Transformers Devastation marks the first time Platinum Games, known for the Bayonetta series, the upcoming Star Fox Zero for Nintendo and Scalebound for Microsoft, have tackled the robots-in-disguise franchise, taking over from High Moon Studios. For the 80’s kids and die-hard Generation 1 fans, it is a tactical strike upon the nostalgia gland. For everyone else, it will be a rather frustrating experience.
The story that Platinum have come up with for Transformers Devastation is, like the kid’s TV show that preceded it, rather open-and-shut. The Decepticons are trying to turn Earth into a new Cybertron and the Autobots are going to put a stop to it. Case closed. Literally whatever Megatron is up to, just punch him in his metal mullet and that’s the end of that nefarious scheme.
The story plays out in various cutscenes which are, I must say, the most incredible approximation of the Transformers Gen 1 cartoon I’ve ever seen in a video game. They even got an awful lot of the show’s original cast to reprise their roles for an extra layer of authenticity. Outside of that, you interact with the world by punching, shooting and running over everything in sight.
High Moon’s excellent Transformers titles War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron were a clear inspiration for Platinum’s take but where High Moon had a clear focus on shooting, Platinum play to their Bayonetta-y strengths by turning the game into more of a brawler, allowing the player to transform from robot to vehicle and back again multiple times during a given fight. Vehicle attacks are used as combo finishers. You can also drive around to build up a bit of speed and steer directly into your opponent to begin a powerful melee beatdown that even the toughest Decepticon shields cannot withstand. Cribbing from themselves, Platinum have also dropped Bayonetta’s Witch Time mechanic into the game which lets a player who successfully dodges an enemy attack slow time for a few seconds, leaving the attacker vulnerable to terrible, terrible damage.
The melee combat is reasonably varied without going crazy and there’s lots of weapons like swords and hammers to keep the proceedings lively. You can also jump between Autobots during missions and they all have a very distinct feel and playstyle.
The shooting does make a return appearance but the focus isn’t really on it and it becomes a hassle due to only having manual targeting available and most enemies being able to move around with incredible speed. Stick the melee, it’s much more satisfying and and far easier to pull of. I found myself wishing for a lock-on on more than one occasion due to small armies of flying Decepticons who could find just the right spot in the sky to flummox the camera.
As long as Transformers Devastation doesn’t deviate from the standard “here’s a bunch of Decepticons, punch them mercilessly” trope, it’s a fun and solid experience. Whenever it tries to branch out from that, it begins to miss the mark on a lot of different fronts that seriously hamper the whole game.
Boss battles, for instance, are an absolute nightmare. You’re usually thrown into the ring against a well-known Decepticon like Devastator. These bosses are given the old “more health is a fair substitute for difficulty” treatment and, a lot of the time, if I actually managed to land it a hit it didn’t feel earned. Instead, it felt like maybe I’d happened to catch the villain at a vulnerable point in their animation cycle. These boss battles should be the game’s real highlight and are instead a maddening traipse to get through.
Thankfully, the punishment doesn’t go on too long with the main campaign clocking in at a rather anaemic six hours. Each encounter is ranked and you can rerun any level you like if you think you can do it better the second time. You can also jump into side-quests if you think they’ll help you rank up.
I would find this one hard to recommend to even the most die-hard Transformers fan. You can upgrade your weapons, but the whole system is confusing and doesn’t feel very effective. The developers re-use environments over and over the way Looney Tunes animators used to and there’s a system for levelling up that forces you to stick to one Autobot the entire game which is bizarre considering how much more enjoyable it is to jump between characters. While the basic combat is solid, the multitude of problems get in the way and keep this title from singing the way it could have.
Transformers Devastation is a game that attempts to skate by on fan service alone. It’s plan to accomplish this is to take everything it knows you’re going to hate and trying to disguise them by giving you lots of Decepticons to smack around. It actually feels like the Transformers franchise has been so deeply raided for nostalgia by Michael Bay and all the attendant tie-ins his films generated that the work Platinum have put in to make the game recall the show’s glory days is diminished.
Like I said in the intro, fans of G1 Transformers will be thrilled to bits. Everyone else is going to wonder what the hell Platinum were thinking.
Review Score: 5.0 out of 10
Highlights: Amazing visuals look just like the cartoon; G1 cast; Great melee
Lowlights: Aggravating boss fights; Ranged combat a chore
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Activision
Released: September 27, 2015
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Reviewed on PlayStation 4
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