[TFW2005]

Originally posted by: Tony_Bacala @ TFW2005.com

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Activision was kind enough to let the TFW2005 crew at the oh so close to final version of War for Cybertron this week. We were able to play working versions of the Multiplayer, Co-Op, Campaign, and a newly announced game play mode, Escalation. Take a look below for our thoughts on everything, and get ready for a Transformers game like you've never seen before. War for Cybertron drops on June 22nd! Read on for the full coverage, pics, and video!
Activision was kind enough to let the TFW2005 crew at the oh so close to final version of War for Cybertron this week. We were able to play working versions of the Multiplayer, Co-Op, Campaign, and a newly announced game play mode, Escalation. We've focused in on the more important aspects seen this round, as the game has plenty of coverage here and elsewhere on the net focusing on various points so far. (See our coverage here). Take a look below for our thoughts on some key points, and get ready for a Transformers game like you've never seen before. War for Cybertron drops on June 22nd!

Intro

War For Cybertron is Activision and Hasbro's offering for the Transformers Universe outside of the regular Movie-Game cycle. It is meant to be a starting point for Transformers lore, telling the story of how the Great War started back on Cybertron. How the Autobots and Decepticons formed, and how Optimus Prime and Megatron became the arch enemies they are today. It pulls largely on G1 characters and sub-plots, but is not purely a G1 prequel. Fans from all eras will be able to see this, recognize it, and apply it to what they know about Transformers. And hopefully enjoy it too!

As far as game play goes, it's got all the game play choices gamers expect from a modern game - Campaign Mode which will walk you through the story of our heroes and villains. Multiplayer with multiple modes of play. Create a Transformer mode where you can pick class, weapons and color, then upgrade as you progress. A new mode they announced at the event is Escalation mode, where you and a team will work together to defeat waves of enemies, coming one after another in increasing numbers and power. All in all, there is a strong online presence of the game, and teamwork will be key in many of these modes. On top of that, even the campaign mode will have teamwork, either through the AI or your friends jumping in and out as your flank men, arcade style.

Controls and Flow

Overall the controls were good. Standard analog stick style movement. One for direction, one for movement. One thing that did stick out was that your direction stick was also the transform button when pressed (L3 etc). Several times I found myself running in battle attempting to keep the sight on the target in the other direction, and poof - I transformed because I pressed down on the analog stick. That can throw you off. Activision was aware of this, and said there are options for heavy handed gamers to change the controller configuration. I have a feeling after you get used to the game that this will happen less frequently, I was still learning the basics while in the middle of multi-player mayhem. It's also nice that if you want to get to another part of the field quickly, you can transform and boost over there. Running as a bot is cool, but with how large the environments are you will love that you can transform and shuttle around like that. It truly serves a purpose and you will find yourself using it naturally rather than because you just want to.

Campaign Mode with Co-Op.

Campaign mode is offered in 2 flavors, but you need to play both in order to get the full story of the game. Autobots and Decepticon campaigns of course. The Decepticon side will follow the rise of Megatron and the Decepticons, while the Autobots side will follow how the eventual Autobots will react to the Decepticon events. You can play in either order, or simultaneously. With the co-op action, you have 2 team mates at all times, controlled either by the computer or by 2 friends. Your friends can jump in and out at will, and it won't trash the level for you. This is where the bread and butter of the story will go down, with all types of verbiage being spout out during the level, giving reference to Transformers lore even outside the scope of the cut-scenes.

Going through the campaigns using each of the different characters will allow you to see the story from a different perspective, so even the core single player campaign has replay value. Every second of this mode is going to be fan-wank, and from a Transformers fan point of view, there is no need to delve into it here. You will want to play this, or at least watch someone else from start to finish. Everything we've seen so far in video and images is there, and it's 10x better when seeing it in person, feeling the sound and even more so when you are in control. Transformers origin story with Peter Cullen yelling battle commands at you as Optimus Prime. Nuff said.

Multi-Player

Overall, I get PWND at Multi Player in all games. I log on, get decimated, and go back to single player mode. I was able to hold my own for the most part here, which was surprising. And it was actually fun. Now I don't know if I was just playing with a bunch of equally sucky newbs, or if the design is more inviting to newbs, or I just got lucky. But either way, Multi Player seems to be an option for me here where it normally would not. The maps are large and multi leveled, and will take a bit to learn. The art direction also has them dark with ambient lighting, making you feel like you are on a metallic world. It adds another level of game play because the bots merge well into the background. Recognizing movement will be key. You do have name/team based indicators, but I found you can recognize movement and sometimes even sound before you see the indicator. And getting the drop is important in multiplayer.

For multi-player, you will choose from 4 classes: Scout, Scientist, Leader, or Soldier. Each can be configured with 2 different abilities to start, and everyone begins with a standard assault rifle. As the game play moves on, you can pick up and choose the weapons you want from the battlefield.

Transformation plays a part in everything here, as you have different weapons and power levels in each mode. You can easily run out of ammo during a face off, and need to transform because your alt-mode's weapon is not depleted. It was fun being in a close range strafing shoot out, then transforming into a soldier class tank and blasting someone into pieces.

We went through Multi-Player and played several of the game modes available. The one that stuck out the most, and was most entertaining for this non-gamer by nature was the "Capture the Flag" style mission, which teamed you up, and had you capturing and guarding zones. A giant energon key was positioned and turned to your teams color after being stationary near it for a period of time. If your teammate is near you, it "captures" faster. From there, it's your job to ensure others do not get into the zone and eventually take it over. They were positioned well, allowing for you to pop out and use high ground windows or corners to hold your ground.

There was also another version of this where the zones required for holding constantly moved. So you could spend a chunk of time fighting and then capturing the zone, only to have it disappear and move, requiring both teams to scramble and start over on a new point. Throughout all this, Optimus Prime or Megatron is informing your team on the capturing, holding, contesting, or losing of zones. It added an additional level of energy to the game play, making you feel like you were in battle and your leader was barking orders on what's going on elsewhere.

In between battles you can go into your create a character area and power up your bot. Adding new weapons and abilities using the points you received from your last round of play. Working together with a team regularly will allow you to hone your abilities and weapons even more specifically than just a class, allowing you to create a unit with unique fighting skills.

Escalation

This is a new mode of play announced at the event for the first time. Escalation is set up where you and a team set up on a map, and a wave of let's say three enemies is released. You need to combine forces and take them out. You then get 20 seconds or so to power up, and a second wave of let's say 4 enemies is released. And so on, never ending. Game play differences here is that there are health and weapon power up orbs laying around, and you need to use points you acquire from the game play to reload. So taking out the enemy is important, if you don't hold your weight, you can't get more ammo or health to continue on with your team mates. UNLESS - they buy some for you.

Keeping with the teamwork aspect - one of your teammates can purchase either of those for you, and leave it there for you to run and pick up. So if you are just having a bad round, they can help you out to keep the team full and strong for the future waves. If you get killed during a wave, a countdown timer starts. One of your teammates needs to come over and revive you in that time or else you are out for good. So it is designed heavily on working as a unit to battle increasingly tougher targets.

One other cool aspect of this mode is that the points you accumulate from battle allows you to open doors to other parts of the map. Behind these doors may be freebie orbs of health or ammo among other things, so unlocking them, and doing so at the right time, is key.

Conclusion

All in all, this round of hand-on and hype further proved that War for Cybertron will be a gamers game, with some longevity in it. Far beyond the Transformers Movie games in story, visuals, and game play, War for Cybertron sets the bar for what is expected of Transformers in the video game world. Combine that with some toys, and an official novel expanding on the back story, and War for Cybertron officially launches this new era of Transformers in a solid way. Let's hope the gamers and Trans-Fans agree!

War for Cybertron is due out on June 22nd for the PS3, Xbox, PC, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

Original Source: War For Cybertron - TFW2005 Hands On @ Transformers - TFW2005.com.