Media Essays: Transformers: War for Cybertron vs. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Transformers is awesome, especially when it comes to video games.

When it comes to Transformers media, there's a lot to enjoy about it from the toys to the cartoons to the comics and in this case, video games. For the most part, Transformers has a pretty good track record when it comes to video games with the 2004 Transformers Armada video game and 2015's Transformers: Devastation receiving high praise from fans and critics alike and the games based on the live-action movies are even considered among the better things to come out of the live-action Transformers franchise. Of course, not every game is considered great with Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark especially being a colossal misfire so bad that even now it's still considered the worst Transformers game to date. But for this post, I'm talking about what are unanimously considered to be the best Transformers games of all time. Those games are Transformers: War for Cybertron and its sequel, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

Developed by High Moon Studios and released in 2010 and 2012 respectively, Transformers: War for Cybertron and its sequel were released as part of the then aligned continuity in where Hasbro wanted to have a unified continuity where all Transformers media tied together no matter what medium it was. The results were...hit and miss since the various medias often contradicted each other or have pretty obvious continuity errors if you try and fit them all together. But these games were released to massive praise from both fans and critics with huge praise going towards the games for their gritty war story, actually throwing us into the war between the Autobots and Decepticons themselves, solid voice-acting, strong gameplay that is both fun and challenging (especially if you choose a higher difficulty level) and for giving us Transformers like we've never seen before. It's been over a decade since both of these games came out and they're STILL being praised by players and fans to this day! I even recently replayed both games for nostalgia's sake and you know what? They're both still awesome!

BUT...which one is better? That's why we're here for this new vs. essay. Which game is the ultimate Transformers experience? Which game holds up the best and is the most fun to play? Let's transform and roll out! Autobots and Decepticons duke it out as we find out which is the superior game...

Best Story

The thing about War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron is that when you really think about it, the games don't really have a story. Both can be summed up as just "Autobots and Decepticons fight each other and their war has consequences". But for a third person shooter video-game like these, that's all you need really, just a simple war story that gives us a reason to shoot at enemies and beat the crap out of them. One thing I will say is like Transformers: Prime, these games succeed where the Michael Bay movies and the Netflix War for Cybertron cartoon fail miserably: they're able to tell a darker, more mature Transformers story without either being too dull and boring or too juvenile and cringeworthy. Seriously, these games can be considered among the darkest Transformers media in terms of story due to its War Is Hell setting and how neither game has a particularly happy ending, yet they never feel like they're trying too hard to be edgy or feel the need to have immature jokes to seem more "adult". Isn't it weird how a pair of video games manage to tell more mature stories than the live-action movies ever did and also managed to be dark without being boring as sin like the Netflix series?

But anyway, which one has the better story? Despite me saying the games have pretty thin plots, I actually think it's pretty easy to say which one has the superior story. It's Fall of Cybertron without question. I'm not saying War has a bad story or anything, just that Fall has the better one. War is a very simple story of two halves: the first half is about the Decepticons getting their hands on Dark Energon and corrupting Cybertron's core while the second half is about the Autobots trying to save Cybertron from said corruption. I like how unlike Transformers games before, we have both campaigns being part of the same story instead of either campaign telling their own story like the first film and Revenge of the Fallen games did. War tells its story very well and each chapter neatly segue ways into the other as you're playing through. It's just that the story doesn't have much else to it. Everything is very plot mandated and there's not much in terms of character development or arcs for the cast, so you don't get much to chew over. The only real development anyone has in this game is Optimus as he learns not to be so humble and accept his new position as Autobot leader, but that didn't really feel like an arc he had to go through, it felt like the writers needing to tick off a checklist of things the story had to do. Again, I'm not calling the story of War bad, just that it's very surface level writing that you shouldn't expect much from. It does work for the kind of game it is at least.

Fall is equally as surface level in terms of plot, but the reason I like the story for Fall more than War is that Fall has way more spectacle that makes the story feel grander and more epic than it really is. I'll cover this more in the gameplay section, but needless to say this game genuinely feels like you're watching a movie at times with some of the awesome stuff you get to play through here. Also, I feel Fall gives us a lot more character related stuff to add more layers to the story and not feel so plot-driven. We get Jazz and Cliffjumper's mission where there's a lot of witty banter and bickering between them, we have Starscream's failed attempts to take over the Decepticons after Metroplex smashes Megatron to smithereens, we have Shockwave experimenting on the squadron of Autobots that would become this continuity's version of the Dinobots, you get the Combaticons acting like the well-oiled machine the team usually is and you also get all the indicators of the Autobot's mission that will see them come to Earth. I just feel like in Fall I got to know these characters more than I did in War and thus Fall felt more like a legitimate story at times while War just felt more like I was travelling from one action set-piece to another.

That said, one thing I can praise both stories for is their fan-servicey call-backs that don't feel awkward or out of place. There's quite a few G1 references sprinkled throughout the games and the characters even directly quote the infamous 1986 movie at times whether it's Ironhide using the universal greeting "Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong" when trying to communicate with some giant robot slugs or Megatron saying that Starscream's coronation is "bad comedy". And yes, we get to hear Optimus say "One shall stand, one shall fall" again. These games definitely felt like they were made for fans by fans and these little references only reinforce that belief for me.

So overall, the story isn't exactly the strongest aspect of these games, but if I had to say which one has the better story, it's easily Fall of Cybertron. It gave us a little more depth to the cast, it gave us more epic set-pieces and it truly showed us the consequences of the war of Cybertron and how damaging it is to everybody. So the game with the superior story...is Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

War for Cybertron: 0

Fall of Cybertron: 1

Best Characters

The characters will be an interesting bunch to discuss here, especially since these games are supposed to be in the same continuity as Transformers: Prime and other aligned media at the time, yet I have a hard time believing what we see here are the same characters we got in Prime. But that's another story. Let's focus on how the characters are in the context of these two games and ignore the other aligned continuity media for now.

Both War and Fall have a lot of characters available here, most of which you can play as. In War, playable characters include:

Decepticons: Megatron, Brawl, Barricade, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave and Breakdown

Autobots: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Warpath, Jetfire, Silverbolt and Air Raid

Quite a batch of characters here with many of the recognizable ones, plus some fan-favourites and lesser known characters to get the spotlight.

Over in Fall, the playable characters include in order of level: Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Jazz & Cliffjumper, Vortex, Swindle, Bruticus (yes, you actually get to play as a combiner in this game!), Megatron, Starscream and Grimlock with the final level also letting you play as Soundwave & Jetfire along with Bruticus and Jazz again and the final boss is either Optimus or Megatron depending who you pick to play as.

Already Fall gets one over War in terms of playable characters because we actually get to play as a combiner for the first time ever in a Transformers game and Fall also gives you levels where you get to play as more than one character whereas War has it so you play as the one character you pick from the start and you're stuck with it. Ergo Fall gives you more of the cast to experience at once and thus gives a more varied playing experience.

But how are the characters AS characters, ignoring the gameplay aspects for now? Due to the relatively thin plots of the games, the characters are mostly just a bunch of one-note tropes with maybe a single personality trait if they're lucky. The standouts for me include this version of Brawl being more intelligent than other incarnations, Breakdown's whiny cynicism, Jazz and Cliffjumper bantering like a married couple, Shockwave's cold, emotionless observations and Warpath's overly enthusiastic and loud personality that caused me to name him as one of my favourite Autobots. As is, most of the other characters are lucky to even get a personality.

The only ones who truly feel like fully fleshed out characters are Optimus, Megatron and Starscream. As mentioned before, Optimus kind of has an arc about learning to step up and take his place as leader of the Autobots in spite of his humble nature. Really, it's the closest thing anyone has to an arc in these games. Still, it's more than what Transformers: Prime did for the character...which was nothing at all. It's sad isn't it when these games made Optimus more of a character than the show did. At least we got Peter Cullen to play him once again and he got to deliver a much finer performance since this Optimus has more personality than he did in Prime.

As is, I really don't like these versions of Megatron and Starscream. This Megatron is just an overly angry, mad ranting, snarling b*****d who at times feels like he's Energon-thirsty and arrogant to the point of stupidity. Seriously, the idiot is confronted by Metroplex, a literal giant that dwarfs every other Cybertronian in the on the planet...and his immediate reaction is to start shooting at it. That gets him squashed like a bug. Like...what did he expect to happen? There's being brave, and then there's being stupid. This is being stupid, plain and simple. It's why I can't buy this Megatron and Prime Megatron being the same character, because Prime Megatron would never act so colossally dumb like that, nor is he constantly ranting at the top of his voice like an angry lunatic. Also Fred Tatasciore's voice just isn't suited for Megatron, no matter what continuity this is. Anytime he talks, I never hear Megatron talking, I just hear what should've been a Decepticon brute instead. They should've let Frank Welker reprise his role again since at least then we can actually buy that this is Megatron and not a generic Decepticon brute wearing Megatron's skin. At least he's fun to play as, especially in Fall with how powerful his weapons are there.

And that's not getting into what a colossal idiot Starscream is. He was fine enough in War, but Fall really made him insufferable. Not only does he hypocritically dress Megatron down for his arrogance and pride, but he gets such a swelled head that as leader of the Decepticons, he acts like defying his orders is an act of treason. Hey dumbass, what if your orders are bad orders and we're in the right to disobey you? The most annoying moment for me is when Starscream utterly botches the mission to raid an Energon transport vehicle the Autobots are using and Onslaught has to take the reigns so he can salvage said botched mission. While yes, it does lead to them losing half of the Energon in the transport, at least the Decepticons got any Energon at all in the end! If they'd followed Starscream's orders, they would've had no Energon at all! But is Starscream grateful for Onslaught's actions? No! The dumbass just puts him down for losing half the Energon and then when Onslaught rightfully points out how Starscream botched the mission to the point he had to resort to said drastic measures, he gets uppity about it and arrests the Combaticons! WHAT MORON EVER PLACES THE COMBATICONS UNDER ARREST?!?! They're among the best and most competent Decepticons in the entire army! Why would you do something so incomprehensibly stupid?! This isn't arrogance or pride on display here, this is just straight up stupidity! Once again, I refuse to believe that this Starscream and the one from Prime are the same character, because Prime Starscream would never do anything that idiotic, nor is he THAT full of himself that he'd arrest his own troops for disobeying orders. You better believe it was satisfying when Megatron got to shoot the idiot and when Grimlock threw him into a wall later in the game. XD

As is, which game has the best characters? I'm going with Fall of Cybertron, but only by a hair here since Fall did give us more sides to the characters, a little more personality displayed and also gave us a more memorable and unique cast to play through. That and Fall lets you play as Bruticus. That earns you like 1000 points on the awesome metre. XD

So the game with the superior characters...is Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

War for Cybertron: 0

Fall of Cybertron: 2

Best Gameplay

It's so funny how both games are based around the same concept: the war on Cybertron, yet they play so differently. For this part, I'm going SOLELY by the Xbox 360 versions since those are the ones I've played.

In both games, the general gameplay is you pick a character to play as, battle through the chapter and achieve whatever goal there is, whether it's reaching a specific point or defeating the boss. When playing as a character, you get to pick up various different kinds of weapons that the game has to offer be they rapid firing guns or blasters that annihilate enemies in a single shot and you also have melee attacks too. Some characters used maces and bludgeon opponents to death while others used swords to slice enemies apart. In these games, you can fight from a distance or get up close and personal and with the various weapons to choose from, you get a lot of options for how to destroy your enemies. There's even a gun where you get to drain your enemy's health! Also in both games, as a big reminder, your guns have limited ammo, so make sure you find ammo clips as you go through the levels. And what's really cool is that in vehicle mode, you still have weapons to use. Yes, even if your character turns into a car, they can still shoot in vehicle mode.

So now here's the big question: which game is better in terms of gameplay? Despite them being the same third-person shooter style game, they manage to play quite differently so it doesn't feel like you're playing the same game twice. In War for Cybertron, before each chapter you get a choice of three different characters with each one fulfilling a different role: leader, scout, scientist or soldier respectively. Leaders tend to have more unique abilities exclusive to them while scouts and soldiers tend to have the same kind of abilities, usually shockwave or whirlwind melee, and scientists all have the ability to deploy a drone for additional support. While you do get a variety of different characters to play as, the fact they all fall under different classes and have a limited number of abilities does mean that they're a little on the generic side and don't all have a lot of unique playability to them. Megatron and Optimus are the only ones who truly feel fully unique to play as since they're leaders and have their own unique exclusive abilities. The vehicle modes are fun to play as though, especially ones that turn into cars because of how fast they can move. Breakdown and Sideswipe are two of my favourites to play as because of this. The jets are also fun to play as too and their levels feel the most unique to play through because of how you can fly and all.

The bosses are all a little samey as well. Most of the boss fights consist of just shooting at the boss's weak spot until they're defeated with a few bosses being generic nameless machines and some being named characters like Starscream, Soundwave, Zeta Prime, Omega Supreme and Trypticon. Omega Supreme is the final boss for the Decepticon campaign while Trypticon is the final boss for the Autobot campaign, and both of them are pretty challenging to deal with, especially if you're playing on a higher difficulty. Even if the bosses may be a little samey, they do provide a decent enough challenge and the final bosses are especially memorable for the literal huge impression they leave on the player.

Now let's compare the gameplay of Fall of Cybertron. Compared to its predecessor, Fall has a lot more variety to the gameplay which gives a far more interesting and fun experience in my eyes. Every chapter gives you one character to play as throughout the whole thing, with some chapters having more than one to play as, especially the final chapter that has you constantly switching between factions to play as various characters throughout. The cast gives you a variety of characters to play as with the most notable being Bruticus (the first time a combiner has been a playable character in a Transformers game) and Grimlock and each character has their own unique abilities and playstyles so they don't fell so easily interchangeable from one another. The most notable examples include Cliffjumper's cloaking ability, Jazz's grappling hook, Grimlock's dino mode, Optimus being able to order missile strikes and Megatron being able to hover. The only time abilities are duplicated from one another is how both Cliffjumper and Starscream can turn invisible and both Jazz and Swindle have grappling hooks. As is, the way the game plays does make the characters feel more distinct because of their unique abilities rather than how War did it in making it feel like the characters were mostly reskins of one another.

And then there's the sheer scope and spectacle this game has to offer. I swear at times it felt like we were playing through a movie with the presentation. War didn't have as big a scope with most of its gameplay going towards travelling through locations and fighting big boss battles. This game on the other hand has us witness Metroplex transform from city to robot mode, go through a room that has a beautiful holo-map of the Earth, explore Insecticon infested pits, take command of Bruticus and smash our way through an Autobot transport vehicle to take it over, unleash havoc as Grimlock as he tears his way through everything in sight and especially the final level that has you play as multiple characters as the Autobots and Decepticons fight their last battle as both ships draw nearer to a portal that will warp them to Earth. The whole thing just feels so epic in its presentation and makes the game feel so much bigger as a result. Compared to War, this game has more variety to how the levels play out too. Not every level ends with a boss battle for example. Quite a few in fact end with us having to flee from a location before it explodes or deal with a swarm of enemies. I'd argue the only real boss battles are Jazz vs. Bruticus and Optimus vs. Megatron in the final level, and while decent boss battles by themselves, I'd say War has the upper hand in terms of boss fights.

As is, both games are fun to play and have a lot to enjoy, but once again I have to give the point to Fall of Cybertron. The less generic character playstyles and the more varied gameplay along with the larger, more epic scope that borders on cinematic at times makes for a more memorable and enjoyable playing experience whereas War is a bog-standard third-person shooter that has better boss battles, but not much else that it can really compete against Fall with.

So once again, the game with the superior gameplay...is Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

War for Cybertron: 0

Fall of Cybertron: 3

Conclusion

Looks like this war was pretty one-sided. I cannot stress enough that I do think BOTH games are great, it's just Fall of Cybertron is better in every way. The story has more going for it, the characters feel more fleshed out, the cast is more varied in terms of playstyle and the gameplay is more creative and epic in scope. But overall, I would still recommend playing both games anyway, if mostly just to get a complete story by playing them both. You just need to hope you still have an Xbox 360 or a PS3 or hope your current Xbox and PlayStation consoles are backwards compatible with them since there's not been any remasters and the digital versions are no longer available to buy (physical media wins again!!!). If you're able to play these games in any capacity at all, then you're in for two truly great pieces of Transformers media...

And that's it for this vs. essay. I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to comment down below. Which game is YOUR favourite of the two? I'd love to know.

Join me next time as I review the latest live-action adaptation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. See you then media fans!

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