Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third-person shooter video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision. It is the sequel to the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, and directly follows the events of that game, as the Autobots struggle to defeat their Decepticon foes in a civil war for their home planet of Cybertron. The game was released on August 21, 2012, in North America and on August 24, 2012, in Europe for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. In 2016, it was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 8, in Australia and on August 9, in North America. Mercenary Technology developed the game's Windows version, while Fun Labs developed the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions.
Set as the prequel to Transformers: Prime, the game tells the story of the Transformers, fictional robotic life forms, and the final days of conflict on their home planet of Cybertron. An origins subplot for the Dinobots is also told, reimagined from the Transformers: Generation 1 continuity. Other subplots also tell an adapted story for several characters. Some of the voice cast from the 1984 series The Transformers return to reprise their roles, including Peter Cullen as Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Gregg Berger as Grimlock. Other actors return to reprise their roles from Transformers: War for Cybertron.
Fall of Cybertron received generally favorable reviews from critics. Critics generally felt that the game was true to the Transformers franchise and provided good fan service, but some thought that the story pace slowed at times. Gameplay was mostly praised, but some reviewers cited the removal of War for Cybertrons cooperative campaign as a low point. Graphics and audio also received broadly positive comments. A spin-off, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, which is partially set between War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, was released in June 2014. Later, following the expiration of the licensing deal between Activision and Hasbro, the game title was delisted from digital storefronts.
Gameplay
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, like its predecessor Transformers: War for Cybertron, is a third-person shooter. Players can control each transformer in both its robot and vehicle forms. Instead of a traditional health system, the game features a system similar to the Halo series of video games. The player character has both a regenerating shield and health, the latter of which can be replenished by a health pack. The weapon selection in Fall of Cybertron is expanded, with new weapons that can take on very significant upgrades, including one that allows a weapon to fire up to 75% faster. These are purchased through Teletran 1 kiosks found throughout the game.Every character has been given their own unique ability. For example, Jazz can fire a grappling hook to reach high or distant places, Optimus Prime can command the massive Metroplex, and the Combaticons have the ability to combine into the Decepticon Bruticus. Segments in which players control Bruticus are designed to accommodate its larger size. Scale is maintained so the character towers over enemies. The Autobot Grimlock, who transforms into a robotic Tyrannosaurus, is controlled differently than other characters. Carrying only a sword and shield, Grimlock cannot transform at will, instead accumulating rage as he battles opponents. When he gains enough rage, Grimlock is able to transform and inflict massive damage. The online cooperative campaign play featured in the first game has been removed in favor of levels that utilize each character's specific abilities.
The survival mode Escalation from War for Cybertron returns. In this mode players must defend against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. As gameplay progresses, new sections of the level open, which give players access to upgraded weapons and abilities. Franchise characters are used in Escalation, while players can customize one of four character classes on 9 different maps in competitive multiplayer. Autobot and Decepticon Transformers can be customized with parts earned through a ranking system or purchased through the game's marketplace. Several parts from famous Transformers can be used, such as heads, torsos, legs, and arms. Hundreds of pieces and color options are available. Players can also buy and upgrade their gear.
Synopsis
Setting
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a direct continuation of Transformers: War for Cybertron. Giant robotic life forms known as Transformers are at civil war. Two factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons, vie for control of their home world, Cybertron. The events of the previous game have left the planet unable to sustain life, and the Autobots, desperate to ensure the continued existence of the Transformer race, seek to flee the planet. The Decepticons, still bent on domination, will stop at nothing to ensure that the Autobots either submit to the Decepticons or are eliminated. Fall of Cybertron depicts the final battle between the two robot factions, which results in the desolation of their home world, forcing the Autobots to seek refuge in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The developer, High Moon Studios, hoped to show a darker tone than the original game. Game Informers Matt Miller stated that the game "changes and improves upon so many of the fundamental ideas that the developer considers the game a natural successor rather than a true sequel."Characters
Not a playable characterDownloadable content, playable only in multiplayer
Alternate skin available
Slag was renamed Slug in the game due to Slag being a derogatory term in some cultures
Playable in escalation
Plot
In the final days of the war for Cybertron, the Autobots attempt to flee their dying homeworld aboard the Ark, but their spacecraft comes under attack by the Decepticon flagship Nemesis. While Optimus Prime engages Megatron on the outer surface of the Ark, Bumblebee is sent by Ratchet to find and assist the former. Just as Megatron is about to fire a killing shot, Bumblebee jumps in and takes it for Optimus.Six days earlier, Optimus leads the defensive against the Decepticons, who are attacking the docked Ark. After assisting Perceptor, Ironhide, and Warpath, Optimus accidentally awakens the city-sized ancient Autobot Titan Metroplex, who helps turn the tide of the battle; he destroys two of the Decepticons' Warp Cannons but is seemingly killed by the last. While trying to destroy the last cannon himself, Optimus is captured by Starscream and the Combaticons, who bring him before Megatron. Just as Megatron is about to execute Optimus, Metroplex comes back online and crushes him to death. Starscream assumes leadership of the Decepticons and orders a tactical retreat. Despite their victory, the battle cost the Autobots all of their Energon, leaving them unable to fuel the Ark.
Meanwhile, Jazz, Cliffjumper and Sideswipe, tasked by Optimus with investigating the disappearance of the Lightning Strike Coalition Force - consisting of Grimlock, Slug, Sludge, Snarl and Swoop - track their signatures to the Sea of Rust. While investigating a Decepticon presence in the area, they find Sludge's remains and an enormous tower in a lake of Energon firing a bright beam into Cybertron's orbit, operated by the Decepticon scientist Shockwave. Shockwave explains that the tower is a Space Bridge, used by their ancestors to find and travel to other planets, and flees after commanding a swarm of Insecticons to attack the Autobots. After destroying the tower, Cliffjumper and Jazz escape with Sideswipe and report back to Optimus.
After the Autobots salvage the Energon from the tower, Starscream and Combaticon leader Onslaught devise a plan to ambush the Autobot transport carrying the Energon and reclaim it. After the Combaticons Vortex, Brawl and Blast Off destroy a bridge the transport must cross, Starscream leads an airstrike on the transport despite Onslaught's warning about its anti-aircraft cannons. Meanwhile, Swindle destroys the transport's wheel struts, causing it to activate its flight mode and take off. Starscream orders a retreat, but the Combaticons ignore him and board the transport, combining to form the giant Decepticon Bruticus. However, they inadvertently cause the transport to crash, losing half of the Energon, and Starscream arrests them for insubordination. Meanwhile, beneath the Decepticon capital of Kaon, Soundwave resurrects Megatron in a new, superior body. Megatron then challenges Starscream for leadership of the Decepticons during the latter's coronation and chases him away. After freeing the Combaticons, Megatron orders a full-scale assault on an Autobot stronghold in the ruins of their capital city, Iacon. There, Megatron finds the Decepticon Titan Trypticon, trapped in stasis lock since his defeat at Optimus' hand, but his intact power core allows Megatron to permanently transform him into the Nemesis.
Seeking revenge against Megatron, Starscream infiltrates Shockwave's tower laboratory and finds an imprisoned Grimlock. Starscream offers him freedom in exchange for his loyalty, but Grimlock escapes by throwing Starscream into the restraint controls. As he fights his way through the lab in search of Swoop, Slug, and Snarl, Grimlock learns that they were all captured while investigating the Space Bridge in the Sea of Rust and subsequently experimented on by Shockwave, giving them new alternate forms. Shockwave reveals that he is building a new Space Bridge to find another planet brimming with energy for the Decepticons to plunder, and based Grimlock's team's new forms on creatures he found on one such planet. After rescuing his teammates from the Insecticon swarm leaders Hardshell, Kickback and Sharpshot, Grimlock contacts Optimus and informs him of the situation, then attempts to destroy the Space Bridge himself but is re-captured by Shockwave. He escapes by transforming into his dinosaur form and biting off Shockwave's left arm, then destroys the tower. This destabilizes the portal in Cybertron's orbit, giving the Autobots an opportunity to leave via the Ark before it closes.
After Metroplex sacrifices himself by transferring all of his Energon to the Ark, the Autobots make a run for the portal but are intercepted by the Nemesis. Soundwave leads the first wave of troops onto the Ark through giant cables and deactivates the ship's automated defense system, while Jetfire destroys the cables and helps Jazz blast Bruticus off the ship after the Combiner destroyed the Ark