The story in Transformers: War for Cybertron is little more than one megalomaniac robot’s dream for ultimate power and the shining heroes’ attempt to stop his evil ways. It’s not particularly entertaining, but there are a number of clever touches that do a good job of bringing the source material to life. The campaign is broken up into two parts, one in which you control the decepticons, and the other where you man the autobots, and it’s interesting to spend time with the morally opposed factions and see the differences in their demeanor and the manner in which they treat each other. For example, Megatron is a surly, eyes-on-the-prize leader who doesn’t take guff from anyone and thinks joking is beneath him. But he is always being opposed by the upstart Starscream, who doesn’t much care for taking orders and openly mocks his leader. On the good side, Optimus Prime continually dishes out “please” and “I’m sorry” like a guy desperately trying to make people like him. It’s ultimately a lot more entertaining to hang around with the cantankerous bad guys, but no matter which side you’re aligned with, you can count on authentically cheesy Transformers dialogue.
The 10-level campaign stretches for more than 15 hours, but because the majority of the game entails walking through similar-looking corridors gunning down waves of mindless robots, it seems to drag on far longer than that. The core mechanics are certainly well done–jumping around the environment is responsive, and it’s easy enough to swing your sights onto a fast-approaching foe–but there are too many small issues that continually get in the way of the action. For instance, the cramped level design and quantity of enemy fire forces you to take cover often, making the game play like a cover-based shooter. However, you cannot actually snap behind objects, which means it’s easy to have a body part exposed when you thought you were safely hidden. More troubling is the ammunition, or lack thereof. Every gun you fire in your humanoid or vehicle form (except for jets) requires ammo, but your bullets are depleted far too quickly, forcing you to spend time scouring the environment for replenishment rather than busting up bots. This is compounded by an incredibly slow reload process that continually interrupts the flow of combat. Every time you get in a groove, you have to spend precious seconds either reloading or searching for more bullets, continually pulling you away from any of the fun you could be having.
These small problems become a serious thorn in your side because the repetitive campaign does little to distract you from them. There are only a handful of different enemies to battle with, and other than a shielded bot that needs to be shot in the back, none of them require a tactically different approach. The bulk of the game entails shooting down AI-deficient foes in similar-looking areas, making it difficult to distinguish one section from the rest. Unfortunately, the few moments of reprieve from this drudgery conjure new problems. During one excruciatingly long escort mission, you must defend Ratchet from a swarm of snipers, jets, and other robots, but the computer’s unwavering focus on eliminating you rather than your AI-controlled allies, coupled with the painfully long time it takes to resurrect Ratchet when he dies, makes this drag on long after the fun has run out. In another laughable scene, you’re taken prisoner and stripped of your weapons–every weapon, that is, except for the battle axe you carry with you at all times. Any tension is eliminated when you bash through the prison wall with your melee attack and find a cache of guns waiting for you on the other side.
A Transformers game would be pretty silly if you were stuck in humanoid form all the time, but thankfully you can change into a vehicle whenever you want. Small sections of each level are built specifically for your vehicular form, and it’s fun to cruise down cylindrical roadways or glide across asteroid belts and let the Cybertron atmosphere wash over you. These are the best moments in the game, letting you ignore the monotonous combat for a while and soak in your circuitous surroundings. Sadly, only two levels in the game allow you to play as one of the jet characters, which is a shame because there is nothing better in the campaign than dive-bombing your foes and laughing at the gravity that’s holding them to the ground. Unfortunately, even though you can transform on demand, it’s not integrated well with the core gameplay. There are few instances in which you must strategically flip between forms to stay alive, and the brief pause between transformations makes hightailing it away from a bad situation rather awkward. Instead, your vehicle forms are just slightly more nimble versions of your humanoid bodies, and the lack of clever implementation makes this feature feel tacked on to the standard shooting.
