Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)

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"Hey.. What is Starscream doing there? Where's Megatron?"

Transformers: War for Cybertron is a video game developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision, set before the Transformers take their war to Earth. Hasbro intends it to act as a foundation for Transformers franchise storylines for years to come, and so they've been giving a lot of input and stressing character development.[1] The book Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron serves as a storyline lead-in to the events of the game, which itself in turn sets the stage for the upcoming cartoon series Transformers: Prime.[citation needed]

Unlike previous Transformers video games which feature distinctly separate campaigns for the Autobots and the Decepticons (traditionally depicting the playable faction utterly defeating the other), War for Cybertron will feature a single, linear storyline; the Decepticon campaign occurs chronologically before the Autobot campaign, but fans can play through them in whichever order they prefer.[2]

The game itself will be an over-the-shoulder third-person shooter in which the player can choose his character from a small roster of either Autobots or Decepticons. The game has a street date of June 22, 2010, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii (as Transformers: Cybertron Adventures), Nintendo DS, and PC; however, the console versions were released at Sears stores on June 17th.

One shall stand.Optimus
One shall fall.Megatron

Synopsis

Prime auditions for Unreal Tournament. There were no survivors.

It is the waning days of the Great War on Cybertron before the Transformers come to Earth. Megatron, genuinely believing a caste system will bring Cybertron back to its Golden Age, is researching a dangerous power source known as Dark Energon to fuel his conquest of the planet. Megatron discovers that the factory that produces Dark Energon is guarded by a neutral army led by Starscream, and he leads an attack on the station. After his ship crashes into the hull of the station, Megatron, Brawl and Barricade defeat Starscream's army and harness the power of the Dark Energon. Cornered, Starscream tells Megatron that he's the only one who knows how to make more of the energon and that he will help the Decepticon leader if Megatron takes him into his army. Megatron reluctantly agrees to this and sends Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp to reactivate the Energon Bridge that will produce new Dark Energon. They succeed, and Megatron decides to use his new-found power to attack and destroy the Autobot city of Iacon. While Starscream and Brawl lead the main attack on the city, Megatron takes Soundwave and Breakdown on a flanking attack to recover the Omega Key, which will allow him to access the core of the planet. Arriving at the key's holding place, the Decepticons learn that the Autobot leader Zeta Prime has taken it to keep it safe. The team regroup with Brawl and Starscream, and use Dark Energon bombers to eliminate the remaining Autobots before storming the building in which Zeta Prime is waiting. Megatron defeats the Autobot leader, stealing the Omega Key and punching a hole in his chest. Zeta reveals that the key Megatron has just stolen only activates the real Omega Key, and that soon it will find him. Suddenly a huge ship awakens and takes off.

An unknown amount of time later, Megatron is commanding his ship in search of the "Omega Key". The ship is suddenly attacked by Omega Supreme, who shoots them out of the sky, causing them to crash-land in Iacon. Megatron, Soundwave and Breakdown began a desperate retreat from Omega Supreme's attack and take cover in a large tower. Once inside, the group hear Starscream announce that Megatron is dead and that he is taking command of the Decepticons. Enraged but unable to make any outside contact, Megatron leads his forces through the city, dodging attacks from Omega Supreme while searching for a way to fight him. Soundwave discovers that they can use some of the Autobot's anti-air and anti-infantry turrets on a tower roof against the massive Autobot. Along the way, the group makes contact with Starscream and corrects his mistake, using him to distract Omega Supreme. Once they reached the turrets, the group manages to shoot down Omega Supreme, causing him to crash to the ground below. The Decepticons go down to recover his body, but Omega Supreme transforms into robot mode, firing missiles and lasers. Megatron manages to corrupt Omega with Dark Energon, using him to reach and corrupt the core of Cybertron with Dark Energon.

Meanwhile, recovering from the attack on Iacon, the young Autobot messenger Bumblebee is sent to tell the soldier Optimus that Zeta Prime is dead. Optimus decides to take temporary control of the Autobots, taking Bumblebee and his friend Ratchet on a counterattack to push out Decepticon forces. They manage to reactivate the planetary guns, clearing the skies over Iacon, and proceed to aid Ironhide in reclaiming the Decagon, just barely missing Soundwave on the way. Entering the Decagon, Optimus receives a message from Zeta Prime, revealing that he is not yet dead but is being held in a prison in Kaon. Optimus, Bumblebee and Sideswipe allow themselves to be captured by the Decepticons and enter the prison. The three are just barely saved from a firing squad by Air Raid, but as they escape into the tunnels below, Air Raid is captured. The three Autobots sneak through the prison, rescuing Air Raid and releasing all the Autobot prisoners (including Arcee). Using the chaos as a distraction, the trio sneak to the high security bunker Zeta Prime is being held. When the Autobots try to save them, Soundwave attacks, sending out Frenzy, Rumble, and Laserbeak. The Autobots defeat them, but Soundwave manages to retreat. When Optimus tries to rescue Zeta, the Prime tells him that he is already dead and collapses. Optimus returns the body to the council, who tell Optimus that he must accept that he is a Prime and take up his role as leader. Thus, he becomes Optimus Prime. However, he is then dispatched into the very core of Cybertron with Ironhide and Warpath to cure the currently infected core. Thanks to the help of some space slugs, Prime, Warpath, and Ironhide defeat a corrupted space slug and reach the core. However the core tells Optimus that, in order to repair itself, it will have to shut down for millions of years, forcing Optimus and the Autobots to evacuate Cybertron. Before the core shuts down, it gives Optimus the Matrix of Leadership.

Returning to Iacon, Optimus Prime orders the launching of a full-scale evacuation of Cybertron's surface, however as the transports leave the atmosphere, Megatron begins shooting them down with his massive orbital space station. Optimus relizes the need to shut down the station, and sends Silverbolt, Air Raid, and Jetfire to shut it down from the inside out. The team went flying into the station and blow up the power core, but Megatron taunts them as he activates a back-up generator. Then the station itself begins to mock them. Relizing the station is a Cybertronian, the team flies to find it's conversion cog to force it into it's robot mode before it can finish leveling Iacon, and Optimus with it. Succeding, the Autobots race out of the quickly transforming space station, Trypticon. The Autobots shoot out the massive Decepticon's jetpack, causing it to hurtle towards the surface of the planet. Trypticon still functioned however, and Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Ironhide were forced to engage the damaged Decepticon. After a difficult battle, Optimus uses his axe to knock Trypticon off-balance, sending it plummiting into the liquid below. As the other transports escape the planet's dying surface Optimus shows his team their new ship - an Ark that will allow them to take a piece of Cybertron with them, wherever their adventures may take them...

Characters

At the start of each level, the player can choose from one of three characters. Characters belong to one of four distinct classes:

  • Leaders: Vehicle forms are trucks. Support their team with buffs and debuff the enemy team.
  • Soldiers: Vehicle forms are tanks. Have heavy-hitting ranged and melee weaponry.
  • Scientists: Vehicle forms are jets. Use a variety of tricky technology and precise long-distance weaponry to heal their allies and control the battlefield from a distance.
  • Scouts: Vehicle forms are cars. Specialize in evasion and high-speed combat, along with disabling functions like EMP grenades.

The characters available will shift from level to level.

Known playable characters include:

Autobots Decepticons

The Decepticon campaign includes a boss battle with Omega Supreme and the Autobot campaign includes defending Iacon. Trypticon appears in the IGN trailer, but he's, uh, probably not playable. Players should expect references to Cybertron locations taken from all previous Transformer stories, "things which may have only been referenced once, in one comic way back when, could be used and expanded upon."[1]

  • Bumblebee fires his weapon.
    Bumblebee fires his weapon.
  • Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Prime in battle.
    Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Prime in battle.
  • Omega Supreme attacks a platoon of Decepticons.
    Omega Supreme attacks a platoon of Decepticons.
  • Starscream and Megatron get ready for the ground assault.
    Starscream and Megatron get ready for the ground assault.
  • More Decepticons!
    More Decepticons!
  • Soundwave sneaks around.
    Soundwave sneaks around.
  • Oh Primus.
    Oh Primus.
  • Resistance really does seem to be futile.
    Resistance really does seem to be futile.

Features

  • Campaigns will be co-op online for the first time in a Transformers game.
  • All playable characters have two special abilities, such as absorbing health from enemies or marking targets.
  • The game will run on the Unreal engine.
  • High Moon is prepared to "support the game after release," meaning either patches or downloadable content.
  • Online Multiplayer is being developed for the game.
  • All environments, including cover, can be destroyed.
  • Characters transform at any time with an easy and quick tap of the Left Analog stick. There is no "cool down" so players can transform as often and as freely as they wish.
  • The ability to create your own Transformers character for multiplayer. [7]

Production

As an early marketing campaign, the game's website included the feature "Operation Transmission Recovery": using transmission and coordinate dials, you could pick up "transmissions" from Cybertron (or "video clips" to you and me).

The art and design team did intense research (i.e. watched the original cartoon, looked at comics, and watched "typical sci-fi cool stuff" like Blade Runner) to work out the aesthetic of Cybertron; lead artist Ivan Power remarked that the original cartoon was the main inspiration, and that Cybertron wasn't shown there so they had to rewatch the same few clips "over and over". While many of the city designs are elaborate and shiny, Decepticon Kaon was deliberately designed to be sharp-edged, rusting, and slapped together to show the Decepticons weren't interested in building a functioning society. [8]

Transformer references

Operation Transmission Recovery

As an early marketing campaign, the game's website included the feature "Operation Transmission Recovery": using transmission and coordinate dials, you could pick up "transmissions" from Cybertron (or "video clips/images" to you and me).

There are two dials, blue (outer) and yellow (inner). Using your mouse, you can drag the dial to set coordinates. The blue dial is set by aligning it to marks on the outer circle. When aligned, it becomes a blue ring. After that, the yellow dial is set so that signal strength is full, as indicated by a meter on the right. Once a transmission is unlocked its symbol lights up and the "Total Recovered" amount increases a little bit. When you reach 100%, it tells you how many hours remain until next batch.

As of January 12, 2010, the following transmissions (Batch 9), almost all of which are part of the second trailer (link below), were available:

S. No. Blue Yellow Type Description
1 351 327 Video Game Trailer (unlocked by default).
2 018 088 Video Starscream flying.
3 018 088 Image Starscream standing.
4 029 209 Video Battle scene: Camera behind Autobots, Optimus is prominent.
5 040 328 Image Holographic map of Cybertron and its two moons.
6 051 110 Image Cybertron .
7 073 190 Image Optimus vs an average Decepticon.
8 085 298 Video Decepticon insignia (on Starscream).
9 096 347 Video A bomb explosion on Cybertron's surface (possibly the same one which made a huge hole in it).
10 107 035 Image Megatron crushes cranial unit of a poor Autobot, Starscream is visible behind him, just before the ground assault.
11 120 040 Image Cybertron as seen from a moon.
12 140 201 Image Starscream flying towards Cybertron .
13 162 359 Image A red robot (Ironhide?).
14 173 003 Image A hall (Council of Autobot Elders?).
15 192 147 Video Injured Autobot, trying to get up .
16 203 094 Video Battle scene: Trypticon joins the battle as a burning asteroid (Entry mode) behind Decepticons and Autobots run towards it.
17 214 004 Image A city seen from a tunnel .
18 225 199 Image A city tower falling and hitting another tower.
19 265 011 Image Optimus Prime.
20 284 021 Image Megatron firing his gun (at YOU).
21 295 249 Video Optimus uses his axe on a Decepticon.
22 306 041 Image Cybertron as seen from another moon.
23 317 081 Video City skyline, camera moving down, some music in the background (start of the second trailer).
24 328 221 Video Battle scene: A missile hits a battlestation and an Autobot falls down from it.

It is no longer on the website.

Demo

On June 10, 2010, a demo for the game was released on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo is a multiplayer only demo, and only two of the four announced classes, Soldier and Scout, are playable in the demo. Only one "Create a Character" slot is open for each class, but customization for chassis is not available yet. Players can only level up to Level 3 in each class. The only map available is "Molten", and the two gametypes available are Team Deathmatch and Conquest.

Toy tie-ins

Hasbro has confirmed that several toys will be made to tie into the promotion of the video game. These include figures of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron and Soundwave. At Toy Fair 2010, they were confirmed to be part of the Generations toyline.

Comic adaptation

IDW Publishing is bringing out a comic based on the game. News of this first got leaked when Australian website JB Hi-Fi offered a free copy of issue 1 if you pre-ordered the game from them. [9] Later, it was available for those that purchased either the PS3 or Xbox versions of the game at Sears or Kmart in America. The story is a partial adaptation of the Exodus book. [10]

The artist to the cover is revealed to be Marcelo Matere, who updated his DeviantArt gallery with the inked version, [11] with Priscilla Tramontano as colorist. [12] Alex Irvine and Don Figueroa are writing and drawing, respectively. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 War for Cybertron interview with Aaron Archer and Matt Tieger @ TFW2005.com
  2. ↑ Seibertron Q&A with Activision
  3. ↑ Twitter post by Johnny Yong Bosch confirming his role as Bumblebee.
  4. ↑ Bestbuy.com preorder page featuring a special Jazz trailer
  5. ↑ Amazon.com preorder page featuring a special Demolishor trailer
  6. ↑ Image from Hasbro's June 22, 2010 news, on War for Cybertron
  7. ↑ War For Cybertron trailer news at 3news.co.nz
  8. ↑ Game Informer: Behind the Art of War for Cybertron
  9. ↑ TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON (Bonus Comic Book)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Transformers: War For Cybertron #1 Information and Team Revealed
  11. ↑ Inks-only comic cover at Marcelo's DA gallery
  12. ↑ Colored cover at Priscilla's DA gallery
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