31 years after their debut on American airwaves, The Transformers are ready to defend Earth in their latest game, Transformers Devastation. Developer Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) have brought their signature brand of fast action combat in an ode to the classic rendition of the beloved robotic heroes. This results in a colorful and explosive celebration of 1980’s glory that will leave series fans overjoyed with it’s pitch perfect rendition of the saturday morning cartoon staple. But gameplay purists will quickly find a brief five hour long title that could use a tune up.
After a Insecticon army invades a peaceful city, The Transformers come to the rescue only to be attacked by Megatron and his Decepticon cronies. Discovering an ample amount of plasma energy emitting from the long dormant Proudstar ship, the evil Megatron plans to destroy the Earth and rebuild their lost planet of Cybertron. Now Optimus Prime and his heroic band of Autobots must prevent the destruction of their adopted planet while risking the eradication of their homeworld’s culture.
True to it’s source material, Transformers Devastation is written in the vain of a children’s television show. The narrative’s technobabble centric beats overcomplicate a simple story in endearing fashion. But where Devastation shines is in it’s characters. Optimus Prime delivers altruistic dialogue, Bumblebee quips, Starscream loudly antagonises, and Megatron blindly embraces his latest ill-conceived scheme. But what makes each cutscene such a joy is the excellent voice cast. Animation industry legends Frank Welker and Peter Cullen return to recording booth, enthusiastically performing their intentionally corny lines. If nothing else, Transformer Devastation replicates a satisfying episode of the 1984 animated series that fans won't want to miss.
As an action game, Transformers Devastation’s gameplay is mostly focused on lightening fast melee combat with light driving and shooting mechanics. Players can string together a series of two button combos before unleashing a devastating transformation attack, crushing, crashing, and even biting their opponents in their alternative forms. Properly timed dodges are rewarded with temporary slow motion, allowing the Autobots to discharge uninterrupted strikes and long distance weapon shots. A press of the shoulder button activates vehicle mode, enabling players to quickly zip over gaps and through treacherous paths before executing a deadly uppercut on a helpless enemy. Narrowly avoiding an attack to snipe a far away enemy is consistently satisfying throughout the game’s short five hour campaign.
Sadly, the game’s mechanics quickly become repetitive due to Devastation's small set of locations and enemies. This is slightly rectified by the game’s five playable characters and large amount of unlockable elemental weapons, abilities, and bonus perks. Though some items can only be used by certain autobots and a simple crafting mechanic encourages experimentation, the basic attack, dodge, transform combat is nearly identical regardless across all the autobots despite significant attribute differences. Brief driving, platforming, and perspective altered sequences are a welcomed addition but are almost immediately abandoned. Frequent boss fights attempt to test player’s skills but often feel overly long and cheap due to speedy opponents and an exclusively player controlled camera. Worse yet, the game’s colorful background, large explosions, and enormous bosses can often mask incoming attacks, making it difficult to react to the rapidly alternating battlefield. While the game’s snappy combat and tight controls deliver a highly engaging experience, the shallow collection of stages and enemies in combination with a problematic camera and distracting visuals undersell Devastation’s best elements.
Transformer Devastation is an amazing gift to long time fans wrapped in an above average game. A faithful script, original voice cast, and beautifully rendered models is everything the Fandom has been pining for. But as a game, Transformer Devastation is a short, simplistic, and repetitive game paired with an enjoyable but underdeveloped combat system. While Transfans will appreciate the overabundance of references, characters, and challenge modes, most will get their fill of the “robots in disguise” well before the credits roll.
6.0/10
