Monday, June 22, 2020

My Five Transformers Game Ideas

Remember when Transformers video games were once fairly prominent? While there were a couple made in the 80s and very little in the 90s/early 2000s, it was only when the first movie came out where video games based on Transformers began to increase in prominence. Whether it's on consoles, handhelds, or mobile devices, you bet the Transformers brand has had at least some presence on these platforms. Sadly, the last game we've gotten up until recently was 2015's Devastation, and all mobile devices have are Earth Wars, Forged to Fight, and even Angry Birds Transformers. The upcoming game, Transformers: Battlefields, will take place in the Cyberverse series and will work as a turn-based tactical role-playing game; while it's neat to have a new Transformers game on console, I want to see Hasbro come up with other game ideas for them to tackle in the future. Here's my list of Transformers video game ideas!


5. Remasters of the older games


I'm putting this at number 5 because I'm sure there'll be a few things pulling this idea back from happening, mainly with how some fans may prefer certain games and (more importantly) the fact that Activision's Transformers license expired a few years back. If that doesn't sting you enough, then perhaps their servers shutting down will. And as much as I hate to admit it, some Transformers games don't quite have the same sort of evergreen nature that other franchises present, and you'd expect more shelf-longevity and sales from remakes like Super Mario 64 DS as well as Halo's Master Chief collection and both trilogies made for Crash and Spyro. 

But let's just assume that they're allowed to keep making Transformers games, and they somehow got a hold of the Armada game from Atari and Melbourne House. While they can't come up with a brand new game at the moment, remasters would be the next best thing. Alternatively, they can also modify their games past the nicer visuals and add more than they originally offered. What if the Armada game had the actual voice cast from the cartoon and add more Transformers to play as, including the Decepticons? Or how about movie games, where added levels include other Transformers to play as and include hub worlds for you to explore for some of the more mission-based tasks a la most Spider-Man games. And Transformers Prime's game may not have much to offer, but have it appear on other consoles and expand on its content to add more characters from the show and potentially non-show material to boot.

I feel WFC and FOC need the least amount of modifications as they're already presented in fairly-modern hardware, so whatever they need will be minuscule. Still, it doesn't hurt to polish them for the upgraded hardware seen on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

4. A console equivalent of Forged to Fight


Forged to Fight's one of the currently running TF games on mobile. It's one I loved playing when it used to be on my phone, what with the gameplay as well as the variety of the characters. It's also well-known for its missions and competitive arenas, though the competitiveness does seem somewhat fake from what I remember. It does suck that some devices had inferior graphics while more annoying issues include the lack of music tracks and only having three franchises represented (G1, Beast Era, and the movies), with G1 taking up a lot more character slots than it needed to. Still, it was a damn good game that I do plan on going back to when I get a bigger device to play it on...

...unless Hasbro has plans for a version of Forged to Fight meant for consoles. All I can ask for is much nicer graphics that fit for the consoles as well as they need to, retooling the game to make it feel less like a mobile phone game, fewer paywalls, adding more characters from other worlds (while including extra Movie and BW characters), arcade modes for standalone gameplay, training mode, and multiplayer to let other players join the fun. Basically, do what Hasbro and its co-producers did with Legacy Wars when they made Battle for the Grid. I'm sure some may fear that F2F will die if that were to happen, but I'm happy to confirm that it wasn't the case for Legacy Wars when Battle for the Grid's still out. In fact, I see it as the best of both worlds for those that want a console equivalent while those that still love playing on mobile can do so.

3. A Movieverse game that combines MV1 through Bumblebee


While this may be a choice that you guys would see from less than a mile away, hear me out. The Transformers movies aren't leaving soon, even with all this Bumblebee-onwards stuff with Primus knows what they'll do. The films still have home-video releases coming every now and then, the Studio Series line's still strong, we have two arcades based on the movies, Universal still has the ride, and even Paramount made a poll regarding what film their audiences would love to see, with MV1 being one of the choices along with the likes Interstellar, Star Trek, Grease, and Mean Girls. With the wait for a new movie taking a little longer than we'd normally deal with, why not bring back some of the older films as well as make a game based on all six movies? Yes, I said 6 movies.

I don't care if it'll be a fighting game, a hack and slash with RPG elements, or a third-person shooter, but think of what a Transformers game based on the six live-action movies could present. Whether they'd be based on scenes from the films or new stories to spice things up, I'd love to have a new game that celebrates the explosive series directed by Michael Bay. And I know I alluded that the Bumblebee movie's in the Movieverse, but while it may seem different from the other films in terms of tone and presentation, it's got the elements of prequel material that would be there before the film had some incoherent changes. Still, it'd be a neat way of saying "fuck your reboot comments and fuck your hate towards Bay" by not just including Bumblebee's robots in the game but also focusing on what the game itself has to offer. I'm honest when I'm saying I'd love to play as Blitzwing or Shatter as much as I do Jazz and Lockdown.

2. A sequel to Devastation


How do you make a great Transformers game and NOT follow it up with a sequel? Transformers Devastation was one of my favorite Transformers games of all time and had so much going for it, and the lack of a sequel is just as criminal as not making Season 4's for TFP and Animated and not having a proper TF6 in the works. Hell, it even ended with a tease where Nova Prime reawakens in the Proudstar. Devastation was a G1 game that's more than just nostalgia bait as it's an outstanding product done by Activision, and their lack of interest in continuing the story baffles me to this day.

Here are a couple of ideas I have in mind for Devastation 2: give us a couple of new characters to play as, make the story a little more dramatic than the previous game, add more levels to the mix, and come up with a few game mechanics not yet implemented with the first game. I can picture some Season 2 and 3 characters joining the fun, including Tracks, Inferno, Hot Rod, Arcee, and Kup. I'd also like to play as a combiner once or twice and even play as the Decepticons. As for the story, I'd say Nova Prime should have the role of antagonist and keep the Autobots at bay when Optimus Prime is seemingly defeated in battle against him. Other Autobots try to stop him, even with the Matrix, though they learn that it doesn't take the Matrix to be a leader, but instead the spark of its user and their courage.

1. A revival for Transformers Universe


Remember this MMORPG back in 2012? Sadly canceled a few years after its beta testing, this game would have been a great way to introduce Transformers into the world of MMO games, which was a perfect asset to go along with the already large Transformers series. It was visually reminiscent of Transformers Prime but with the addition of new characters and altered designs for the likes of Optimus Prime and Megatron. On top of that, the game introduces new characters not seen in TFP, including those that were in the Cybertron games and brand new characters that are built from scratch and have unique names as well as powerups.

I'm sure Jagex would have made an amazing video game for the Transformers series, especially when the Aligned continuity was still going strong in its earlier years. I'm sure it had to do with smaller interest than expected (given how other MMO sites were already large at the time), so I can understand why they'd pull the plug. That being said, I do want to give some attention to this game as it had some amazing ideas that I wish were utilized for future games, including the idea of making new characters and attempting to reuse the MMO idea in another game. If a celebration for the 10th anniversary of Transformers Prime was to happen, I'd love to see this game at least brought back or revived in another way. It deserves a lot more spotlight past the beta testings.

No comments:

Post a Comment