertron, they're just so stylistically linked with cars etc. that you might actually lose people if you try and diverge from it.

For argument's sake, take Megatron from the new movies. For all the get-over-itting I did when I read rants about how none of the movie TFs looked like, y'know, Transformers, I couldn't help but think the nay-sayers had a point when it came to Megatron. I couldn't see the the jet (or tank, when RotF rolled around) in Megatron when he was in his primary mode.

So while keeping Prime, Bumblebee et. al. as motor vehicles might stretch credibility, it still gives them recognisable "vehicle bits" that mark them out as Transformers and not just a generic giant robot.

And as to your second point: TeamFortress... TransFormers... Kinda similar, eh? Can Ironhide rocket-jump? Is Bumblebee really a force-a-nature? And will we be waiting forever for the "Meet the Ratchet" trailer?

I just thought it odd, that's all. Usually fans scream about "non-canon" stuff.

But I guess Transformers without transforming would be generic shooter #3486712590768967089758765209.

I do thoroughly support the idea of this game though. So it's probably going to suck. Because anything I look forward to often does.

They had REALLY COOL motor vehicles on cybertron. In the prequel stories, they still had the recognizable bits, but they were often more streamlines and seemed more advanced. Bluur is a great example(if I can find a vehicle picture from the prequel comics, I'll post it). Take Bumblebee, his vehicle is much rounder, and his parts reflect that. The comics always had the prequel models seem familiar, but often just curved some parts. It's still canon.

Now, doesn't Roadbuster (the big guy) look awesome?!

 

[GloatingSwine]

Pretty much every continuity except Bayformers has vehicle alts on Cybertron. They just look like funky space cars, trucks, and planes.

 

[Sonicron]

No reason for them not to become cars - after all, while not being forced to disguise themselves on Cybertron, the Transformers do require a method of quickly getting from point A to point B. Besides, I like their Cybertronian vehicle modes a lot better than the actual G1 models... beautiful streamlined concept vehicles.

 

[tendo82]

Yes, yes, yes, but are there sharkticons?

Stan Bush is sweet and all but I'd be perfectly happy with the 80's hair metal rendition of the theme song from the animated movie.

 

[JEBWrench]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

I too like the rounded futurey cars like in that pic above.

 

[Jeralt2100]

http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/4/4b/Skidswheeljackgrimlockkupironhidetww.jpg[/IMG]
They had REALLY COOL motor vehicles on cybertron. In the prequel stories, they still had the recognizable bits, but they were often more streamlines and seemed more advanced. Bluur is a great example(if I can find a vehicle picture from the prequel comics, I'll post it). Take Bumblebee, his vehicle is much rounder, and his parts reflect that. The comics always had the prequel models seem familiar, but often just curved some parts. It's still canon.

Now, doesn't Roadbuster (the big guy) look awesome?!

The large tank looking vehicle isn't Roadbuster, that's Grimlock in his Pre-Earth form. Roadbuster was a garish green/orange off-road jeep thing. Note how the canopy of the tank closes together in the same way T-Rex Grimlock's chest did before you snapped his head up into place. They even released a toy for that one, albeit a very expensive toy now.

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34816680@N08/3557225644/

Note: Not my flickr account, just the best pic I could find of the toy packaged.

Overall though, I'm really looking forward to this game. I do hope the roster for Escalation mode increases through DLC as time goes on, but I'm very pleased with how the game seems to be shaping up.

 

[Sonicron]

http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/4/4b/Skidswheeljackgrimlockkupironhidetww.jpg[/IMG]
They had REALLY COOL motor vehicles on cybertron. In the prequel stories, they still had the recognizable bits, but they were often more streamlines and seemed more advanced. Bluur is a great example(if I can find a vehicle picture from the prequel comics, I'll post it). Take Bumblebee, his vehicle is much rounder, and his parts reflect that. The comics always had the prequel models seem familiar, but often just curved some parts. It's still canon.

Now, doesn't Roadbuster (the big guy) look awesome?!

The large tank looking vehicle isn't Roadbuster, that's Grimlock in his Pre-Earth form. Roadbuster was a garish green/orange off-road jeep thing. Note how the canopy of the tank closes together in the same way T-Rex Grimlock's chest did before you snapped his head up into place. They even released a toy for that one, albeit a very expensive toy now.

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34816680@N08/3557225644/

Note: Not my flickr account, just the best pic I could find of the toy packaged.

Overall though, I'm really looking forward to this game. I do hope the roster for Escalation mode increases through DLC as time goes on, but I'm very pleased with how the game seems to be shaping up.

Dear Lord, that is one awesome toy. Painstakingly detailed and actually made of metal.
Never heard of it, I guess it was never released here... *sigh*

And yeah, my bet is that they'll go the DLC route with this game. They'll probably include all the pre-order bonus characters in a DLC pack, and maybe even a few extra bots; I definitely expect to see several extra maps for multiplayer. Who knows, maybe we'll even get one or two extra story missions, seeing how this appears to be a rising trend.

-EDIT-

By the way, welcome to the Escapist!
We now own your soul. Adhere to forum rules, avoid inciting mod rage, don't feed the trolls and definitely don't go in the basement. Seriously.

 

[Jeralt2100]

Thanks. I've been lurking for a long time, but this game has made me want to be much more active on forums. I rarely feel a need to discuss games in general, but this one and Arkham Asylum were exceptions to that.

As for my soul, it already belongs to a certain woman. The forum-dwellers will have to contest with her if they want it, and she's very possessive.

That particular toy is available on Ebay, but it was a Toys R Us exclusive when it released....I think in late 2008. They aren't as bad as they once were, the scalpers jumped them up over $100 USD there for a while, but I bought mine for around $40 shipping included. In stores, they were $25, so not too bad a markup. Just search for Transformers Titanium, lots of cool ones. Optimus was by far the best one though.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d2eBY9yF6m4/RaxJRuuvhDI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/yXToY3TLv0w/s1600-h/Titanium+Prime.jpg

again, not my blog, just a good picture of the toy in both modes. Not trying to advertise anything or anyone here.

 

[Sonicron]

Thanks. I've been lurking for a long time, but this game has made me want to be much more active on forums. I rarely feel a need to discuss games in general, but this one and Arkham Asylum were exceptions to that.

As for my soul, it already belongs to a certain woman. The forum-dwellers will have to contest with her if they want it, and she's very possessive.

That particular toy is available on Ebay, but it was a Toys R Us exclusive when it released....I think in late 2008. They aren't as bad as they once were, the scalpers jumped them up over $100 USD there for a while, but I bought mine for around $40 shipping included. In stores, they were $25, so not too bad a markup. Just search for Transformers Titanium, lots of cool ones. Optimus was by far the best one though.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d2eBY9yF6m4/RaxJRuuvhDI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/yXToY3TLv0w/s1600-h/Titanium+Prime.jpg

again, not my blog, just a good picture of the toy in both modes. Not trying to advertise anything or anyone here.

Thanks for the tip! Many of these are actually affordable as far as collectibles go, and once I get my credit card international purchases should go a lot smoother... I'll get me one of those Grimlocks, just you wait.

As for your soul, there's really nothing you or your woman can do. Didn't you read the conditions for signing up here? The small print part, I mean?

By the way, your profile doesn't say - where are you located? Depending on that we might well get the pleasure of bashing each other's heads in in WfC's multiplayer. ^^

 

[Jeralt2100]

I'm in the Southeastern United States. Prefer not to get anymore specific than that.

As for my soul, pretty sure the first contract is the binding one. She'd fight it in court, and as she's a lawyer I'd bet on her.

 

[Sonicron]

I'm in the Southeastern United States. Prefer not to get anymore specific than that.

As for my soul, pretty sure the first contract is the binding one. She'd fight it in court, and as she's a lawyer I'd bet on her.

Ah, darn it. Accursed time zone differences.

A lawyer, eh...? Well, I'll leave the rule enforcement to someone else, then. Lawyers are scary.

 

[Jeralt2100]

Just as a note, Amazon currently has the Optimus and Bumblebee toys in stock. Just search for Cybertronian Optimus or Cybertronian Bumblebee. Both look very nice, and they're standard price for deluxe class figures. Only place I've seen that actually has them in stock and one of my buddies just left the house after showing his off to me, got them in under two days, so they are legitimately out there.

 

[Sonicron]

Just as a note, Amazon currently has the Optimus and Bumblebee toys in stock. Just search for Cybertronian Optimus or Cybertronian Bumblebee. Both look very nice, and they're standard price for deluxe class figures. Only place I've seen that actually has them in stock and one of my buddies just left the house after showing his off to me, got them in under two days, so they are legitimately out there.

Would be of much use to me if I were a U.S. resident. As it is, they don't ship toys out to Germany. Still, thanks for the advice. And yes, those figures do look very nice.

-EDIT- By the way, you should really use the 'quote' button; that way, the system sends a notification to the person you quoted, so your post won't be overlooked.

 

[Jeralt2100]

Just as a note, Amazon currently has the Optimus and Bumblebee toys in stock. Just search for Cybertronian Optimus or Cybertronian Bumblebee. Both look very nice, and they're standard price for deluxe class figures. Only place I've seen that actually has them in stock and one of my buddies just left the house after showing his off to me, got them in under two days, so they are legitimately out there.

Would be of much use to me if I were a U.S. resident. As it is, they don't ship toys out to Germany. Still, thanks for the advice. And yes, those figures do look very nice.

-EDIT- By the way, you should really use the 'quote' button; that way, the system sends a notification to the person you quoted, so your post won't be overlooked.

Cool Oh, and I just found a link to an interview with the game director. Demo is going to be released tomorrow on Xbox Live.

Source: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/transformers-war-for-cybertron-questions-answered-on-kotaku-talk-radio---demo-date-revealed-169918/

 

[Sonicron]

Cool Oh, and I just found a link to an interview with the game director. Demo is going to be released tomorrow on Xbox Live.

Source: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/transformers-war-for-cybertron-questions-answered-on-kotaku-talk-radio---demo-date-revealed-169918/

You, sir, rock. I've been waiting for this kind of news for weeks. So, essentially just a few more hours and we can finally get the mayhem started...
I've never played online on consoles before, but I've still got my 48-hour XBL Gold trial codes from my copies of Gears of War 1 & 2, so I guess I won't miss out on the fun after all. ^^

 

[Jeralt2100]

Cool Oh, and I just found a link to an interview with the game director. Demo is going to be released tomorrow on Xbox Live.

Source: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/transformers-war-for-cybertron-questions-answered-on-kotaku-talk-radio---demo-date-revealed-169918/

You, sir, rock. I've been waiting for this kind of news for weeks. So, essentially just a few more hours and we can finally get the mayhem started...

I've never played online on consoles before, but I've still got my 48-hour XBL Gold trial codes from my copies of Gears of War 1 & 2, so I guess I won't miss out on the fun after all. ^^

Just listened to the podcast, Matt says Team Deathmatch, not regular Deathmatch as TFW2005 reports.

 

[Sonicron]

Been playing the demo for about an hour now... this game is fast-paced fun by the boatload. I like Gears of War, which is WfC's template in more than one aspect, but even if I weren't a massive Transformers fan GoW couldn't measure up to this. It's like running about freely after having been confined to a wheelchair.

 

[Utarefson]

Well, it's from high moon, who gave us darkwatch, one of the best games of the last generation; i would have been suprising to me if this game would suck

 

[TsunamiWombat]

This game got sold to me as soon as you mentioned there was a Stan Bush song in the soundtrack.

SOLD.. SO HARD.