War for Cybertron Demo out

[NaitoKage]

I believe the title says it all, it's a online multiplayer demo but you can only play Scout and Soldier class. Very little customization at all. Not sure if it's out for PS3 but it is for X box live.

[Alak]

Here's something I wrote up:

War for Cybertron Preview
By Alak

Intro

Whether they intend to purchase the game or not, Transformers fans have been keeping an eye out for this summer’s release of “War for Cybertron”. We have never had a Transformers game that adequately fulfilled our expectations, yet, expectations for this particular one appears to be very high among the fandom. The similarity to the G1 designs is an obvious contrast to the infamous “Bayformers” and brings an optimistic nostalgia to the viewers. Some gamers are even saying that this new installment will revive the Transformers’ roles in video gaming similar to what “Arkham Asylum” did to Batman. Does this comparison hold true or will “War for Cybertron" become another disappointment? Thanks to the recent demo released for the Xbox 360, I can give you some insight.

Story

“War for Cybertron” takes place an unspecified time before the Great War finds its way to Earth. Optimus Prime is not the leader of the Autobots, and the lovable cast from the G1 is not completely assembled. Based on the official website, key characters such as Jazz, Wheeljack, Brawn, Shockwave, and many more are missing from the campaign as playable characters. As for the story mode itself, we only know that we have two campaigns (Decepticon and Autobot) to choose from with five chapters each. Since the demo does not provide any missions from the story mode, I am unable to elaborate any further at the moment.

Gameplay

What we were given, however, was a look at how the finalized version of the game’s multiplayer will be like. The demo provides Team Deathmatch as well as Conquest with the option to play on a regional server or a worldwide one. We are also allowed two classes with limited customization: scout and soldier. Each class can hold two weapons from a list of four, a specific melee weapon, a specific grenade, two abilities, and three special abilities obtained from experience points (only 2 available in the demo). Since the experience cap was at level 3, most of the special abilities were unable to be used. Killstreaks were also disabled in the demo but will be class-specific for the final release.

The controls are fairly simple for those accustomed to shooters. My friend is a fan of shooters but has little interest in the Transformers franchise, and he managed to obtain a positive kill/death ratio for his very first game. The aim sensitivity felt proper and directing your character model around the map called Molten felt natural, as well. While in vehicular mode (which is easy to pop in and out of), movement can feel a bit clunky sometimes and driving through turns takes practice. However, in the heat of battle, you will find yourself driving into walls through the corridors. The targeting reticule is not invasive but not too difficult to see at the same time. The zoom view is a bit strange for the pistol, and while the sniper rifle’s zoom is a bit overdone, you get used to it. Unlike games like Modern Warfare, Killzone, Halo, Resistance, and others, your gun’s bullets do not instantly hit their target. While this brings a sense of realism like Battlefield 2, firing the sniper rifle across the map can be frustrating sometimes. Trying to predict the enemy’s movement patterns takes skill, but it also takes up ammo and time. On the other hand, the realism is much appreciated with splash damage as I can finish off a foe by blasting my tank’s cannon at a doorway when he’s right around the corner.

Speaking of realism, it was a nice touch to see how High Moon Studios balanced their characters. Scouts are quick and agile saboteurs, but they are killed much quicker than their bulkier soldier counterparts. Melee strikes normally take two hits against a healthy scout, but it is safer to keep away from the soldiers since their armor can withstand much more. I learned that the hard way. I leveled both of these classes to the level 3 cap, and I can easily walk out of a victory with the most kills and least deaths on my record with either one. One potential problem is that higher leveled characters have an advantage over newer players due to the extra abilities. For example, my scout can maintain his invisibility much longer and my soldier can take more explosive damage before dying. Leveling up is extremely quick and easy but more experienced gamers such as myself can escalate quicker than a casual gamer, thus, having more advanced abilities.

One problem that I encountered every now and then was lag. Internet lag plagues a lot of games which leads developers to release dedicated servers. While this is only a demo, I really hope that lag won’t be much of an issue, but it affects your aiming and can lead to lots of wasted bullets. I have also been kicked out of games due to lag, and I have also quit matches out of frustration due to how much lag interfered with something as simple as character movement.

Presentation

If you have ever seen or played Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War, or Arkham Asylum, then you’ll know how beautiful the Unreal Engine can be. Now, I was playing the demo on my friend’s 720p television instead of the 1080p one in the living room, but even with this in mind I could not help but feel underwhelmed as the title screen appeared. The smoke and light looked a bit pixilated and the space debris popped in and out of view rather than floating along seamlessly. I thought that High Moon Studios lacked in effort when designing the graphics and I sincerely hoped that the game itself did not look this bad. The character creation screen even looked dated as the models themselves had jagged lines and questionable detail. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed…

…then I played the game. Every bad thought that I had at the title screen vanished as soon as I started playing. Sure, in the heat of battle you tend to overlook graphical details. That didn’t matter, because I marveled at the level’s detail and the flawless transitions from robot to vehicular form. The explosions and fluid splatters looked wonderful and the bitmapping was very stable. I noticed no tears or flattening at all, and the frame rate held steady when I jumped into the fray with five players blasting each other apart in a single room. The effects of stun grenades are fascinating as the screen fizzles and goes awry. The lighting is superb regarding shadows and gunfire flares. The HUD is kept at the edges so that you can keep track of your health, score, ammunition, and reticule while enjoying the splendid graphics at the same time. If I had one complaint, it would be that the character model is a bit too far on the left hand side. It leaves a noticeable blind spot that I myself have taken advantage of when sneaking up on other players.

Sound is important for any shooter, and “War for Cybertron” does not fail in this department. I chose to play with the television speakers instead of the surround sound, and I still was able to pick up footsteps from enemy players behind me. High Moon Studios did a good job with distance correlation, and I know just how far an enemy or a skirmish is taking place. With all of the invisible scouts running around, you definitely want to keep your volume up so that you don’t get stabbed in the back with an energon sword. Each weapon has its own unique sound, and it is possible to know what weapon is being fired in your direction even if you can’t see it. I know this helped me in deciding whether to stick around and fight or transform and roll out.

Overall

I had no intention of buying “War for Cybertron” for anything other than its story. After playing the demo, I really cannot wait to get my hands on my preordered copy so that I can rock the world with Jazz online. The gameplay feels familiar, and it should if you have ever played a shooter in your life. As someone once said, “this game is the crazy lovechild of Gears of War, Modern Warfare, and Unreal Tournament….” I’m not complaining, because all three of those are great games. If High Moon Studios had to use a little inspiration to make a great Transformers game, then so be it. “War for Cybertron” exceeded my expectations so far, and now that I know that I can smash the competition online, I am more than ready for the epic journey of the campaign mode. June 22 is the drop date, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting (outside Best Buy).

[SilverfromOZ]

Nice Really glad to hear that you were impressed by it Alak I was happy to hear the discussions with the developers early on where they said things like "we want to make a good game and wrap Transformers around it" or something like that. Meaning, they got the most important thing down early.. gameplay. I still haven't finished either of two movie games, just because it didn't drag me in. I loved the controls and the way things worked, but the gameplay was pretty much "blow this thing up" or "collect these tokens" in between sections of cut scene which never really happened in the movies. Admittedly I've never been a fan of "movie adaptation" games for that very reason and thats why I'm so excited about this. We know where the story ends up in a very vague sense, but we don't know what happens along the way to get there. Very exciting indeed

[NaitoKage]

He does have a point on the gun fire. I mostly ended up using shotguns and swords with close range stuff, while some friends preferred using Soldier class instead of the fast Scout class.

I did notice some things felt.. awkward. Hover is slow and kinda pointless, invisibility is nice but your seen when charging the plasma gun which takes awhile to charge anyway. Vehicle modes feel very weird, as they all hover, but when you pull the left trigger to accelerate in Scout class your wheels drop down and feel more like a high speed car. Boosting tank feels weird, but is required as tanks are too slow on such a large map. Melee attacks could be hard to nail and if your first starting off you will die alot.

I think out of the abilities allowed the most I used was Whirlwind which allows you to spin your mace and entire body into a one or two player kill as long as your close enough to land it, and Dash which was great for mobility since it could be done after a double jump in the air.Kinda reminded me of the Dash from Armada. There were alot of weapons that could wreck havoc and drive you insane though.. Scramblers being the worse as the screen just went insane.

[Alak]

I feel that the easiest way to rack up a great killstreak is to go invisible, wait until an enemy is up close, and then shotgun -> melee combo. That usually kills off a scout if you're close enough. Soldiers are much harder, but I can finish them off by going into vehicle mode and spraying them to death with my assault rifle. The special abilities that I used (forgot what they're called exactly) are Backstabber (increased melee damage from behind) and Ghost (prolonged invisibility). Dunno if those are the right names, but I find them to be pretty useful.

As for the soldier class, I maxed it out really quick and I can put in work with it. I just prefer the scout for Team Deathmatch since it's more fluid in combat.

***EDIT***

I'm not sure if anyone else suffers from this too, but I often click the right thumbstick by accident while in the middle of a firefight. I'm so busy trying to focus the reticule to kill the other player that I accidentally push too hard and interrupt my flow by doing so. Gotta learn to stop doing that...

[NaitoKage]

A friend of mine was experiencing that issue with the thumbstick, though it was the first time she used a 360 controller last night. Didn't do that bad. Switching the control scheme helped her since it was a transformation issue. Yeah, I tend to stick to Scout and using Health Matrix and Backstabber on the Scout. on things like Conquest I seem to rack up 23 to 31 kills at the end.

[Alak]

Ok, so I have a second XBox and another TV since my friend is out of town for the summer. I decided to play the WFC demo on his system and I think High Moon studios meant to have this game played in HD. The TV uses component cables and is 20.5" diagonal, and I struggle to read the text on there. The graphics still look pretty awesome, but trying to read people's names in the lobby is pretty hard. I noticed that this is difficult with some other HD games like Arkham Asylum and Dante's Inferno, but some games like Modern Warfare 2 look normal. I don't know how many buyers have HD televisions, but there's certainly a difference in case anyone is on the fence regarding upgrading.

[NaitoKage]

Er.. yeah, that issue has been around since 2006-2007, most noticed in Lost planet and Deadrising. It was possible to read the text but you would of needed a high end LARGE tv atleast 30 to 42 inches or more (Though to be honest my Standard def 30 inch tv read it clearer then the 42 inch rear projection) Easiest way to get around the problem is either a HDtv or a computer monitor, as the X box 360 does support VGA at wide or full resolution. Most games these days however are made for HDtv as it's become standard television and prices have gone down on the sets.

Only people who would probably still buy standard def tvs now are either security companies (Many still record onto vhs), or hobbyist for old media and game equipment. I personally fit the latter of the two.

[Darkshadow14]

Drats...I need to get a xbox 360 or Ps3 soon!

[Alak]

Well, the game is also being released for the Nintendo Wii and DS as well as the PC. I believe the Nintendo version is developed by a different company but the story should be the same and the Wii even gets an exclusive campaign level. The DS is supposed to have 11 exclusive characters...including Grimlock.

[Nurann]

Wait, it's on Wii? YES!!!! THANK YOU PRIMUS!!!! XD

[Darkshadow14]

Well, shoot at least i have a PC. Though I'm sure it'd be more fun on any other system. lol