This week Activision and High Moon were kind enough to invite us out to a demo event showcasing Transformers Dark of the Moon. TFW2005 was present and got some in-game time with both single and multi-player. Read on to check our thoughts, a couple pics from the event, and see some new promo images! Overall
First thing to note, this has a very War for Cybertron feel, they are using that engine as the basis for this game. So if you liked the game play in WFC, you will dig this.
One thing that has changed is the use of Stealth Force technology. To drive, you hold in one of the top buttons. That’s the equivalent of driving “fast” or boost style in WFC. It puts you in regular vehicle mode, and you scoot around the boards as you would normally. When you let go, your vehicle mode half transforms back into Stealth Mode, and your extra weapons are available. You can then strafe around and take out enemies that way. While in Stealth Mode, there is a target lock feature that allows you to stay focused on an enemy while unloading your vehicle ammo at them. It’s a big part of the game, because vehicle ammo is more abundant (or unlimited), and you take less damage in vehicle mode. It seems as if some levels will be designed for this fight style, because taking damage in an open field in robot mode will end your try real quick.
While this is based on WFC, the bots have been redesigned to be a bit slimmer visually, taking on the movie aesthetic. The blocky bots of WFC are not present, unless they are supposed to be like that (think Warpath). Staying with visual style – you feel “bigger” in this game. This is based on Earth, so as a Transformer, you are towering over structures. In War for Cybertron, you had a perspective that you were where you were supposed to be. Doors, buildings, etc were all in proportion to your size. Here though, you are hopping onto rooftops and peeking over buildings, and you can feel that.
Double jump – gone. You are grounded in a real world feel. So a heavy Megatron has a hard time jumping onto rooftops, while Bumblebee can get around a bit quicker and easier. Makes getting out of close combat a bit tougher.
Melee, a little less powerful. I was always a “dash and button mash” kinda guy in WFC, and it doesn’t seem to have the same oomph here. They don’t land as easily, and when they do, they are not as powerful. So MP strategies for some folks will need to be adjusted.
Single playerPretty standard fare. I was still getting used to the new button arrangement and fighting in Stealth Mode on the test level I played, so I didn’t get very far. Lots of hills and valleys, with Bumblebee needing to drive through, stop, stealth it up, target-lock and take out drones on plateaus. It’s not as straight forward as WFC was, so you can easily find yourself caught out in the open getting nailed from several directions. How you handle that is a new aspect to the game and will need some practice early on. However, once you are used to the new game-play style, most WFC players should have no problem running through campaign mode and having fun with it.
MultiplayerLots of aspects are present from WFC Multiplayer. There are 4 classes, similar to the WFC model. They use in-game models, which you can then rename and re-color. The menu system is almost the same. Weapon choices and power-up add-ons are also present like WFC, gaining more options as you build up your class points. There were multiple maps, an urban based Detroit, and a South American village. Real world environments will be present pulling from the game. The village map was a bit small compared to what I was used to, but the fact that you can’t double jump over every building, and need to go in and out of every row of houses, makes it feel a lot larger. However, as a jet, you can see almost all of the battle field from high up. I just parked myself in a corner and launched some missiles as Starscream and took a couple guys out. I can see close combat with weapons, and/or stealth fighting, being the way a lot of fighting goes down. Attempting to melee can get your ass kicked if they back up and weapon-hit you, and it’s difficult to get out of tight areas with the more real-world speed and movement of the bots, especially if you are a slower class. This isn’t a bad thing, but methods for MP will need to be adjusted for some.
3DS VersionI have to say, I sucked at this when I gave it a shot. I haven’t played handheld games in years, and the controls threw me for a loop. But the rep was kind enough to lay something out for me. I asked – what would Transformers fans want to hear about this game. He responded very simply – Driving only game – Vehicle mode and Stealth Force only. 2 SKUs – Autobot and Decepticon – with cross over stories. Exclusive character – Lockdown. So, if you are into the handheld scene, this is what to expect. As the other coverage comes online, I will link to someone who better represents the intricacies of the game. I also believe that the Wii game will be the same as the 3ds version.
Overall, it was FUN. I am not a super serious gamer, but I played War for Cybertron thoroughly in single and mutliplayer modes. This keeps the fun aspects of playing a Transformers game intact, while not completely cloning the last game. It’s visually good, environments are great and the bots look and feel good. The story for single player is not a clone of the movie either, its a prologue, basically telling a story in between movies 2 and 3. So we get some fleshing out of the movie-verse which is great for fans of it. Bottom line, if you are a fan of Transformers and a casual gamer you will dig it. If you are a hardcore gamer, compare it to War for Cybertron in relation to Multiplayer, and you will have an idea of what you are getting.
Oh – and there are characters in the game, playable in MP, that we haven’t seen yet. I’ll let that go (or someone else spoil it). But keep an eye out for that. 🙂
We will update this post later today with additional info. Feel free to ask questions in the discussion thread, and we will answer them as we can. We’ve laid out what we think was the most important, but everyone has different angles they want addressed.
We’d like to thank Activision and High Moon for letting us give the game a whirl.
Pre-Order your copy today, it releases on June 14th!
Check out all our Transformers Dark of the Moon The Game coverage below:
- Dark of the Moon Game Achievements
- Dark of the Moon The Game Sean Miller Interview
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Preorder And Launch Bonuses Revealed
- New Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Images And Information
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Covers
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Xbox 360 Game Demo Video
- Dark of the Moon Video Game Gamestop Preorder Exclusive Sideswipe
- Dark of the Moon 3DS and Wii Stealth Force Edition
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game @ GDC
- Transformers Dark of the Moon The Game Hands On!
- New Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Game Trailer Reveals Characters
- High Quality Images Of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Game
- Update – Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Poster And Shockwave Render
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Activision Press Release
- Transformers Dark of the Moon Game Teaser Trailer
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon Video Game Website Now Active
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Game Images And Information
- Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Video Games Release Date Revealed
Shadow25
Does anyone know of any VA confirmations thus far, other than Cullen and Harnell? That's all I could gather from the demo vids released so far, and also that Robert Foxworth is NOT Ratchet… I personally hope Fred Tatasciore will voice Megatron in the game.
Shockwave69
when is the release date again?
Paxtin
Exactly my point. See in my fictinal game, there would be more of an emphasis on mele combat in robot-mode. So flyers would have to be penalized in order to balance the gameplay with ground based characters.
If you want to play as a flyer, you'd have to learn how to play them as a class. Not just cause you think it's cool.
Of course, this is all based on a fictional game in my head that will never get made.
Sideswipe80
Is this game going to get it's own forum like WFC?
Toxicon
Gotta agree. They fly much too fast to really do any damage on a fly-by. Hovering is necessary to even fight from the air.
Plus it looks cool. Starscream with Thrust wings? That's awesome.
SPLIT LIP
Aerial advantage means shit in WFC without the hover mode. It's damn-near impossible to hit anything without hovering in jet mode.
Toxicon
Has not been confirmed yet.
Wadeledge
May have already been answered but there is a bit in there about how you can recolor the characters in multiplayer. Are these colors stuck to a limited pallet for both sides or is it a full pallet? ie. Can I color my Autobot white or black and have my decepticon be colored red?
Paxtin
^
Yes, exactly my thoughts.
soundwaverulls
I think that would be a good way to ballance it.
mayhap it could concentrate on range.
Say if in Stealth force mode you could fight at a distance and close rang but the closer you get the more the bast starts to damage you and in Robot mode your long range weaponsd are weak so you would concentrate more on close range combat in robot mode.
cobratron415
Yea i don't really like the idea of flyers bein stationary in the air like sky tanks…they should behave like real jets no matter which mode…
the way RotF did jets was perfect…u fly, transform and hover, shoot or look around, then transform back and fly away…there's really no other way it should be done…
it was kinda acceptable in WFC given the environment and vehicle types but in DotM it seems really cheesy
Snake_eyes1975
MUuuahahahaa…….THATS….a fucking hilarious list dude…
I just watched a vid about armada game.. It looks GREAT but spend 5 minutes and check out this vid…its SO funny..This guy sucks at it SO bad its hilarious
YouTube – Transformers Armada PS2 Game Review‏
Anyway, I'll pick up Armada..It looks Real cool, Im pretty impressed with the 1st person view for aiming…and the mini con links..Looks great, thanks for the recommendation
Mechafire
Fuck yes it was good. It's easily one of the best Transformers game ever released. Here's how I would rate them:
1. War for Cybertron
2. Revenge of the Fallen
3. Dark of the Moon (based on the gameplay I've seen, might and probably will change in the future)
4. PS2 Armada game
5. Testicular torture
6. 2007 Transformers movie game
Snake_eyes1975
No way dude. No offense, Really, But Ive been a Gamer sooo Long From the 2600, Commodore 64 to PC, and Xboxs, and PSs… WHat your seeing here, is what you get this late in the process. This game has prolly been gold for awhile, as its soppossed to be shipping in, what? 2 weeks or so?
Its not just the numerical stats of balancing so much.
It looks GREAT…The vid with bumblebee fightting LOOKS great, but it still doesent seem as "transformery" as ROTF. Im tellin ya…I LOVE that game. Just played it again today to see how it played compared to the DOTM vids I seen.
I still prefer ROTF game. I played WFC…beat it in SP, Coop, and whipped ass in multiplayer…..Prolly played it 2 weeks tops. Me and my online buddys still host ROTF games every sunday night, and its just a blast. But we've been playin it…so I mean…were REALLLY good. We play all the modes…Its just a solid fun game that dosent get old for us. we all have WFC…noone touches it anymore.
Fans of WFC are gunna LOVE this game. No doubt…But im just more a fan of ROTF than WFC, or from what I see, DOTM.
What Im interested in is the Armada game some people are talking about. Ive never even heard of it, and in this very post I said shit that bragged about playing games since the 2600…..Was it any good?
Paxtin
Commenting on the whole issue of how developers don't seem to know how to balance the differences between robot and alt-mode, I think what would really help is if they actually worked more of a mele combat mechanic into the gameplay.
Most of your firepower options would be while in your weaponized alt-mode, while Robot-mode would focus more on close range combat. You could still use a long range weapon in robot-mode,(Like an arm cannon or whatnot.) but most of your more powerful firepower would be in your "stelth force-mode."
It'd give you a reason to use both modes, based on the situation. If you just stayed in alt-mode laying down fire, someone could still drive up, transform, and punch a hole through your hood. You'd have to transform too and fend them off in robot-mode.
Least that's how I think it should be handled.
[EDIT]
In the case of flyers, I do think hovering should be limited to robot-mode, since they already have aerial advantage.
Toxicon
To be fair, in WFC, that was more or less the only way flyers could even fight.
They broke like twigs, goddamn
EDIT: Also, about my health gripe earlier, I think the bots in this game have Average FPS Health, in that they take damage and the screen gets all red, but then heal when not being shot to shit. So basically, the health is more similar to ROTF than WfC, from what I can gather.
Snake_eyes1975
I don't like the hover stuff like in wfc. There's no difference between a tank and a plane except one has an altitude advantage without getting into armor. I like the planes when there is forward movement, and rotf could hover out of plane mode for a short time..I liked that. If you've played wfc a lot you see all the planes circle strafing..
Toxicon
I just hope flyers aren't gimped in the health department like they were in WfC. They were so fragile; a shot grazing past another guy on the other side of the map would kill me.
Opticron Primal
Why is that bad? Bumblebee's attacking him, he's attacking back.
Snake_eyes1975
I see a Flyer…probably starscream towards the end…just kinda doin the hover strafe towards the end….