Transformers: Dark of the Moon Multiplayer Preview
By
Shaun McInnis, Editor
We go hands-on with the competitive online portion of the latest Transformers game.
The latest Transformers game asks a very serious question: What happens when one group of giant robots gets super-angry at another group of giant robots, and they start fighting each other all over the world? It's a question you can let the game answer for you in the story mode, but if you'd rather take things into your own hands, you can answer that question for yourself in this third-person shooter's competitive multiplayer mode.
Dark of the Moon's multiplayer is going to be familiar to anyone who played the most recent Transformers game, War for Cybertron. There's a leveling-up system, unlockable abilities, and a fair amount of customization as far as your character goes. The big difference here, of course, is the game's setting. War for Cybertron was an original story set on the alien world of Cybertron, whereas Dark of the Moon is based on the upcoming movie in which Shia LaBoeuf and company travel the earth witnessing the continuing fallout between Autobots and Decepticons. The two multiplayer maps we played in Dark of the Moon couldn't have been more different: a devastated Chicago and a picturesque South American village.
Like in War for Cybertron, there's a class system that lets you choose different vehicle types, ranging from cars to jets. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. The jet is good for zipping around wide-open maps like Chicago, but its relatively low combat abilities make it better suited for Conquest mode, in which you're trying to take over capture points. Then there's the tank, which is great for smaller maps like the South American map and does well in the game's Deathmatch variants (team and free-for-all) thanks to its sheer brute force.
Beyond classes, there's also the Call of Duty-like leveling and upgrade system. As you rack up experience, you'll unlock new special abilities, such as draining health from enemies to use on yourself or team defense buffs. You'll start playing as the default Transformers from the story, but as you level up you'll gain the ability to create customized characters, which becomes a sort of equivalent to Call of Duty's loadout system.
Battles unfold with that same heavy--if slightly plodding--sense of movement that makes you feel like your Transformers are a real force to be reckoned with, and the shooting has a similarly gratifying sense of impact. It all feels very similar to War for Cybertron, a game that received mixed but mostly positive reviews from critics. If you're looking for a multiplayer shooter in that same vein, Dark of the Moon looks like it'll fill that robo-smashing void life.
By
Shaun McInnis, Editor
Shaun McInnis has always dreamed of an a open-world driving RPG based on Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Outside of video games, he enjoys photography and learning impractical coffee brewing techniques.
40 comments
i hope games soundtrack be cool uknw like old school transformers cartoons they were good metal and hevy metal songs from those days
@advocacy yes they still are they have seperated into two teams of 50. they had said one team was working on dotm while the other is doing some project they cnt announce yet!
I just looked at that daily demo video link again and I guess I just thought it was user names above their heads. Looks like it's just the character names. I suspect, however, that they will end up having a pop in and play feature to the story mode. I mean It wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for Darkmoon to drop from this game what they had in their previous game.
@Rodimus_Prime & 1penance1. I've been following all the latest news post on this game. From what was said, this game will have no co-op story or escalation mode. However, I wish they did because now-a-days co-op is where its at. Its adds to the fun factor of a game, replay value of a game, and sell of a game. I hope game developers take this under consideration when developing games, especially games like this. Even a lot of RPG's are turning to co-op.
@Rodimus_Prime A developer said it didnt have any co-op. He might have been talking about story mode tho
@fastnerd The video demoing Bumblebee taking on drones with Optimus and Ironhide gave me the idea that there's co-op seeing as how there were user names above their heads. Escalation I never really cared for.
@Rodimus_Prime. No! There is no co-op nor escalation mode in this one like War of Cybertron had. I wish it was. What gave you the idea that there was?
Transformers War of Cyberton was pretty good. Hope this one will be as good if not better than WoC
ya. bring on the demo. or at least a gameplay video woulda been nice to see. most of us are very lazy human beings, and...i clicked this link hoping to watch. not read.
I hope they add some kind of customization to your bots, like changing parts instead of just abilities. I'd like to have, for example, a bot that transforms into a car, and I have a variety of faces, hands and legs to choose from. The game still sounds pretty fun though, looking forward to more information and videos. I'll keep an eye on this, even though movie-to-game adaptations have mostly been bad. Pretty bad.
slightly tweak the balance of weapons, and add some more customization for characters and itll be solid mp
im getting it. I hope they spread out the options for weapons and classes though. like it was really annoying to be limited to specific weapons for specific classes
maybe if it had co-op and it wasnt based off of, or a prolouge to a movie. A rent, not a buy
Hrm, i dunno. I'm not too thrilled with these movie adaptation games. Thor taught us a very valuable lesson
I really hope they pretty much copy WfC with this game and then just add in the movie bits. The only real problem I had with WfC was that the Transfomers were dull colour-wise as were the levels which made it hard to spot enemies. Hopefully the bright colours and different locales of the movies will fix this and make it a fun game to play!
Ehh...I was never really into Transformers...the movies look cool (admittedly one of the few who hasnt seen any of them.) This game looks solid, but not a big fan of the source material.
As long as they build on what they did with War For Cybertron, this is going to be a game that bucks the trend of movie games being bad. Now having said that, Revenge of the Fallen was a fun multiplayer game, but the story mode in that game sucked donkey balls.
i played the demo of wfc and it was entertaining but i wanted to play as earth vehicles, now i might be interested in buying it. another demo would be very nice though
WFC's multiplayer was great but could use some tweaking, namely better balance (about half the weapons were worthless and melee was a tad overpowered)
Multiplayer in the last game was really fun. All they need to do is add to it and it'll be great. The character customization could use an overhaul though.
this gameplay gets a thumbs up for me. I liked WFC multiplayer. hopefully your characters can be more customizable and distinctive from one another
the last game was actually really good , they did not have host migration so you got alot of rage quitters and that slowly chased away the community !!!
I really enjoyed WFC's multiplayer demo. I hope Dark of the Moon can achieve that same feeling of being more than meets the eye.
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Game Info
- Release Date: Jun 14, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: TTitles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- Publisher(s): Activision
- Developer(s): Behaviour Interactive
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: T
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Navigation
