A Hasbro spokesperson recently confirmed that a sequel to this year’s Transformers: War For Cybertron is in the works and due for release roughly round 2012, so either they are aiming to make it one truly mind blowing game or they haven’t actually got anything to work with yet other than a piece of paper with a moderate budget written on it.
Either way this is exciting news because despite the mixed reception TWFC got, it was one of the first games we’ve played in a long time that actually managed to nail the super tough, clunky yet agile feeling a 10ft mech like Optimus Prime should have. If you haven’t given this game a push through its paces I would recommend picking a copy up second hand somewhere or renting it out for a few days, you’ll be presently surprised I think.
For me and probably most of the people who bought it in the first week or so, getting that mech sensation right was far more important than a highly developed enemy AI, or a heart stopping single player story. So now that High Moon Studios have ticked the boxes of visceral gratification and bridged the gap between the movies and the cartoons, fans now look to the studio to bring the remaining game elements up to scratch. I for one cannot wait to see what they come up with because the multiplayer online had me and a few friends hooked for months despite the absence of a much needed patch. I just hope it rises to the challenge the industry has jokingly made for it: the robot sister to Gears Of War.
All that aside though, one curious thing we can ponder is where exactly are the developers planning to take this sequel? Surely they can’t stick with the “War For Cybertron 2” title…because that war ended with the conclusion of the campaign, or at least on Cybertron it did anyway. High Moon have a huge universe of choice as to what direction they want to take their slick new reinvention of the Transformers franchise. They might be planning to follow the mythos fairly chronologically and maybe exercise some creative justice on dark spots in the literature. For me the next step I want them to take is introduce a totally new range of settings for multiplayer and single player traversal. Stomping across the canyons on another eerie and empty planet , or diving into underwater temples.
A feature like dual wielding would be very well received, and perhaps….*clears throat awkwardly* some new classes? Who wouldn’t go ape*** for a helicopter class? I can just imagine clicking all my robotic parts into place as I tumble through the air with the enemy blasting up at me…
If by some small chance High Moon want to beef up their online community, then they might consider allowing for more robust customisation and embrace some new mechanics, taking a leaf out of some other developer’s books.
As long as they keep the good stuff they’ve actually got right the same, like the guns (the glorious sounds!!!), the transformations and how the Autobots and Decepticons handle, they’d really struggle to make a mess of the sequel. Like really struggle.
There is a whole web of issue with the first title, but the core gameplay energy that lurks amongst all the tangled programming is absolutely unmissable. Don’t wreck it now High Moon, you’ve got two years to perfect this.
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