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Jan. 27th, 2013 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peacewishThe central point to this post is to figure out if I can cross-post between the DW and LJ journals. I guess by the time you're reading this, I'll know. (crosses fingers too)
So, we've reached the halfway point in Fall of Cybertron and all I can say is GUH. This sequel is amazing; it is leaps and bounds above War for Cybertron, and that is saying something because WfC was hardly peanuts. Everything is better - the graphics are better, the music is better, the characters are better. I mean that last one in every sense too; the designs are better and more engaging, but it's also an internal thing. In WfC, you could get through a level playing Breakdown or Soundwave, and either way it work out to be pretty much the same. Transformer, drive, shoot. There was no acknowledgement of the vast differences between two such different characters, and that they would each deal with their surroundings and obstacles in two very different ways.
FoC has dispensed that. There's no more choosing between characters for every new level, these avatars aren't interchangeable. Every new level you're given a new character that has exactly the specifics necessary to navigate the environment, and no one else would do. Early in the game, on the front lines, we had Optimus, who can plow through squads of Decepticons and rain down holy fire in a most literal way (thank you, game designers, for prime-controlled air strikes). Later in the game, for more covert ops, we played Jazz who can sling his way above the heads of the enemy like a sneaky Spider-Jazz (friendly neighborhood Spider Jazz!). I was especially pleased to see the designers worked hard to preserve the acrobatic side of Jazz, which I love. He does his Bayverse breakdown dancing move every time he transforms, and he tends to throw in an extra flip or two when webslinging his way onto a new catwalk. Jazz also has the best lines so far in the game.
Jazz: (over the sound of alarms blaring as he breaks into a Decepticon lab) Hey Cliff, keep a look out. Apparently we got intruders.
Cliffjumper: If I see any I'll let you know.
Their dialogue was great, though I'm still confused as to why the designers went with Cliffjumper to accompany Jazz on his covert mission. Doesn't Cliffjumper hate sneaking around and enjoy blasting things with his rifle? Why not fellow spy Bumblebee, or (considering they gave CJ a special cloaking device) Mirage?
Leaving aside that quibble, the game is still fantastic. It's far more plot-oriented than WfC ever was; WfC never stopped feeling like a game. Defeat the grunts, bring down the big boss. It was a formula repeated in every level, from both Decepticon and Autobot sides. FoC doesn't feel so much like a game. There isn't always some 'big boss' to defeat at the end of every level, just for the sake of having a big fight. Instead every level is composed of missions, each with their own changing objectives, and it's all feeding into a larger plot. There's a mystery - Grimlock is missing in action and nobody knows where he's gone or why. There's foreshadowing - Shockwave is building a secret new project that he claims can open holes to the far side of the galaxy. There's political drama - I won't even mention what happens between Starscream and Megatron because I don't want to drop that gem of a spoiler.
(But OMG, Starscream posing by a portrait of himself... I've never laughed harder)
My point is, this feels more like a twelve-hour long movie rather than a video game, just a movie that we happen to get to control a character. Short movie clips are blended into the game with astonishing frequency and at unexpected intervals - not just at the beginning and ends of a level, but when you least expect the plot to rear its head. Sometimes they're poignant, sometimes they're hilarious. (Oh, Starscream) FoC is definitely worth every penny spent, and we haven't even gotten to the Decepticon side yet. I've gotten my Jazz fix, but hardly seen more than a glimpse of Soundwave (but that scene that we did, oh it broke my heart) It is a little strange that we just spent two levels playing Autobots to uncover a new supply of energon, only to switch over to Decepticon characters that will now try to steal it back. Such is the paradox of playing a video game in a fandom where at least 50% of the audience loves the villain more than the hero. Ah well, we're about to play a Vortex level, and that should be zany good fun. I'm looking forward to the rest, and will be sad when it is done. Any word on a third installment?
So, we've reached the halfway point in Fall of Cybertron and all I can say is GUH. This sequel is amazing; it is leaps and bounds above War for Cybertron, and that is saying something because WfC was hardly peanuts. Everything is better - the graphics are better, the music is better, the characters are better. I mean that last one in every sense too; the designs are better and more engaging, but it's also an internal thing. In WfC, you could get through a level playing Breakdown or Soundwave, and either way it work out to be pretty much the same. Transformer, drive, shoot. There was no acknowledgement of the vast differences between two such different characters, and that they would each deal with their surroundings and obstacles in two very different ways.
FoC has dispensed that. There's no more choosing between characters for every new level, these avatars aren't interchangeable. Every new level you're given a new character that has exactly the specifics necessary to navigate the environment, and no one else would do. Early in the game, on the front lines, we had Optimus, who can plow through squads of Decepticons and rain down holy fire in a most literal way (thank you, game designers, for prime-controlled air strikes). Later in the game, for more covert ops, we played Jazz who can sling his way above the heads of the enemy like a sneaky Spider-Jazz (friendly neighborhood Spider Jazz!). I was especially pleased to see the designers worked hard to preserve the acrobatic side of Jazz, which I love. He does his Bayverse breakdown dancing move every time he transforms, and he tends to throw in an extra flip or two when webslinging his way onto a new catwalk. Jazz also has the best lines so far in the game.
Jazz: (over the sound of alarms blaring as he breaks into a Decepticon lab) Hey Cliff, keep a look out. Apparently we got intruders.
Cliffjumper: If I see any I'll let you know.
Their dialogue was great, though I'm still confused as to why the designers went with Cliffjumper to accompany Jazz on his covert mission. Doesn't Cliffjumper hate sneaking around and enjoy blasting things with his rifle? Why not fellow spy Bumblebee, or (considering they gave CJ a special cloaking device) Mirage?
Leaving aside that quibble, the game is still fantastic. It's far more plot-oriented than WfC ever was; WfC never stopped feeling like a game. Defeat the grunts, bring down the big boss. It was a formula repeated in every level, from both Decepticon and Autobot sides. FoC doesn't feel so much like a game. There isn't always some 'big boss' to defeat at the end of every level, just for the sake of having a big fight. Instead every level is composed of missions, each with their own changing objectives, and it's all feeding into a larger plot. There's a mystery - Grimlock is missing in action and nobody knows where he's gone or why. There's foreshadowing - Shockwave is building a secret new project that he claims can open holes to the far side of the galaxy. There's political drama - I won't even mention what happens between Starscream and Megatron because I don't want to drop that gem of a spoiler.
(But OMG, Starscream posing by a portrait of himself... I've never laughed harder)
My point is, this feels more like a twelve-hour long movie rather than a video game, just a movie that we happen to get to control a character. Short movie clips are blended into the game with astonishing frequency and at unexpected intervals - not just at the beginning and ends of a level, but when you least expect the plot to rear its head. Sometimes they're poignant, sometimes they're hilarious. (Oh, Starscream) FoC is definitely worth every penny spent, and we haven't even gotten to the Decepticon side yet. I've gotten my Jazz fix, but hardly seen more than a glimpse of Soundwave (but that scene that we did, oh it broke my heart) It is a little strange that we just spent two levels playing Autobots to uncover a new supply of energon, only to switch over to Decepticon characters that will now try to steal it back. Such is the paradox of playing a video game in a fandom where at least 50% of the audience loves the villain more than the hero. Ah well, we're about to play a Vortex level, and that should be zany good fun. I'm looking forward to the rest, and will be sad when it is done. Any word on a third installment?
