Hearing High Moon Studios director Matt Tieger talk about the upcoming Transformers: War for Cyberton raises my hopes that fans will get a worthwhile game. Describing it as "a gamer's game," Tieger speaks about Transformers in the same way the folks at Rocksteady, makers of Batman: Arkham Asylum, talk about the Dark Knight. Granted, we've yet to set our eyes on War for Cybertron , but it's clear the goal is to create something special.

Optimus+has+an+axe+to+grind.

Freed from the constraints of a movie license, the new Transformers game lives within its own universe. "If you had to pick an area where we are most firmly rooted, it's probably from the Generation One cartoon from the 1980s," Tieger says. Most of the characters selected are from the first generation of toys -- the real classics of the Transformers universe. They include Megatron, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, Starscream, Soundwave and Bumblebee. But don't expect exact replicas of your favorite characters. Transformers takes place before these warring factions crashed on Earth."Our setting for our game is the waning years of this civil war that's been waging on Cybertron," Tieger explains. "The Autobots and Decepticons have been fighting for millions of years. We picked the last few years where that war is ultimately coming to a head. We're set on Cybertron. Huge giant war. The bad guys have an evil plan and really, that story is all about Megatron and his quest for power, his lust for power -- his abuse of power, ultimately."When you pop in the disc, you'll be given a choice: Autobot or Decepticon campaign. The Decepticon campaign takes place first, but you can play them in either order. And while the two are tied together, you won't be playing the same scenarios from different sides. These are two separate stories and whichever side you choose believes they are the good guys."The story that we put together, we wanted to be more mature," Tieger said. "We wanted to be grittier and darker and dangerous. That meant taking those characters and figuring out who they were." Tieger views Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader, as someone who "doesn't really want to be the guy in charge." But at this critical moment in Transformers history, he is "coming to the conclusion that he is the right guy and even if he doesn't want it, he is the savior of their race. I wanted to [explore those] reasons a little deeper in this story."Tieger looks forward to how fans will react as the Transformers mythos is given a little added depth. "What's fun for me is exploring some relationships that really haven't been explored," he says. "Who is Starscream and why does he sign up with Megatron? And why does Megatron keep him around? We explore [those questions] in the first level of the Decepticon campaign."Tieger and High Moon Studios have an interesting take on Megatron, who figures prominently in the Decepticon storyline. "I never really understood why Megatron was evil. He's just evil. Okay, but why is he evil? What I believe comes across in our game is that Megatron is the hero. That's what he believes. What he is doing and why he does what he does, he believes is the right thing to do. He just has such a force of will and determination that he believes that the end justifies the means. What he's doing and why he's doing it is a very clear objective for him. He's bringing Cybertron back to former glory. Cybertron has fallen from what he believes it should be and he is going to reset things. That's not evil in his mind."





Daily Fix Video January 12, 2010 This news and more in the Daily Fix. - Raimi to Focus on WoW?

- SWTOR: Spring 2011

- New EA Release Dates

- New Transformers Trailer



At the start of each level, you're given a choice to play as one of three different Transformers. The selection changes with each level and those levels are crafted specifically to fit those Autobots or Decepticons' skill sets. In terms of the gameplay, War for Cybertron has been compared to Gears of War. In fact, the trailer clearly shows some moments where Transformers take cover.

