Transformers has had a pretty mixed history when it comes to video games, but the bar has definitely been set with High Moon’s Cybertron games. So, where does the newest Platinum Games release fit into that history?
At first glance, Transformers Devastation makes it very clear that this game is a send-up of the classic G1 roots of the franchise. What might not have been as obvious from the launch is that the game style and play are also very evocative of older, simpler gameplay. And in a breath of fresh air, those who might still have their slightly older Xbox 360s and PS3s can still get in on the action, with minimal downgrade from the newer consoles.
Where the War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron games were Gears of War-style rail shooters with a methodical cover-and-attack approach, Devastation is a much simpler and faster arcade-style brawler. While maintaining the 3rd-person perspective and the vehicular combat, the rest of the game’s style and fighting is a lot more like Bayonetta or Metal Gear Revengeance than it is any previous Transformers game — not surprisingly also Platinum games.
Keeping with that scaled-down approach, the game is a single-player campaign with some challenge modes. There are sadly only five playable characters (preorder skins not withstanding), and those five include no Decepticons.
While not unusual for Platinum, the campaign is pretty short; even in my slow, medium-difficulty playing style it took less than eight hours. The challenge modes are decent for a little replay, but there’s no hiding the Bumblebee-like compactness of this game. And speaking of ‘Bee, he’s joined by Prime, Sideswipe, Grimlock, and Wheeljack as your playable characters — again, not much of a roster, but it’s a good selection of Autobots. It would’ve been fantastic to get Jetfire or Powerglide, but the game’s design doesn’t let you get out of the ground-level grinding.
And grinding is what this game does in spades, though it does it well. You will fight dozens of repeating Decepticon grunts with a few more recognizable ones for bosses, over some pretty standard repeating set pieces. Like the High Moon games, there are lots of different guns and rockets to use, but unlike those, this game is a brawler at heart. You will find yourself very quickly defaulting to stringing together melee combos to get rid of your enemies, and there is definite satisfaction in that.
When taken in context, I can easily forgive the simplicity of the games’ style and story — in a lot of ways, it pays great homage to the original series. What I think is a shame is the single player mode and short campaign. Like the brawlers of old, this game would have been right at home with you and a buddy teaming up to grind through hours of bad guys, whether on the same or on your own respective couches. Of course, two players would have torn through the campaign even faster, so all the more reason for just more game in general.
Taken as it is, this game does get a lot of it’s beats right. The playing style is easy to pick up and easy to get proficient with. The sound is fantastic, with nearly all the original voice cast reprising their roles: Peter Cullen and Frank Welker do their usual excellence, but it was just so great to hear Dan Gilvezan, Gregg Berger, and Micheal “Duke” Bell reprise their roles over a Vince DiCola soundtrack — that was damn near worth the purchase alone. And the cel-shaded animation style are a forehead-slapping revelation I can’t believe it took a decade and a half to apply to a Transformers game. Those two elements make this game a surprisingly fun one to watch as well as play, especially if you remember watching the original cartoon at all.
When it comes to purchase, though, I have to submit a qualifier — even at the lower $50 price point, I don’t think you’re getting a whole lot of value for your money. There’s just no getting around the fact that it’s a short, single-player game that limits your replay value. Now, once this title gets a sale price, or on a markdown, say, in the $30-40 range, that will make it a more remorseless nostalgia purchase. And if Platinum can kick in some DLC — FREE DLC — to add some missions or characters, that would definitely help. Otherwise, at the moment it feels a little overpriced and somewhat incomplete. And to answer my initial question, it is a good, but not great, game, falling in somewhere beneath the High Moon ones. Just know your bitterness will erode every time you see a Kremzeek or hear Grimlock talk.
