Exciting combat and style suffer from confusingly useless ideas
By: Ryan Ramakrishnan
Reviewed on PlayStation 4
“Transformers: Devastation” comes packed with impressive visuals, music and voice acting, all of which delightfully re-create the likes of cartoons in the “Transformers” franchise. Gameplay is quite good too thanks the action packed, combo-based combat Platinum Games is known for. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a little repetition in its combat and its ambitious systems fall short.
Story
The plot of “Transformers: Devastation” isn’t overly deep not compelling. The plot takes backseat to the action-packed gameplay. With that being said, the story of Megatron leading his Deceptacons to more or less take over, as the Autobots, lead by Optimus Prime, fight back maintains enough of the charm and delight that the animated series it borrows from created.
GameplayIn the fashion of action games from Platinum Games, “Transformers: Devastation” is a joy to play. The combat is fast and exhilarating. At its core, the combat isn’t overly complex but it can become deep with the great challenge the game offers.
You have a light and a heavy attack, as well as the ability to transform into the vehicle your Transformer has access to. There is also the dodge roll, which is necessary to pull off combos. Dodging is critical because of how, if done at the right time, the game temporarily slows down, allowing you a window to let loose and do some damage.
The unique thing about the combat is what makes you feel like a Transformer in all its glory. That is of course transforming. With a choice of five Autobots, there is a variety of playstyles to tackle. None of these are unique enough to truly make a large difference but they do have some individual abilities and skills to make for a different change of pace in some ways.
During combat, and even when moving from point A to B and so fourth, you may transform into whichever vehicle is unique to your choice Transformer with a hold of a button. This also directly affects how combat plays out. The main point is that you get a vehicle attack. This comes after you pull of a quick combo. A button prompt will allow for one to two heavy hits of your vehicle, even if you were on foot during the combo. This adds to the flare of the generally rapid melee combat, as it keeps the action moving fast.
Each Transformer has his own melee weapons but also guns to choose from. There is no denying the feel of the melee combat and how satisfying it is to just swing away and pull off a few combos. I found the gunplay to be far less exciting. While they helped with crowd control, rarely did I want to use the game’s many guns because they didn’t feel great like the melee weapons and were so much less fun to use. If the game didn’t throw enemies with projectiles at you so often, I’d never use the guns.
The weapons are personalizable at the beginning of each level in “Transformers: Devastation” and that is nice; however, this is also home to the game’s potentially deep but ultimately unnecessary and oddly confusing systems. I was admittedly alarmed by the amount of weapons I had to choose from and the abilities to upgrade or synthesize two to make one better. This system came off as perfect for the seemingly standard gameplay thus far. Unfortunately, this proved to be fairly useless. It is presented in an overly complex manner. With the unnecessarily confusing systems comes the lack of incentive to try out different weapons. You’ll unlock several sword and guns alike yet will barely need to use more than the couple you choose at the start or early on.
Thanks to the entertainment the combat provides, boss fights are in particular a joy to partake in. I have fond memories of some Deceptacons providing quite the thrilling challenge. At one point, I had to take on two large-scale bosses at once, creating something unforgettable.
Graphics
Visually, the game looks amazing in the vein of its inspiration. The artistic direction is beautiful. “Transformers: Devastation” goes for a cel-shaded style, one that complements the vibes and tone the game borrows from older cartoons. It all looks great, if not simple but the simplicity is its charm and will likely allow “Transformers: Devastation” to age well.
Negatively, the environments and levels fail to be any bit memorable. At first, the levels looked fine, even great at times but ever-so-quickly, did it become stale and repetitive. The environments all look the same and lack any interesting things to behold once you see them each for the first time. I found this very disappointing because the art style is so good but Platinum Games failed to give us interesting or memorable environments to back it.
Sound
In the music department, “Transformers: Devastation” comes with nostalgic tracks, always maintaining an upbeat, exhilarating tone. This music both complements the art direction and the action.
Voice acting makes all of the characters remarkably memorable. Dan Gilvezan as Bumblebee and Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, among many others, bring iconic voices to the characters of both the old school and new age of the “Transformers” franchise. The voice acting is superb and each unique character’s voice helps progress the just decent story in a fun manner.
Content
“Transformers: Devastation” won’t last you very long. With under 10 chapters, neither incredibly long, the games credits will roll in somewhere around six or seven hours with little reason to play beyond. I was satisfied with my time spent but wouldn’t have minded some interesting missions post-game or any incentive to partake in the exciting combat.
Conclusion
By the time the credits rolled, I was satisfied with the experience Platinum Games provided for me as an action lover and “Transformers” fan alike with “Transformers: Devastation.” The game’s combat is impeccably fun to play mindlessly with easy combos and awesome vehicle attacks. Getting the most out of “Transformers: Devastation” certainly does require you to face the forgettable story and not concern yourself with the overly complex yet unnecessary systems within. The fun gameplay alongside the amazing art direction, music and voice-work akin to classic “Transformers” animation make it a game worth a try.
Did “Transformers: Devastation” sell you on nostalgia? Which was your favorite Autobot to play as? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
The plot of “Transformers: Devastation” isn’t overly deep not compelling. The plot takes backseat to the action-packed gameplay. With that being said, the story of Megatron leading his Deceptacons to more or less take over, as the Autobots, lead by Optimus Prime, fight back maintains enough of the charm and delight that the animated series it borrows from created.
You have a light and a heavy attack, as well as the ability to transform into the vehicle your Transformer has access to. There is also the dodge roll, which is necessary to pull off combos. Dodging is critical because of how, if done at the right time, the game temporarily slows down, allowing you a window to let loose and do some damage.
The unique thing about the combat is what makes you feel like a Transformer in all its glory. That is of course transforming. With a choice of five Autobots, there is a variety of playstyles to tackle. None of these are unique enough to truly make a large difference but they do have some individual abilities and skills to make for a different change of pace in some ways.
During combat, and even when moving from point A to B and so fourth, you may transform into whichever vehicle is unique to your choice Transformer with a hold of a button. This also directly affects how combat plays out. The main point is that you get a vehicle attack. This comes after you pull of a quick combo. A button prompt will allow for one to two heavy hits of your vehicle, even if you were on foot during the combo. This adds to the flare of the generally rapid melee combat, as it keeps the action moving fast.
Each Transformer has his own melee weapons but also guns to choose from. There is no denying the feel of the melee combat and how satisfying it is to just swing away and pull off a few combos. I found the gunplay to be far less exciting. While they helped with crowd control, rarely did I want to use the game’s many guns because they didn’t feel great like the melee weapons and were so much less fun to use. If the game didn’t throw enemies with projectiles at you so often, I’d never use the guns.
The weapons are personalizable at the beginning of each level in “Transformers: Devastation” and that is nice; however, this is also home to the game’s potentially deep but ultimately unnecessary and oddly confusing systems. I was admittedly alarmed by the amount of weapons I had to choose from and the abilities to upgrade or synthesize two to make one better. This system came off as perfect for the seemingly standard gameplay thus far. Unfortunately, this proved to be fairly useless. It is presented in an overly complex manner. With the unnecessarily confusing systems comes the lack of incentive to try out different weapons. You’ll unlock several sword and guns alike yet will barely need to use more than the couple you choose at the start or early on.
Thanks to the entertainment the combat provides, boss fights are in particular a joy to partake in. I have fond memories of some Deceptacons providing quite the thrilling challenge. At one point, I had to take on two large-scale bosses at once, creating something unforgettable.
Graphics
Visually, the game looks amazing in the vein of its inspiration. The artistic direction is beautiful. “Transformers: Devastation” goes for a cel-shaded style, one that complements the vibes and tone the game borrows from older cartoons. It all looks great, if not simple but the simplicity is its charm and will likely allow “Transformers: Devastation” to age well.
Negatively, the environments and levels fail to be any bit memorable. At first, the levels looked fine, even great at times but ever-so-quickly, did it become stale and repetitive. The environments all look the same and lack any interesting things to behold once you see them each for the first time. I found this very disappointing because the art style is so good but Platinum Games failed to give us interesting or memorable environments to back it.
Sound
In the music department, “Transformers: Devastation” comes with nostalgic tracks, always maintaining an upbeat, exhilarating tone. This music both complements the art direction and the action.
Voice acting makes all of the characters remarkably memorable. Dan Gilvezan as Bumblebee and Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, among many others, bring iconic voices to the characters of both the old school and new age of the “Transformers” franchise. The voice acting is superb and each unique character’s voice helps progress the just decent story in a fun manner.
Content
“Transformers: Devastation” won’t last you very long. With under 10 chapters, neither incredibly long, the games credits will roll in somewhere around six or seven hours with little reason to play beyond. I was satisfied with my time spent but wouldn’t have minded some interesting missions post-game or any incentive to partake in the exciting combat.
Conclusion
By the time the credits rolled, I was satisfied with the experience Platinum Games provided for me as an action lover and “Transformers” fan alike with “Transformers: Devastation.” The game’s combat is impeccably fun to play mindlessly with easy combos and awesome vehicle attacks. Getting the most out of “Transformers: Devastation” certainly does require you to face the forgettable story and not concern yourself with the overly complex yet unnecessary systems within. The fun gameplay alongside the amazing art direction, music and voice-work akin to classic “Transformers” animation make it a game worth a try.
Did “Transformers: Devastation” sell you on nostalgia? Which was your favorite Autobot to play as? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment