Kotaku

Transformers: Cybertron Adventures Review: Robots In Disgrace Remember that really great Transformers: War for Cybertron game we reviewed last week? This isn't it.


This is Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, and it is not the Wii version of War for Cybertron. While the story may cover similar ground and contain many of the same characters, Next Level Games' Cybertron Adventures trades the third-person shooting of its Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC counterpart for a combination of driving, flying, and on-rails shooting. It's a completely different game, hence the completely different name.


Transformers: Cybertron Adventures is definitely a more kid-friendly Transformers game than War for Cybertron, but a game can be kid-friendly and still be good, right?


Perhaps not in this case.


Loved
It's Transformers: It may be nothing more than a shooting gallery where the targets shoot back and a rudimentary driving game, but hey, you're still playing as Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Megatron, right? For all the game's failings, it still manages to put you into the giant metal boots of some iconic characters, even if they are severely crippled. Hearing Bumblebee talk to himself as he sneaks inside a heavily fortified Decepticon base brings me right back to the original cartoon series.


The Shooting Is Nice: The majority of my time in Cybertron Adventures was spent hiding behind columns, popping out to take pot shots at an army of faceless Autobot and Decepticon drones using one of four different weapons - blaster, sniper rifle, missile launcher, and minigun. Like Time Crisis, it's a shooting gallery with a rudimentary cover system built-in. You've got unlimited ammo, the controls are rather responsive, and in most cases there's no time limit. You don't even have to move yourself; the game does all the work. It's almost relaxing in its simplicity.


Hated
Cybertron Sure Is Bland: You'd think a giant metal planet filled with colorful metal combatants with glowing purple and red accents would be a bit snazzier, but the Cybertron of Cybertron Adventures is a particularly bland place to wage a war. The textures are simple and the scenery plain. I almost got the feeling that the developers were going for an animated cartoon look and feel, yet it comes across more primitive than artistic, especially when populated with modestly detailed renditions of re-envisioned Transformers High Moon Studios created for War for Cybertron.


Missing Story Hooks: The missions in War for Cybertron, divided equally between Autobot and Decepticon, jump disjointedly from one point to the next, with no connective tissue in-between. If you played War for Cybertron beforehand as I did, it almost seems like this game is fleshing out the story from that one. The problem is that would assume everyone was playing both games, and that's not very likely, especially after this review is finished.


Driving Woes: When you aren't busy shooting Deceptiducks in a robo-barrel, Cybertron Adventures has you taking to the open road or open skies in a series of driving segments that are as frustrating as they are brief. Technically you're still on rails, but now you can at least steer and accelerate (there's no stopping). While driving, you'll be firing machine guns at obstacles, locking on to enemy fighters with missiles, or attempting to make jumps. I say attempting, because at least once per jump in the game I found myself watching my car sail gracefully towards the other side only to hit the edge of the landing area at an angle and fall to my doom. One minute the car looks like it's making the jump just fine, the next minute I'm restarting from my last checkpoint. It's very sloppy.


A Three-Hour Tour: Don't expect your Cybertron Adventures to drag on. A full play through of the game from the beginning of the Autobot campaign to the tail-end of the Decepticon story took me between three to three and a half hours. Finishing a chapter opens it up in the game's 's challenge mode, but that's just a fancy way of getting players to replay the same content. I suppose I should be thankful it was so brief.


You Cannot Transform: Come on, folks, this should be pretty basic. People play a Transformers game because they want to be transforming robots. It's the core concept the entire franchise is based on. Scripted shifting from car mode to robot mode does not a Transformer make. If I can't hit a button to change from a towering mechanical man or woman into some method of conveyance, you have failed to make a Transformers game.


Released alongside a far superior product for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Transformers: Cybertron Adventures doesn't even come close to matching War for Cybertron in quality or content. I understand that some publishers see the Nintendo Wii as a family-friendly console, and I'm aware of the difficulty involved with trying to sell a more mature experience on a console geared towards that demographic. That's no excuse for not trying.


Where Transformers: War for Cybertron stands as a shining example of how a licensed property can be fashioned into an excellent video game experience, Transformers: Cybertron Adventures serves as a grim reminder of how bad a licensed game can be.


Transformers: Cybertron Adventures was developed by Next Level Games and published by Activision for the Nintendo Wii on June 22. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through entire game at standard difficulty.


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Jul 2, 2010
Kotaku

Rollin Rollin Rollin To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Would I Like This Voltron USB Drive? Yes, I Would


We're heading down to El Paso, Texas for the long weekend to hang out by the pool with my mom and step-dad and our combined five dogs. FIVE! This should be fun.


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Kotaku

Yesterday we mentioned that two major retailers listed FIFA 11 releasing on Sept. 28 in the U.S., roughly two weeks ahead of its annual slot. EA Canada today confirmed that release date for North America. A release date for Europe will be announced after the World Cup.


Kotaku

Sucker Punch will apparently not be supporting subtlety in inFamous 2, the PlayStation 3 sequel to its lightning charged superhero/anti-hero game. Instead, inFamous 2 makes way for more explosions, more limo chases and even more in-powerline-skating. Enjoy.


Kotaku

Red Dead Redemption players, you've done some very bad things. Just pretending, of course! GameSpy has been collecting data from players of Rockstar Games' hit Western and the results are amazing.


12.6 million characters trampled by horses. 5,600 cumulative years spent in virtual jail. And that's just in two weeks!


Earlier this week, we posted a snapshot of stats involving animal-hunting in Red Dead Redemption. At the time, we believed those stats, pulled from gamers networked to Rockstar's website, showed the full rankings of animals slayed by RDR players. Turns out that was just a tiny slice.


The data we have for you today, via GameSpy, shows a whole lot more:


Red Dead Redemption, By The Bloody Numbers
(Click the graphic to enlarge it)

The huge graphic here shows a much bigger haul — numbers pulled by stat-tracking service GameSpy from almost three-million Red Dead Redemption players, from all of those who played the game on an online-connected Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the game's first two weeks of release.


The GameSpy team told Kotaku today that the numbers pulled from Red Dead have continued to skyrocket. As of this past Tuesday, gamers have logged 3.6 billion minutes in the game. GameSpy works with Red Dead's creators at Rockstar Games to track more than 1000 statistics from each of the game's players. The companies use the statistics not just to wow gamers with nice infographics but to track playing patterns and learn how their games — and the elements within them — are being experienced by players. Ideally, this will lead to better games.


Some of those stats can be seen on the Rockstar Social Club, the game maker's free site for all of its recent games.


Kotaku

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies I and II for iPhone and iPod Touch is now available for a limited time for only $7.99. Additionally, Zombies HD for the iPad is now available for $9.99.


Kotaku

Pro Evolution Soccer Intends to Win Back Hardcore FansAcknowledging that they've rested on their laurels as EA Sports' FIFA siphoned off their fans, Konami's gunning "to win back the hardcore," with Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, a senior executive vows.


Jon Murphy, the PR and marketing boss for Konami in the United Kingdom, told CVG the series - which was top dog not too long ago - has seen a migration of its best consumers and needs to stop that, immediately.


"What we want to stop is hardcore level of our fanbase moving, if I'm totally honest - which worryingly has started to happen," Murphy said. "For years, we sat on our laurels and assumed it never would happen."


Well, it has, as FIFA's turnaround to has become a case study for resurrecting a franchise. Murphy counters that Pro Evo maintains strong rivalries on a territory-by-territory basis, in the U.K., France, Spain and Italy, all elite footballing nations. "It depends from territory to territory, so you can't just look at the sales," Murphy said.


And, to further explain PES' necessity to the core, he invoked what would happen if a single publisher faced no competition.


"I hope we do get back to [No.1] because if PES ever did disappear and you saw one game on the market I think you'd go back to seeing a very, very lazy game of football that everyone would be sick of."


But his comments to CVG acknowledge that EA is setting the agenda in this series.


"What we now have is a benchmark from EA that we've got to beat, which is fine. It gives us a challenge," Murphy said. "But that's not our ultimate aim. Our goal is not only to ensure we don't lose any more fans, but that we win back the hardcore fans. The rest of it - we'll see what happens."


PES 2011's Goal is 'to Win Back Hardcore' [CVG]


Kotaku

The Eye of Judgment Is Closing (Its Online Servers)Sony's card-based, PlayStation Eye-powered strategy game The Eye of Judgment is going offline forever this September, losing its online multiplayer component, arguably its best feature.


A moderator writes on the official Eye of Judgment forums "The online battle service for this product will terminate on 30 September 2010. Offline play will remain available even after the conclusion of online service." Unsurprisingly, that hasn't been met with the warmest reception by the remaining EoJ community.


Fortunately, none of the game's PlayStation Trophies are dependent upon online multiplayer.


Notice of Termination of Service - [The Eye of Judgement] [PlayStation.com via Eurogamer/Joystiq]


Kotaku

This is a user-created race car in ModNation Racers. Its paint job comes with a twist. Covered in oil splatters and BP logos this kart proves no matter how cuddly the medium, the BP oil spill is serious business.


For the environmentalists, and angry American Kotakuites, the paint job is listed as "BP Spill Awareness" in ModNation Racers, the Mario Kart-style racing game that launched for the PlayStation 3 last month. The game lets people redesign their karts and tracks.


KablooieKablam, the creator of "BP Spill Awareness," has requested users to download and republish his kart from their own PlayStation Network accounts to spread the awareness of the ongoing disaster plaguing the Gulf Coast.


BP Oil Spill Awareness Kart [ModNation Racers Central]


BP Oil Spill Seeps Into PlayStation 3 Game
BP Oil Spill Seeps Into PlayStation 3 Game
BP Oil Spill Seeps Into PlayStation 3 Game
BP Oil Spill Seeps Into PlayStation 3 Game


Kotaku

I've seen Vuvzela Hero jokes for a while. Yes, the World Cup's most annoying musical instrument could be merged with Guitar Hero. The results would be slightly more annoying to my neighbors. Let's finally watch this fakery together and chortle.


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