So many levers!
Fall of Cybertron takes place right after the first game with the Autobots trying to leave their planet, Cybertron after their war with the Decepticons. It is a desperate time for both factions as the life giving energon is almost completely depleted. The one thing I feel the game does extremely well is the sense of urgency throughout all of the Autobot missions. The game has some really awesome set pieces but moving from combat room to combat room for hours does get very boring.
The first game was praised for finding a really good balance of robot and vehicle modes. This is no different here. Sniping Decepticreeps from a far only to quickly morph into a jet and finish them off with a swift punch in the head feels fluid and doesn't halter character movement one bit. Gunplay in robot mode has also been improved by a weapon hand switch being implemented. It allows you to shoot around corners while still keeping you in safety behind cover. It's a shame that only a few levels actually rewards you for using your vehicle form. The flying sections of the game are huge wide open sections which allow flight type characters to wreck havoc from above while ground type are only used in long tubular sections due to much of the games combat being close quarters. I just didn't feel the need to transform in a transformers game... That feels wrong.
Scattered around all the levels are weapon upgrade stations. You use credits dropped by enemies to buy upgrades. You can also switch out your weapons to your preferences. Once you find a weapon that you enjoy do not be surprised if you use that gun for the extent of the game. Which is very effective, but also adds to the repetitiveness of the entire game.
One thing they made sure to market were the Dinobots. Hell yeah! Who doesn't love transforming dinosaurs? This is probably the biggest let down. The Dinobots don't come into the game until about two-thirds into the game, and they do not stay for long at all. During the entire game the other Autobots reference how strong Grimlock is. So when you finally do get to play as him, they make sure you feel like this powerful, unstoppable brute. Grimlock is a melee only character so he plays a lot differently than the others. This is an extremely refreshing part of the game. Just swinging a giant sword around building up his rage to transform into a mechanical T-rex is one of the best part of the entire game. It just doesn't last very long at all. Don't expect to do any of the awesome stuff from the trailers. Like take down Bruticus or fight along side Optimus and the others. The Dinobot sections take place on a whole different part of Cybertron. So if this is a major selling point for you, just know that it is somewhat underwhelming.
The multiplayer has not changed much at all from the first game. There are a few standard game modes to choose from: Team Deathmatch, CTF, etc. You get to choose a class and customize it's armor and weapons. As you kill opponents and complete objectives you level up which unlock weapons/upgrades as well as high level armor pieces. You also get credits that you can use to buy the other armor pieces. It's a pretty standard multiplayer mode. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either.
Fall of Cybertron is in now way a bad game, but in no way is it amazing. It is just extremely... Average. The game has some awesome set pieces and cinematics. You just have to wade through a lot of repetition to even get to them. If they had spread all of these moments throughout instead of just the beginning and end, it wouldn't have felt as tiring as it did. If you're a transformers fan and enjoyed the multiplayer from the first game, you may want to think about picking this up. If not, I suggest a rental.
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