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Seibertron.com member "Real Devastator" found a video review to the upcoming Human Alliance Sideswipe and Epps figure.
The review is split up in two parts. Part1
Seibertron.com member skywarp-2 has informed us of a movie review posted on Ain't it Cool News covering the newest Hasbro franchise to hit the silverscreen in a live action film, G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
According to the article, a few lucky people got a chance to see a special advanced screening of the upcoming film. While not giving it an Oscar, all the reviewers concurred that the film was well paced with action and story enough for it to beat out Transformers Revenge of the Fallen in the enjoyment factor.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” is not the train wreck you’re expecting.
In fact, some of the film is quite good. While many of you won’t believe me til you see it with your own eyes on August 7th, last night I got into a research screening of director Stephen Sommers “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” at the Bridge Theater in Los Angeles and came away liking what I saw.
My one sentence: It’s the cartoon come to life.
Without getting too spoilerific for you Joe fans out there, here are some of the finer points of the film that the reviewers say will make it better than Revenge of the Fallen:
-The action scenes are really well done and there are a lot of them.
-The movie is cheesy but fun. Yeah, the dialogue is corny and everyone was either a good or a bad guy, but that’s the cartoon. Also, it never went for the really cheap joke or any bathroom humor.
-The pacing is spot on. With the film clocking in around 1 hr. 45 minutes or so, you’re never far removed from an action scene.
-The plot actually works and makes sense…for a “G.I. Joe” movie. Unlike “Transformers 2″, “Joe’s” got a clear story.
The fine folks over at Latino Review also gave The Rise of Cobra a thumbs up.
For fans of both Transformers and GI Joe, it's shaping up to be an amazing summer with the monster smash Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, still in theatres and on IMAX screens and with GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra due to hit a theatre near you on August 7th 2009.
Fellow Seibertronian dahpadre was kind enough to provide Seibertron.com with a review of the ROTF Devastator figure to correlate with our latest galleries. Check out his review below which includes links to the official Seibertron.com galleries of Devastator and his component characters!
dahpadre wrote:
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Constructicon Devastator
This is my first review so forgive me if it comes off either too simple or too detailed.
This figure has caught a ton of heat ever since it was pretty much announced. In fact I think the only good impression it had was at the New York Toy Fare when it was first unveiled. Most of the complaints it caught were unjust, but enough of them did have valid reason. So lets begin. I'll start with the individual VEHICLES, and I will stress VEHICLES since they are either that or the various appendages that make up Devastator.
Mixmaster (head): He is a large, ultra class silver, light gray, and dark gray cement mixer, with blue/purple painted windows. Sorry not actual translucent plastic. For what he is I would say he actually has nice detail. Along the rear you can see what is made to be the pipe work for cement to be poured from along with rivets and simulated panels, and red painted tail lights. The drawback, it is all done in the dark gray tone, so there is no definition to it. it comes off as a Tonka toy where it's enough for the imagination, but seeing what has been done in terms of movie figures it's a big let down. Now along to the cement mixer chamber it is done in sections of alternating light gray and dark. Missing from the detail is the ominous Decepticon faction symbol. Something as simple as that would add so much to this figure. As for the cab it takes on the mostly dark gray color with a light gray bumper and crash bar. Surprisingly done well is the detail for the door, gas tank, side mirrors and off road lamps. Missing once again is the additional paint applications to add definition, as mostly all is done it the dark gray with no separation to look as if real effort was done to make this feel like a transformer by appearance. Last but not least is a randomly activated vehicle sound. Random because you don't have to do much but touch it and it makes this annoying sound. Hair trigger is an understatement. Rating this vehicle alone on a 1-10 scale I'd go 5 to 5.5
Scavenger (torso): To any that have seen the YouTube review, you know this guy is massive (bigger than leader class). Easily dwarfing the vehicle mode of ROTF Leader class Optimus Prime. It is represented as an excavator done in a burnt orange and white with gray painted windows, and dark gray faux treads (actual/typical tiny wheels that make it roll) and shovel. Highlighted is signs of a good paint job as the Decepticon logo is done in white along with the letters SCVNGR, which is done in an imperfect paint job as if this vehicle has been in use for a few jobs, and wear and tear have taken its effect on the paint job. Don't get me wrong for detailing, that is it The shovel itself has three (3) points of articulation. The shovel section, lower arm, and base to the arm that connects to the main vehicle. For a sandbox toy that you'd give to a 6 year old, that is awesome. The savvy collector I'd give it a nice grin. The main vehicle body is done in decent detail, where you can see simulated railings, gears, and a ladders for electrical access and a human operator. From a top view you are exposed to more detail which sadly stands out as the crown jewel of detail as far as Devastator as a whole goes. There is the presence of fans, vents, walkways and various other things you can expect to come across on a true to life construction vehicle. From the underside view you can't help but get this "HALLOW" feeling. Why? because that is just what it is. The underside is the resting place for Mixmaster in bot mode. I give this guy a 6.5 for his vehicle rating.
Scrapper (right arm): This is represented by a voyager class wheel loader, done in a mostly goldish yellow, with a large gold engine on the front end of the vehicle. This figure as well demonstrates detail of gears, hydraulics, stairs and hand rails with exhaust pipes towards the rear. On the large block engine is the Faction logo painted in silver, I'm gonna say this is nicely done overall until you get to the shovel. It has nice detail, but pulls a big zero in articulation. When in vehicle mode there is no pose-ability. I wish there were more to say of it, but that is about it for Scrapper. 4 for scrapper.
Hightower (left arm): Represented by a truss crane, done in solid happy meal toy yellow. I Can leave the review of this figure there, as you can expect no more, and probably get less. But I will not cheat it as so. The cabin for the figure is don in the same coldish yellow as Scrappers engine block with the painted windows in the same color as the other Constructicons. Also painted is the Decepticon logo near the rear. The choice of this particular vehicle is puzzling, cause the real life form has just as much detail. 2 rating for this guy.
Rampage (left leg): A yellow deluxe class bulldozer with amazing detail done in the same color yellow as Scrapper. Side by side comparisons put his vehicle mode on the level of the wave 1 deluxe class rampage with robot form minus rubber treads. Also unlike scrapper the shovel carries articulation in motion and paint scheme. There is the presence of a shadowed gray to represent a used dirty feel that you would normally see on a real life bulldozer. From the sides you can see the workings of an engine, vents, wires, and hydraulics. 6 rating for this con.
Long Haul (right leg): Green deluxe class dump truck with weathering/dirty shadowed gray toward the bottom of the load carrying portion of the truck. From the sides and front attention to detail was well thought out with railings, but poorly executed. The cabin portion of the cab the typical painted window detail with areas represented as the door and access panel, to the right of this there are formations of exhaust pipes and engine sections. Also is the Decepticon symbol to the front of the engine block. Missing from this is simple paint to show the all important definition of this vehicle. As for articulation in this mold.....It rolls! Alas it is a dump truck that instead of dumping debris, it just takes a dump. Long Haul earns a 3.
Now on to the bread an butter of this gift set......
Devastator: Skill level of this figure is said to be level 4 which is the highest rated of transformers. I know these rating are given out based on size, not actual effort. For the transformation sequence I've provided a pic of the instructions Devastator came along with. Sorry the scanner is incapacitated right now.
This guy puts the term Hulking at a new level. The width of this guy is the equivalent of Leader class Optimus Prime, Megatron and Ironhide from shoulder to shoulder. Front to back this guy clears approximately 10 inches from face to "hump". Done in nice detail this form is easily gorilla like with the long bulky arms and shorter bent legs. To answer can he walk on all fours? Yes. Recommended? No. This form is definitely the saving grace of a seemingly lost cause. With the transformation of the limbs come a new level of detail that make the parts seem as if the went through some serious twisting and rearranging to reach this form. At glance you can no longer recognize the original vehicle forms of each construction vehicle. Robot mode is highly poseable with all joints capable of range of motion equivalent to a double jointed human. There is no lack of poses this figure can be put in. Note: due to the top heaviness, some positions may need additional support.
There are two (2) claw like hands consisting of three (3) fingers each that can open wide, but not truly grasp anything other than Autobot chassis to throw in the well represented Vortex Grindor, which can be activated by depressing the typical center mech alive button found in the center chest much like all movie leader class figures. Once activated you'll be treated to several sounds to the effect of the actual revving sounds of the suction device, phrases such as "crush Autobots", "I am Devastator", and the all too sinister laugh. He actually has more sounds than the box would lead to believe. The actual detail to this vortex grindor is amazing. Inside the mouth there is articulation representing a spiraling death device all throughout. It puts you in the mind of anything unfortunate enough to come into contact will be destroyed on contact. Also there are approximately 8 LED lights in the back of the mouth that flash and spin to enhance the grinding effect.
The face of this beast is also pretty accurate showing several green eyes (ten by my count). The main four also have the blinking LED effect. Also is the lower jaw shown in a 2 part mandible, much like the vampires in the Blade movies. When activated, the mouth opens wide enough to fit deluxe class Mudflap inside. Which I know will make for great gallery imagery. Detailed is the face with a mangled mass of light gray plastic with splashes of neon green paint. The length of the head which doubles as Mixmaster's cement barrel has folded back panels that expose the outer gears of the vortex grindor, with splashes of neon green paint as well which I'm guessing are to represent the oozing fluids of defeated foes. From the top and side views this guy look imposing and moderately cool. The back view gives you nothing more that a view of Scavenger's shovel and Mixmaster's cab. Sorry no wrecking balls of devastation.
What you get is 6 construction vehicles with lackluster detail and no individual robot modes that merge to form a 85% screen accurate Devastator. I would say 95%, but missing is the 7th Constructicon (the articulated dump truck). It goes as high as 85% because if you did see the movie you will know that the Constructicons that actually formed Devastator did not have individual robot forms. I'm guessing, based on their screen time, Hasbro might have a valid point with the lack of detail to the vehicles.
The overall impression that I am left with for the Devastator form is a strong 8 out of 10. The only things truly missing is the height, and the detailing that Leader class Optimus Prime carries in a paint job. To touch on the size, I'll say in a normal stance he is larger than Supreme class Animated Prime, but if you were to extend the legs straight he is actually taller than Unicron. Due to weight issue without a stand, he could never stay in this pose.
To wrap things up if you are a collector and want all figures represented in the movie, go out and get him, but wait for the inevitable price drop. The $99.99 price tag is definitely not warranted when given the lack of detail to the individual vehicle forms, but I would honestly jump at paying $59.99 for this guy.
Seibertron.com member Peaugh has posted a new video review on YouTube.com of the silver version of Alternity Megatron. Check out the link below or just watch the embedded video here.
A group called TechPedition sent a video crew over to the midnight showing of Revenge of the Fallen in my city. After much technical difficulties, they've finally posted their videos for the world to see. There are two separate videos, one before the film and one after. If you watch the post-movie video, you'll see yours truly advertising Seibertron.Com and babbling like a fool.
Check out TechPedition's videos HERE.
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Luxoflux
Release date: June 23, 2009
Also available on: Xbox 360, PC,
Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP (All these have different content)
Suggested PS3 & Xbox 360 Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
So…I have to start out by telling you all how I sacrifice and toil on your behalf. I arrived home from a long day of work on Friday afternoon (I left early because I felt like it) to find a wonderfully large package from FedEx on my doorstep. The sender was Activision and I freely admit to smiling upon seeing that. Inside the box was one of those Bumblebee Voice changer helmets from the RotF movie. Now, I don’t really buy a lot of non-toy merchandise, so this was a pleasant surprise for me. I promptly proceeded to put the helmet on and scare my dog.
Looking around inside the box a bit more, I found the item which I knew was the point of the delivery, a fresh copy of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen for the Playstation 3.
I spent the entire rest of the weekend eating pizza, drinking delicious summer ale, and playing through both campaigns as well as several multi-player scenarios, all for you. Fortunately, the wife was out of town on business, so there were few interruptions to my dedicated gaming. (Both of my PS3 controllers ran out of power during playing and if you know how long those things last, you’ll understand the kind of time I put into this game…) So, without further ado, I present to you Counterpunch’s No Punches Pulled Review: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.
Look at Demolisher, rolling around like he owns the place...
Pro tip: Shoot him in the face.
Overall Impressions, Graphics, and Menus
Transformers games are a mixed bag. Up until this point, none of them have really gotten the Transformers concept fully integrated into gameplay. The Transformers Armada game from a few years ago had an exceptional grasp of robot battle and power-up usage, but the vehicle modes were really just conveyance and God help you if you ever got knocked down off a cliff (physics seemed to stop being relevant…). The Transformers Movie game from 2007 did well with environmental action and improved vehicle importance, but had difficult or poor controls and often times repetitive or frustrating gameplay. With all that in mind, I have great things to say about Revenge of the Fallen (Those who are familiar with taking advice from me may just want to get their $60 ready to go now) with only a few complaints.
The game opens up with a short intro movie which sets the scene for Revenge of the Fallen (RotF from here on out). Prime monologue establishes that the conflict continues and that one way or another, we’re going to have resolution to it. That’s where you come in. The choice is yours to play through either the Autobot Campaign or the Decepticon Campaign. I made it through both and the differences between them are as follows:
-Autobot missions focus more on bot mode tactics while Decepticons require more vehicle based tactics
-Autobots have escort and/or protect missions (make sure to read down further as I address the escort missions), while Decepticons have seek and destroy missions
-Autobots have a Devastator attack mission, there is no corresponding mission for the Decepticons
-I personally found the Decepticon missions to be harder overall than the Autobot missions. I don’t think I died in any Autobot missions until Devastator, where I know I fell at least a few times in the Decepticon missions. Oddly enough, the Autobots as enemies seem more aggressive, perhaps I was just tired…
Bumblebee: The first to have smelt it...
Depending on your choice of faction, you will find that your menus are drastically different. The Autobot’s menus are done in a shade of blue and have updates from your NESTS allies as you progress. The Decepticons have red menus which are flickering and scanning often, probably indicative of their desperate status after being hunted by the Autobots.
Every mission you take on has a briefing both before and after playing. Prior to entering combat, your faction leader addresses the situation and your goals. After the mission is complete, you get a rundown of events based upon your performance. This was cool…at first. It was really cool when I was busting heads and taking names, but became a little annoying later on when I would make gold ranking in a mission, only to be derided by Prime or Ironhide for missing too many shots or not taking on the secondary goals (some of which are relevant, others involve killing enemies while jumping… -_-.)
Ironhide is ALL ABOUT secondary goals...Believe me, he's going to tell you about it over and over again
I may as well go ahead and address the voice acting at this point. It’s really good. All of the characters* sound and act as you might expect them to. Cullen's Prime voice rings loud and true as he directs the missions. Starscream sounds imposing and desperate. Ironhide and Ratchet are both excellent in the vocals and characterization. Sam and Mikela both sound and talk in manners which replicate their on-screen personas. Sam gets carried away at times, possibly calling prime a ‘loser’ if you’re taking too much damage, but I can’t say it’s out of character. Also, a certain fan favorite makes an appearance to voice Megatron. Welker really seems to have been able to channel that old scratchy G1-esq voice for our head villain in charge.
Megatron?!? Is that you?..I need a hint or something...
*Personally, I found the G1 Megatron voice to be out of place and the portrayal of the movie universe Megatron to be off because of this. Starscream’s voice is deeper than Welker’s Megatron, I can’t say I liked that. Also, the vocalization for Megatron has him threatening his troops constantly at later levels of the game. With the amount of hero worship given to Megatron in the movie universe, I can’t possibly see how that is necessary. Most of the troops at his command seem ready to give their life for him, not need harsh motivation. None of this should take away from Welker's performance, it's just a continuity issue.
Good hint...
I took advantage of the audio capabilities that the PS3 and digital surround sound offer and it really added to the experience. Not much to say in that regard, but with the right set up, you’re going to be hearing everything.
Graphically, the game is top-notch. The in-game movies are all what we’ve come to expect from next-gen systems. All the gears, pistons, and panel moving are present in the details. The robots all move fluidly and the detail remains steady even in motion. I can’t say I remember blur effects hiding anything noteworthy. Environments seemed to be genuine in that if I shot between the posts of a sign, the ballistics would travel through, not hit an invisible barrier attached to the sign. If I was chasing someone down on the streets and caused destruction, the debris cloud was legitimately in the way. I spotted a couple of jaggies in one or two of the cut-scenes, but nothing distracting. Remember, I was specifically looking for them; you may or may not ever notice.
One last word on the menus; they’re intuitive and problem free to navigate. The only contention I have is the method of game save. This is a small complaint, but you need one save file for each of the campaigns, and when you load the save file, you can choose Autobot or Decepticon. If you choose the faction you did not begin with, the game tells you to start a new save file. Why is the option there once you’ve started play? The nervousness I felt when I thought I was about to overwrite my complete Autobot campaign compelled me to bring this up (it didn’t erase, don’t worry).
Controls, Difficulty, and Characters
If you remember the control issues from Transformers games in the past, put those fears and issues aside. This game controls very, very well. Remember when you played the first N64 Zelda game and it felt ever so intuitive? You’ll get pretty much the same feeling here.
The set-up is traditional, left analog stick moves and strafes while the right analog stick looks and aims. Jumping and basic melee are assigned to the face buttons. The L2 trigger enters into a free-range aiming mode where your gun reticle is brought up. Lock-ons can be achieved by looking in the general direction and depressing the trigger fully. The lock-on is absolutely necessary to actually hit things, but it does not hold your hand through the game. Enemies can juke your lock or just move faster than your rate of fire to avoid you. Skill must supplement the lock-on aiming. I eventually established a system of lock, shoot shoot, lock, shoot shoot which got me through most moving target issues. Ah, and of course, the very shooting we’re discussing is done with the R2 trigger while holding down L2, remember this, because it’s going to be important as you progress. R1 selects one of your two weapon systems.
Pro Tip: The game is easier if your strategies do not involve standing infront of three enemies and making them tired of shooting you...
Transforming is done by pressing and holding the R2 button by itself. Your character will quickly change to vehicle mode and begin to race off to where ever. In vehicle mode you’ll have firing abilities and several important combat/movement options. By pressing and holding either the attack, jump, or otherwise unused 4th face button and then letting go of R2, you will either advance attack, far jump, or area attack. These techniques become crucial as you progress in the game.
Now, the reason I asked you to keep that L2 issue in mind is this: the controls on this game are complex. The game itself controls really, really well. It does ask a lot out of you. You’re going to have multiple button presses, mode swapping, target locking, jumping, and dodging all to do within a few seconds. I didn’t mention how the controls can be altered in small ways depending on your transformation or if your character has hover mode. I will restate that the controls are excellent and very responsive, but they require practice and a fair degree of muscle memory. Don’t be surprised if in your first hour or two of playing when you attempt to shoot something only to realize you didn’t have L2 down before you hit R2 to fire and as such, you transform and race off.
Once the controls are in hand, you will pull of some exceptionally cool combat feats. I do wish that you were allowed a bit of training time before tackling Prime’s flight mode or Grindor’s helicopter mode.
Characters
The Autobots roster includes Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Breakaway. The Decepticons have Megatron, Sideways, Long Haul, Grindor, and Starscream. I paired them up in order which most closely represents their corresponding character in the other faction. The correlations aren’t exact, for instance Breakaway is the Autobot sniper, where Sideways plays that function for the Decepticons. If there were bonus characters, I didn’t find them. Most missions are character locked into one or two choices until you make one of the in-game achievement objectives. I thought this was a bit strange in that there are times when the character/mission match up seems out of whack. I noticed that Long Haul gets a lot of mission time for the Decepticons on tracking missions when I wondered, ‘Wait, why not Sideways?’. Also, asking Bumblebee to take down Devastator by himself was a tad difficult. It makes sense in a David and Goliath kind of way, but it seemed like more of a Prime time challenge to me. These things don’t matter too much, because the achievements are easy enough to unlock all characters for missions.
Unless of course you're Optimus Prime. The rules are different for Optimus Prime.
No, really! He has ballistics shielding...
I found Ironhide, Ratchet, and Long Haul to be my favorite characters for ease of use and I found myself groaning whenever Grindor was required. Your mileage will of course vary with the character selection and will almost always be dependent upon your play style.
Difficulty
Where the first Transformers movie game was very difficult and at times downright unfair, this game is by comparison very friendly. So long as you manage to develop a strong grasp of the controls and integrate the numerous battlefield techniques into your gameplan, you will move along at a steady rate of accomplishment. I was ¾ of the way through the Autobot campaign before having to replay any level at all.
I have to admit to enjoying that aspect of the game. Video games are meant to be fun for me, not exercises in pulling out what little hair I have left on my head. By simply playing through both campaigns I had a completion rate of 65% for Autobots and 75% for Decepticons with around 40+% of the trophies for the game. I welcome any and all challengers to top that. I did not go back to replay any of the missions for higher medals and percentages, so, at least play by the same criteria if you want to rub your high scores in my face.
The game itself is relatively short per campaign. I don’t have an exact hour count for you, but a steady clip of playing and each campaign is beatable in a day. Perfecting your gameplay though for medals and achievements and unlockables will take a considerable amount of time. Single player does have some solid replay value to it because of those aspects. I don’t typically, but with RotF I certainly plan to go back through for higher scores and to use previously locked characters.
Now, way back at the beginning of this, I made a comment about escort missions. Any action, fps, or squad tactics game fan knows that two words (escort mission) can ruin a game. They are usually difficult, overwhelming, and hindered by idiotic and useless AI.
I’m here to tell you that the escort missions in RotF are a very enjoyable part of the game. I know, this is not something you’re likely to hear, ever, but it’s true. Same and Mikela stay out of the way when you fight, the goals aren’t absurdly difficult, and the NEST troops are downright helpful. There’s a canal mission early on where you must escort soldiers along a treacherous path. Take Ironhide in there and just kick some ass. You won’t have to babysit the troops, so enjoy the shoot out and aim to kill (and use that special ability turret!). The guide mentions the Deep-6 and Devastator mission as centerpieces of the game, but that canal mission was by far my favorite.
Gameplay
Now, we’re going to get down to it. Let me start off by saying, that if the first movie game left you unsatisfied or if you really enjoyed the Armada game but would like to see some refinement to it, then this game is for you.
The most important aspect that RotF delivers is the integration of the transformation gimmick at all turns. Whether you are traveling, fighting, or maneuvering you will be transforming on the fly. One mode does not make the other mode obsolete, each mode has advantages. Being able to shift to or from vehicle is integral to combat.
Sometimes in RotF you have to GtFO.
What we have in RotF is a 3rd person shooter with vehicle combat inherent to the system. I explained controls earlier, so I’ll get down to systems here. You have melee attacks of course. They build Overdrive meter the quickest. The game’s enemies do not allow themselves to be clumsily bludgeoned by you though, they will run away and shoot you, they will transform and drive away, they will dodge and self preserve. Which again, is why you must transform to chase or transform to build velocity for a lunging melee attack. There are powered up melee attacks by holding the attack button, but they were largely useless. There’s just no time to stand around for that stuff…
You’ll have two ranged weapons per character, both of which can overheat if fired without pause. Firefights are constant when combat occurs and you’ll be caught in cross-fire more often than not. Effective shooting and target locking are required. It can be difficult at times to deal with airborne opponents as they break lock with ease. Your vehicle will have weaponry as well and the mechanics for each vehicle work differently. Fair warning, the Decepticons require far more attention to vehicle power-ups than do the Autobots. Once that Overdrive meter fills, you’ll have 10 seconds or so of brutal one or two hit kill weapon fire available, so save it for when you’re getting overwhelmed or need to make a time goal.
Starscream you idiot! You're out of Overdrive... You fail me yet again...
Each mission/combat provides energon points based upon your gameplay. Completing a mission quickly, accurately, and with secondary objectives earns large amounts of energon. These energon points are used to power-up your systems and abilities. They’ll assist you in getting through the game and then become required in order to earn platinum and gold medals in missions.
Progression through areas is made by achieving medals in the various areas. You should move through the game with ease scoring silver and an occasional bronze medal. If you ever end up stuck with unopened areas, just go back and play previous missions for a higher score to proceed.
I covered escort missions earlier, so I’ll go ahead and discuss some of the other types.
-Communications fix/destroy, essentially you’ll have a set of radar dishes to either repair or infect with a virus. Each dish is like a checkpoint and you must clear out enemies before proceeding to deal with the dish. You then have a set amount of time before having to start over.
-Seek and destroy, you’ll be hunting down opposing troops and collecting heads with a likely boss fight at the end.
-Protect/destroy, either defending or attacking a building or character
-Satellite chasing, these are race missions with checkpoints etc. Finishing quickly allows you to attack an espionage satellite.
Multiplayer
Now, my experience with this was limited due to the number of people online and my own personal time for the game. This is also where I may have the most issue with the game, but I’ll confess to being a terrible, terrible fps player to make it more honest.
The online multiplayer is smooth. Rooms are easy to establish, battles are easy to get into, and there was no lag to speak of. The environments were useful and appropriate. The radar, which I feel is essential for this kind of fight, is small and not all that helpful.
There is a deathmatch mode, capture the flag mode, control point mode, and a leader elimination mode. I've only been able to get into deathmatches so far. I hope some of the other bots like Bumblebee, Sideways, and Ratchet are able to come into their own in the other modes.
This guy read the abridged version of 'How to shoot your friends in the face.
My concern with multiplayer is not really a quality one; everything plays fine, but more a balance issue. Certain tactics were obviously abuse-able right off the bat. Breakaway can snipe while hovering far, far above everything else, he doesn’t need cover, just altitude. Starscream seems to outmatch any and everything without cover, and Powered-up Optimus laid waste to anything that got remotely close. Like I said, I’m bad at this kind of multi-player shoot out. but it was obvious right off which characters were easy to take advantage of. I hope good tactics and better players find a way around some of this, because the multiplayer plays well. I just don’t know how long I can stand getting sniped and homing missiled without those guys ever showing up on my radar.
Final Thoughts Pros:
-Excellent use of the Transformers franchise
-Abilities and characters do not become obsolete over time
-Voice actors
-The game is corollary to the RotF film. You’ll play along side it, but you won’t re-live it.
-It’s fun…and honestly, I can’t restate how important this is to me as a gamer these days.
-Surprise cameos (is that…the aerialbots are attacking me? damn…)
Cons: (negatives, not Decepticons)
-A little short, perhaps a long attrition battle per faction would take this away
-Controls take practice, (always responsive though) at times you’re thrown to the wolves to adapt
-Megatron’s voice, I’m sorry Welker fans, but I personally feel Bay made the right call on Megs.
-Hearing Optimus tell me that I need to do better :(
Maybe I’m just hyped for the movie, maybe I’m just happy to see a well rounded and fun Transformers game, but as a Transformers fan I have to give the game a very good overall review. When I look at the play mechanics, the application of the transformation gimmick, and the immersion into the movie-verse, the game is very enjoyable.
I think casual gamers are going to eat this game up and really enjoy it. Hardcore gamers are going to appreciate it, but ultimately move through it quickly. Like the movies, it’s a popcorn event, flashy, loud, and intense. We aren’t telling a grand tale, we’re getting down with Optimus and blowing stuff up with Ironhide. We’re divebombing with Starscream and destroying a city with Megatron.
I’d recommend the game to most Transformers fans. There’s enough to do and plenty of challenges to be had and the immersion level into the Revenge of the Fallen story is great. I’ll be happy to answer any specific questions you might have and I look forward to getting my butt kicked by you all online.
PSN: Daidoji_Kage
Much easier than attacking the Autobot's Moonbase eh mighty Megatron?
Shout Factory's highly anticipated set of The Transformers - The Complete First Season will be released at various retail stores tomorrow on June 16th, 2009. I received a copy of it a few weeks ago and was very pleased with this set, even though we all know it's just a teaser product until the complete series is released on DVD next month. This is the first time that Season 1 has been available in the States since Rhino released it back in 2002. For those of you who are fans of the original series, I'd highly recommend that you look into the products coming from Shout Factory. I think you'll be pleased with their efforts.
The packaging for this set is nicer than it appears in various images online. The Transformers title, Optimus Prime and Megatron are embossed on the front of the packaging which are printed on a foil slip cover box. The case for discs one and two feature artwork of Megatron, Optimus Prime and Starscream on the front and Jazz on the back. The case for the third disc features artwork of Optimus Prime and Megatron battling with their energy weapons on the front and artwork of Soundwave on the back.
This set also includes some additional items in the package such as a black-and-white Autobot symbol magnet, a flyer for the Transformers Collector's Club, a flyer for Shout Factory's GI Joe season 1.1 DVD set which has an ad for IDW's Transformers graphic novels on the back. It also includes a sharp looking booklet that list details for each episode.
The animated menus feature various characters from this season such as Jazz, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Ravage, 3 Seekers, Laserbeak, and Starscream. The music from the closing credits play while watching the menus. The Autobot character animations are separated from the Decepticons by the Autobot/Decepticon scene change animation.
If you choose to play a specific episode, you do not have the ability to select a specific chapter for that episode. However, each episode is divided into 6 to 8 chapters which will allow you to skip easily through an episode. The opening sequence and ending credits are each their own chapter which is nice for those of you who do not like watching those parts over and over again.
If you choose to play all episodes, you are presented with the option to play multi-part episodes seamlessly. This function allows you to watch the multi-part episodes without seeing the opening and closing sequences between each episode. This feature is great for watching the 3 part "More Than Meets The Eye" pilot as well as the 3 part "Ultimate Doom" episodes.
The bumpers are in place before and after "commercial breaks", which I enjoy seeing. It appears that the bumpers are at the end of each chapter (excluding the opening and closing sequences of each episode).
Unlike the Australian Madman release from a couple of years ago, these episodes all have the correct season one opening sequence whereas the Madman release in 2007 had the incorrect season 2 sequence.
The colors are beautiful in this version from Shout Factory. The colors just look "right"! So much so that I busted out the Australian Madman version which has really plain colors though the scene I compared in the Rhino version looks about the same so I wouldn't say it's a drastic improvement over that version. Perhaps the colors are more saturated? The episode booklet includes a special note which explains what Shout Factory did to "restore" these episodes.
Shout Factory wrote:
Transformers DVDs released prior to our 25th Anniversary Edition were missing animation seen in the original broadcast. We did extensive research, found the discrepancies between the original broadcast masters and the restored masters used for the last DVD release, reinserted the correct animation, and color corrected it as best we could to match the shots before and after. But because a one-inch master tape simply can't hold up to the quality of the restored masters, you may notice occasional shots - or even scenes - in some episodes that seem slightly softer than others. Just take comfort in knowing that laser blasts have been reinserted, backgrounds have been corrected and Starscream is Starscream once again.
The entire 16 episodes from Season One are included in this box set. The episodes appear on the disks in production order. The contents of this 3 disc set are as follows:
DISC ONE
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1. More Than Meets the Eye (Part 1)
2. More Than Meets the Eye (Part 2)
3. More Than Meets the Eye (Part 3)
4. Transport to Oblivion
5. Roll for It
6. Divide and Conquer
7. Fire in the Sky
8. S.O.S. Dinobots
DISC TWO
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9. Fire on the Mountain
10. War of the Dinobots
11. The Ultimate Doom: Brainwash (Part 1)
12. The Ultimate Doom: Search (Part 2)
13. The Ultimate Doom: Revival (Part 3)
14. Countdown to Extinction
15. A Plague of Insecticons
16. Heavy Metal War
DISC THREE
-------------------------------------------------
1. Triple Changer: From Toy To Comic To Screen - The Origins Of The Transformers: An in-depth and insightful look at the many lives of The Transformers, from action figures to comic books, animated series and blockbuster feature films. Includes brand-new interviews with those most responsible for the success of The Transformers.
2. A Printable Script of "Transport to Oblivion"
3. Rare PSA (featuring Bumblebee) NOTE: This was included with the other four PSAs on a previous set from Rhino
4. Archival Hasbro Toy Commercials
My favorite part of this set is the new documentary on the 3rd disc, "Triple Changer". There were a few tidbits of new information that I learned from watching this documentary ... which really says a lot coming from a fan such as myself who knows The Transformers inside and out and who has been watching Transformers cartoons since the first pilot episode aired about 25 years ago. The documentary, to say the least, wasn't boring. I've seen some really shoddy documentaries and interviews done on previous Transformers box sets in the past and I have to say that this one from Shout Factory was really well done. It was nice seeing some of the folks we've all grown to love from Hasbro as well as some old time favorites like Bacal (from Sunbow) and Budiansky (from Marvel).
Okay, so since Garson has officially launched information about the recent Hasbro deal, I have been authorized to come in and discuss all things Transformers and G.I. Joe (another thread) with only a couple of exceptions. Until the official press release about the complete series sets come out, I cannot go into detail about the dates or what will be different from the season sets. All I can say about that is that they will be out this year and there WILL be bonus material on the complete series sets that will NOT be included in the individual sets. And if you know me, you know I've tried to make it worth it.
So...
There is something you should know, regarding this thread. It is the ONLY thread I'll read on the topic of Transformers and, most certainly, the only thread to which I'll respond. You guys really like to create new threads for every single question and, frankly, I don't have the time within my REALLY BUSY schedule to go through and answer multiple threads. So read this one. Post any questions you have into this one. And you should get my responses within a reasonably timely fashion.
Here goes...
I am currently working on 40-ish DVDs worth of material for Shout! Factory. Sixteen of those discs are Transformers, the original animated series from Sunbow. This is an absolute dream come true for me. I'm 31 years old and grew up watching the series, as well as collecting the toys and comics. So I know my stuff. Long before I was producing DVDs, I was buying them. And, yes, I bought the original releases from Rhino. I know what was good about them and I know what was bad about them, not because I did extensive research (which I still did), but because I was also a fan praising what deserved praise and criticizing what deserved criticism. That being said...
The S1 Packaging
I've seen some divided opinions regarding the cover art for Season One online. A lot of people really seem to like it. Some don't. But in many cases of the more dissenting opinions, people complain that it doesn't look "special" enough. I agree that what you see online doesn't adequately reflect the special treatment Shout! Factory is giving the series. However, I will argue that you haven't seen the art in person. What can't be displayed in a .JPG online is the type of treatment the slipcase is getting. The title treatment and characters will be fully embossed and the background will be BEAUTIFULLY printed on a shiny foil board that really makes those background colors POP. Unfortunately, you can't see the effect in a photo, but I will say that there will be no doubt (or, at least, there shouldn't be) that the set is "special" when it hits store shelves.
The Masters
Hasbro provided us with the same masters Rhino used for their releases. HOWEVER... There have been changes made. I, personally, went to New York, where the original broadcast one-inch masters are housed, and found each of the problem areas, in regards to animation. Before the question is asked, I'll answer it now. The one-inch masters have not physically held up well over the years. In some cases, they're nearly unwatchable. Therefore, instead of simply transferring and using masters of the one-inches, we found every instance of faulty animation demonstrated on a YouTube video or mentioned in a rundown we could find online (and even found some of our own) and corrected them, replacing the faulty digibeta master material with the best-quality one-inch source material. Finally, we color corrected everything to match--as best we could--the shots before and after. Surprisingly, unless you know specifically what you're looking for, you won't even notice many of the instances of slightly softer picture. It looks REALLY good.
The Audio
We chucked the Rhino audio. You will no longer hear additional sound effects or music, not previously heard in the broadcasts. We went back to the original source mono and created a nice stereo track to even out the audio. It sounds really nice.
The Bonus Features
There are very few bonus materials from the original releases that are specifically related to G1 and what interviews are there tend to be long, relatively drawn out and have no cutaways. In short, they're kinda boring. I've spent the last month or so traveling to Rhode Island, New York and back interviewing as many people as possible that had something to do with this incarnation of the series. In some cases, I talk to original Hasbro toy designers. In others, I'm talking to original comic writers and editors. And in even others, I'm talking to the gang behind the series, itself. And, yes, that includes the voice talent.
I will also have commercials from the appropriate seasons. In other words, you won't see a commercial for the Sharkticons on the season one release. Something you should know about the commercials is this: the quality of what you're accustomed to seeing on YouTube and other DVDs is pretty much what you're going to get here. And it's for one simple reason. No one ever anticipated the future lives of commercials, when they were first being broadcast. So Hasbro never kept high-quality masters. They kept VHS screeners of their commercials, strictly for reference later. So when you say, "why couldn't they get the original copies from Hasbro?", we actually did. Still, there are some pretty cool commercials here and I'm looking forward to having them included.
There's a bunch of other stuff that will be included. I don't really want to get too detailed and bogged down here and now. But I do want you to know that this property is being handled with care by folks that loved the franchise far prior to its acquisition at Shout! Factory. Now, with all of that said, let the comments, concerns and questions begin.
A local friend of mine brought this to my attention moments ago...
IGN.Com has been updated with a review of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which they give 3 out of 5 stars. The review contains only slight spoilers (not much new for those who have been keeping up with spoilers), but does give some interesting tidbits concerning the Witwicky parents.
After a temporary hiatus, the Buried Treasure feature on Seibertron.com has now returned!
The year 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Seibertron.com will look back at a quarter-century of great Transformers toys, bringing back into the limelight some brilliant figures that have fallen through the cracks over the years. Once a week, a fan (be it a member of the staff or a user on the site) will have the opportunity to write about one of their favourite "hidden gems" of the Transformers Universe, and have their review posted on the site's front page.
We hope this feature will be a great success, and that many of you will be encouraged to look back at the last 25 years of Transformers and perhaps take a worthwhile second-look at some real unsung classics of the Transformers universe.
Before the notion of cyber keys was even imagined, and sometime after minicons had become accepted into the Transformers continuity, there existed a series called Transformers: Energon, or if you are a Japanese purist: Transformers Superlink. Now that the novelty of the “gotta catch ‘em all” minicons had worn off, Hasbro decided it needed some new gimmicks and after much debate it was announced: the Spark of Combination and Powerlinx.
For those who are new to the fandom, or re-emerging from their pit of solitude, Powerlinking is the term that means Autobots of the same size class may combine with eachother to form a myriad of upgraded Autobot warriors. One Autobot decided to take that idea one step further, and that is Energon Tow-Line.
Even in package, Tow-Line is an unassuming character. While the rest of his size class were race cars, fire trucks, and futuristic trucks, Tow-Line putters along as a harmless, block-like communications vehicle; much like the FBI has parked two blocks away from your house listening to your phone calls, more on the alt-mode later however.
Tow-Line was released precisely in the middle of the Energon packaging change, so it was not uncommon to find him either in the black with the yellow grid background style of the original packaging, or in the red with lightning bolts design that was the Powerlinx Battles style. With the original style of packaging, you could see the full artist-rendered version of Tow-Line’s battle mode charging forward as if daring you to pick up the packaging and never let go. With the Powerlinx Battles style, they enlarged the same art piece, but cut off the lower half, so you could only see half his gun, and everything below the torso is up for imagination. As a matter of personal choice, I always preferred the black packaging as it made both the artwork and the figure stand out better.
I’ve never been a fan of keeping figures in packages, so within seconds of acquiring Tow-Line, he was free of his prison. His van mode is still unassuming and possibly even more brick-link than it looked in the box. His windows are the same dark transparent red as his scanner/gun and it is a nice contrast to the two tones of blue that make up this figure. A rich royal blue takes control of his sides, rear and grill in this mode, with a teal-coloured roof. The front of the van is all white, and is a shade of white that makes Universe Ratchet very jealous. The only things that distract from this mold is the protruding circle that is meant for an omnicon’s Energon star, and on his rear side panels there is a hole on either side. I would suppose that it’s for holding his scanner/gun, but there’s a nicer place on the roof to hold that. Oh well, it’s easy to overlook them because Hasbro did a nice job of encorperating them into the paint scheme.
Enough babbling about the vehicle mode and let’s take a look at the robot mode. Remember when I said that Tow-Line took the idea of Powerlinking one step further? Yes folks; he Powerlinks with himself. You fold the rear side panels down and with a little tug that requires more strength than the average 7 year old can muster, the cab and roof section separate from the bottom chassis. Tow-Line is the first figure since G1 Ironhide and Ratchet to do something like this, and there was so much clamour for an updated Ironhide and Ratchet that FunPub did just that. Botcon Ratchet now goes for well over $400 on ebay, Ironhide. can fetch upwards of 150. Thanks FunPub.
Let’s focus on the top portion for now. Tow-Line is a fully-formed robot now with only half a vehicle. His doors fold up, his arms swing forward and twist out, his legs fold out, separate and then fold into his torso in a move that would make any contortionist cry. Finally in a move of German-precise engineering, the section above the cab slides up, forward and back all at the same time to reveal the head. At first glance, you may think that there isn’t any paint apps on his face other than the sheet of matte gold, however under the right light you can see his optics are a brighter shade of gold. It’s a shame that the helmet mold shadows them.
Tow-Line’s robot mode has 9 points of articulation, 11 if you want to throw his shoulders back. They are his shoulders, elbows, legs, knees, feet and finally his head, which can turn 90 degrees in each direction. If they could do it with this figure, why not Cybertron Downshift eh? Oh well. He can hold his scanner/gun single-handedly but it looks out of scale for him to be honest. Then again Energon/Superlink figures almost always had oversized weapons, so I guess it’s the norm.
Tow-Line’s scanner/gun is a large, mostly square thing which has a fold out arm with a little scanner attachment connected to its end with a ball and socket joint. A word of caution to those still wanting the figure: examine this part closely! I say this because the type of plastic used doesn’t seem to wear well and even as I examine it for this review, I fear it will further disintegrate into nothing, as it barely holds the scanner attachment and is all cracked and frayed. And I got mine MISB!
That said, this scanner/gun looks much better on Tow-Line’s lower half, which folds out into a mini gun emplacement, with holes for the scanner/gun to nestle into perfectly. There’s not much to say about this part, except that it’s wonderfully detailed and Tow-Line looks awesome standing beside it with his hand resting on the barrel.
Powerlinked with other deluxe figures, Tow-Line’s legs wrap up and around and his feet further fold out to reveal guns. He makes any figure look more intimidating this way, however due to his unique mold, Towline is unable to form the lower half of a Powerlinx Autobot, however if one wishes to attempt to make a Stephen Hawking Autobot, other deluxe fugures mayu Powerlink with his weapon emplacement. I’ve yet to see a combo that actually can make that look threatening.
Bottom line is that Tow-Line is an awesome figure. He’s the only deluxe figure to have a mini base, and not only that; he’s still a very poseable figure. Just be careful with his gun/scanner should it fall to pieces. It’s a real shame that there haven’t been more widely available repaints of him.
Links:
Visit the Energon Tow-Line gallery by clicking here
Visit the Botcon Exclusive Ratchet gallery by clicking here.
Visit the Botcon Exclusive Ironhide gallery by clicking here.
...Or find your own buried treasures by visiting all the toy galleries here!
* If you would like to write a review for our "Buried Treasures" feature, please send a private message to Skowl on the Seibertron.com forums!
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
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