Transformers: Devastation Review

Hello 80’s kids. How are you doing? Remember that show with the robots, yeah those robots who were in disguise. The folks over at Platinum Games has taken the franchise that made Hasbro a ton of money in figurine sales. Making it into a fast paced run, gun, and slice n’ dice fest with tons of fun in involved. You can play as five characters in total, Optimus Prime, Bubblebee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack and Grimlock. Which each having unique attacks and combos. Before I break down the gameplay and my thoughts that bit, lets go over the story.

In the story for Transformers: Devastation you play as the whole as one of the five Autobots chasing after the Megatron and his decepticons. Uncovering the mystery that is the Proudstar. You are welcomed by a nice collection of both Autobot and Decepticons that you will have known and loved from the original comics and cartoon series with a overhaul in design. Nothing to take away from the grate of quality you known and loved from said show and comic line of course. So the story in a whole is not complete without some plot wholes or feeling at points pushed along at a rapid pace. I understand to leap you into the action right away, but sometimes a man loves a little more story then just plot-holes. I did love the fact they included all of the voice actors(seemingly) to the voice talent, such as Peter Cullen. As well as Frank Welker taking the role back for Megatron and Soundwave. Everything was set picture perfect in terms of the setting of a original episode. With a modern pace. Again as I stated some points are subtracted with a weak story then we would have expected. The actors and vibe were on key though.

Gameplay is a mix of Batman Arkham Asylum meets a semi-open world style of platforming. Provided you sit through everything with the side quests or missions if you will, you have about 4 hours worth of gameplay if you are skilled or a casual player. Controls are super tight, I always felti n control when fighting the likes of Starscream or trash enemies. I am not completely going to ruin every cameo in the game, as it is pretty short length but the likes of the constructicons play a… big role in terms of boss fights. There is a Lab within the game shortly in once you make your first trip back to the Ark for a pit stop. I advise unlocking all of the power ups or move sets before going too deep and try to make a habit of farming a bit in locations to be able to buy said power ups. I felt this helped stretch the experience rather then make me feel fully rushed. You get a collection of variants in terms of themed weapons you might recall from the toy-line or series. Such as flamethrowers, sniper rifles(my personal fav), sabers, akimbo blasters, hammers, and a few more that escapes my memory. Those said weapons in turn may be upgraded to a certain grade as you move along. I ended up by the end of the game finding a combo for melee, and ranged that suited my smack n’ flank play style. Each auto bot I felt had great strengths with certain weapons. In the end I used Optimus Prime the rest of the way through the game with a Sniper rifle and a named bosses Sword(I will not spoil whos). Once the story mode is finished you ask: “whats next?” The game boasts a fifty numbered challenge mode that will keep your fingers busy for a while, and mine cramping. It is a nice tight little package, hopefully more content for the game comes out affordable to simply free.

In Closing:

Transformers Devastation is a fantastically fun game. Its only downsides is its effective short nature and rushed story. Sure you can say its all about the journey, but hopefully in the future we will see one that takes longer then this installment. I would say hold off from transforming right away for the game, its still worth getting, just at a more affordable cost. Otherwise if you are a hardcore Tranformer fan looking for the right reasons to buy this game. It has the vibe of the G1 with some pretty cell-shading effects to give that nice cartoon look. The music is freaking five star. Heavy riffs with the intense battles you roll and swing a sword in.

Recommended – Great experience, but due to the length wait until it is slightly cheaper.