Rock’em sock’em robots in disguise
By Jose Otero
Just 10 minutes into Transformers: Devastation I’m in a fistfight with the monstrous Devastator. This and other epic boss battles are lovingly authentic to the ‘80s Transformers TV show and movie, right down to the original voice actors and rocking power ballad wailing in the background. But the appeal of this Transformers game isn’t solely pre-Michael Bay nostalgia: Devastation does a good job of transforming my favorite robots in disguise into a fun and energetic action game.
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The polished cell-shaded look of these Generation One Autobots and Decepticons is amazing, with textures and animations that feel ripped right out of the 1986 movie. I could watch the detailed sequence where Optimus Prime changes into a big rig truck all day. Devastation nails the presentation angle, with colorful graphics that effectively capture the sights and sound of a decades-old cartoon adventure. The level of obsessive detail for everything Transformers is impressive, from the shiny metallic finish on each robot body down to the family station wagons and blocky cabs of the time sitting on the road. But the deeper I went into the story, the bland arenas and levels felt more and more forgettable. It’s disappointing, because the art direction nails the atmosphere, but buildings and textures are noticeably copy-and-pasted, to the point that I would have gotten lost without the in-game map telling me I hadn’t already been here.
Devastation’s combat is deep enough to keep me hooked, and its boss fights and tough-as-nails difficulty put me through a gauntlet of vicious Decepti-creeps. The enemies fall into predictable generic robot types, but PlatinumGames does a good job of making them an intimidating threat on the battlefield. I quickly learned not to write- off a pack of the blandly designed fodder ground soldiers, because they can end your good-guy robot campaign pretty quickly. The difficult bosses are no slouches either, forcing you to fight carefully and efficiently or end up in the scrap heap.
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Still, the nostalgia card is well-played, but this isn’t exactly Transformers the way your remember it because PlatinumGames introduces some exciting energy to the combat. I’ve never seen the Autobots fight the way they do in Devastation’s six-hour campaign. The high-octane action is a rad, over-the-top direction, where Cybertronian warriors can unleash blistering combos.
You can take any of the five playable Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Sideswipe, and Wheeljack) into any mission, and each is a good, distinct mix of power speed with a unique ability and fighting style that sets them apart. So while Bumblebee’s speedy melee strikes don’t do a ton of damage compared to Optimus Prime’s fierce sweeping trailer attack, his ability to link together vehicle attacks quickly makes him just as useful. Grimlock’s Dinobot moves stand out as some of the most ridiculous fun in Devastation. On top of being a an adorable robotic tyrannosaurus who runs like a duck, his primal attacks allows him to finish off an foe by clotheslining him and dragging him face-first through the ground.
The high-octane action is a rad, over-the-top direction…
Of course, watching a car zip into a mid-air backflip might look ridiculous, but these vehicle burst attacks are part of a deep combo system that’s easy to learn yet complex enough to quickly switch between melee attacks, gunplay, and vehicle attack forms. I could string together attacks easily enough, but there’s also complexity in the form of animation cancelling and lengthy combo chains — which are especially fun to pull off on towering bosses like Devastator. The robust combat system allows me to flex some creative muscle when beating up the Decepticons. Going from car-to-bot and back is part of a great core loop that never got old. What did get old were some driving sections, which try to set up exhilarating chase sequences, but ultimately fail because of poor design. Sometimes I’d overtake the boss I was chasing, only to get lost because I couldn’t quite tell where I was on these repetitive race tracks.
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But the strangest oddity of Devastation is the confusing gear and stat system that adds nothing but a quagmire of useless complexity. Every level constantly doles out heaps of unsatisfying and generic gear that bumps your stats up little by little. Even when I made a weapon that felt overpowered when I landed a hit, Devastation doesn’t turn into an easy romp because of how precise combos and dodge timing have to be in order to succeed in combat. Character perks can be added through tech upgrades, like buffs to raise the likelihood of rare weapon drops or increased energy recovery. The additional techs are useful, but the random nature behind it makes acquiring them mostly a matter of luck and patience. All of this pointless fiddling is the least interesting part of what is otherwise a good action game.
Transformers Devastation’s nostalgia-fueled fisticuffs are a fun way to revisit the classic TV show. Sophisticated combo-based combat delivers a fast and furious barrage of action, but the gear and perks systems left me wondering why they were there at all in a game all about over-the-top boss fights and robot dinosaur beatdowns.
