Let’s see if I can get through this review without sounding like a complete fanboy. Transformers games in the past have been hit or miss, especially when developer High Moon Studios would release the really good Cybertron series (which was often overlooked for whatever reason) and at the same time those god-awful movie tie-ins. So it comes as no surprise that the torch needs to be passed to a developer in hopes to make the series great again.
No pressure to Platinum Games, right?
With Platinum’s latest game, Transformers: Devastation, I feel like I am experiencing a very long episode of the legendary 80’s cartoon show that I grew up with during my Saturday Morning Cartoon watching days. That feeling is even more amplified with the game’s chosen art style. Platinum chose to mimic the classic cartoon, making the entire game cell-shaded and matching animations straight out of the cartoon series. It’s so spot on that sometimes it’s fun to switch between characters just to watch the transformation sequence over and over again.
Ah, nostalgia hits me pretty hard.
In Devastation, Megatron plans to cyberform Earth and it’s up to Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots to roll out and stop him. The overall story is nothing special but it does feel familiar when Peter Cullen and others reprise their voice roles for the game. It’s a shot in the arm of classic Transformers, and it’s very welcomed.
During levels, we can choose to roll out with one of five playable Autobots: Optimus Prime, Bumble Bee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack and the Dinobot Grimlock. Each one varies in strengths, weaknesses and weapons, which can include hammers, powered gauntlets and swords. The Autobots all have the same amount of combos and moves that they can use, making them fairly equal in the beginning of the game, but can be upgraded through the game. Since we are limited with resources to do so, I find it more effective to stick with and upgrade one Autobot at a time.
Combat is fast and flashy at times, much like God of War or similar action games. The combo system is really smooth and has enough depth in it that keeps me interested. What I love about this game is that it feels Platinum pretty much stole from itself and added something similar to Bayonetta‘s “Witch Time” ability: when dodging an enemy attack, we have a couple of seconds of slow time in which enemies are left vulnerable for us to get in a few good hits.
Just like the show, the Autobots have ranged weapons to use (guns, lasers) but I find myself barely using them at all because they tend to be slow and sluggish. It probably doesn’t help when there isn’t really a lock-on ability or the lack of ammo drops.
After a mission we can synthesize weapons to make them more powerful, or craft runes that will give us random character stat bonuses. In the long run it doesn’t make a difference — at all. So that slow hammer or quick sword that we may be using with rune enhancements? Yeah, forget about it and use our resources on other things, like actually upgrading the weapon that we are currently using. It’s also unfortunate that the weapon drops in the game are *really* bad. Though we pick up weapons during our quest to stop Megatron, once we upgrade our own character’s weapons there is absolutely no need to switch to another. For example, once I’ve switched and upgraded Optimus Prime’s melee weapon to a hammer, there is absolutely no reason to switch away. Nothing even comes close to matching it.
Overall, Transformers: Devastation gives me enough nostalgia to I feel like I was 6 years old again watching the cartoon back in the 80’s. The combat system feels really good and keeps me in the game, especially in those tough boss battles. (Starscream is rough!) I just wish the game was a little longer and that I could play as the Decepticons; it was one of the aspects of High Moon’s Cybertron series that I really liked. Weapon drop and crafting issues aside, it is still a solid experience, especially for fans of Transformers.
Transformers: Devastation is available for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
This review is based on a digital copy of the game sent to SideQuesting for the Playstation 4.
Author: Binh is a long-time fan of Transformers, having grown up with the series and played the majority of the recent releases for PS3/Xbox 360 and PS4/Xbox One.
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