Seibertron.com's notes and photos from Activision's Transformers game event
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 9:55PM CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Event News, Game News, Digital Media NewsPosted by: Seibertron Views: 137,575
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Each of us at the event were able to play each of the major 5 platforms for about 20 minutes each. Bottom line is this: if you don't own a Wii, a Nintendo DS, an Xbox 360, a Sony PSP or a Sony Playstation 3 ... you need to go out to buy one. The platforms are truly incredible and the handhelds are a lot of fun.
Below are some notes that I took while attending the Activision event. I'm not a big fan of writing reviews so hopefully you'll find some of the information that I posted from my notes and in the galleries useful as we continue to get closer to the release of the Transformers games from Activision and the worldwide release of the Transformers Movie. The notes presented below are in the order that information was provided to me at the event, so some of it is out of order.
Please let me know if you guys have some additional questions. Thanks!
Ryan
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Related Photo Galleries:
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Notes from the Transformers Game Event:
- The opening cinematic that Activision showed us is mind-blowingly awesome. It opens on Cybertron. The computer animation is simply beautiful. It looks like there was a fully rendered Cybertron in the style of G1, not the style that's on TransformersMovie.com.
- Activision showed us a cinematic that features Bumblebee landing on Earth. Optimus Prime states Bumblebee's mission. We've seen this mission objective via radio intercom used in the past for the 2004 Transformers Armada game from Atari. Bumblebee then scans a Camaro that is alone in an empty parking lot.
- Bumblebee battles Swindle
- Activision demo'ed a lot of the transformations.
- The game makes use of a radar that shows your location, a map of the area as well as any enemy targets which are marked with their faction symbol. The radar is similar to that used in other major platform games.
- The Transformers can climb the sides of buildings.
- There is a ton of interaction with the city and such.
- Every 20 energon cubes you obtain unlocks a different mission/objective, unlockable characters, features, etc.
- The game has a lot of Easter eggs throughout the game such as a building called "Seaspray's fish and chips" or "Hound's Hot Dogs".
- Activision referred to the faction symbols as "shields" which I don't think I've heard anyone do before.
- Next, Activision showed us a cinematic with Barricade, Mikeala and Sam.
- "Protect and Serve" mission objective: defeat Barricade and get to Sam before him. Story: The Decepticon Barricade has posed as a human Police vehicle in an effort to harm. More ...
- Optimus Prime announces what Bumblebee should be doing. Peter Cullen has done an incredible job with his Optimus Prime voice. It totally sounds like his G1 self.
- Barricade and Bumblebee battle around Tranquility high school.
- Trivia: tranquility sharks
- The transformation sound is similar to what we hear in the movie ... there is no use of the G1 transformation sound.
- While Bumblebee and Barricade are battling, the action moves to a cinematic with them on a highschool football field. The action is beautfil
- One of Bumblebee's mission is called "Plight of the Bumblebee" (a nod to Marvel Comics' Transformers #16).
- Something from the "Plight of the Bumblebee" comic book is available as an unlockable feature (not sure if it's the full comic or cover art).
- Activision compared the interactive environment like a "ball in a china shop scenario"
- "Unfriendly Skies" Objective: ground Starscream and defeat him. Story: Starscream is after the AllSpark. Shoot him out of the sky ...
- Optimus Prime to Jazz: "Starscream ... take him out."
- The game uses small Autobot or Decepticon shields on the radar to identify the enemy's location.
- Starscream is HUGE compared to Jazz ... but in an entertaining "omigod the bad guy is so big" kind of way.
- Jazz is voiced by an African American voice actor.
- Activision's Dreadwind character battles Jazz.
- Activision's Daniel talks about working with Hasbro to collaborate with Aaron Archer and crew for the movie game toys.
- The characters in the game have shadows.
- The police chase after Jazz while battling the Decepticons.
- "Hound's Hot Dogs" on Main St. during Jazz's battle with Dreadwind.
- Next cinemtatic that was showed to us: Decepticons versus Jazz (Blackout and Dreadwind ... Starscream takes off during Jazz's battle).
- Jazz then battles Blackout, who looks phenomenal.
- Unlockable characters ... G1!!! (Including G1 Optimus Prime plus repaints. I also wrote down Megatron but we weren't shown this and I don't remember this being mentioned), television openers
- Their intention was to satisfy the fans.
- G1 Optimus Prime looks beautiful ... it's incredible to see G1 Prime rendered like this!
- The cars have weapons and nitro.
- G1 Optimus Prime can fire missiles.
- "Heavy Weapon" Objective: defeat Shockwave
- Shockwave is a purple triplechanger complete with a G1 styled head.
- Missile turret, helicopter and a robot.
- Shockwave's transformation is awesome.
- Jazz voices to Optimus Prime via radio transmission for his mission.
- Optimus Prime quotes: "I can't let him get away", "You will not cause anymore destruction, Decepticon."
- Activision wanted to create a game that plays up the movie and the fans.
- "Transformations actually mean something in the game."
- Amazing destruction technology ... almost fully interactive environment. Very impressive!
- The complexity of the transformations really surprised Activision.
- A lot of information wasn't available (i.e. voice of Megatron) so they worked with what they had at the time.
- Activision was able to use a lot of the ILM assets, which ILM/Dreamworks/Paramount was more than happy to share.
- Tom: "game gives a lot of backstory to the movie that was never shot."
- Peter Cullen (re: working with welker again): "It was fantastic, has always been when I work with Frank. We work well together. Frank's kind of like a fuse ... you just kind of never know when he's going to blow up. but he never does. It's always in a good way."
- Tom DeSanto was asked about special features for the DVD: Michael Bay is a DVD fan. Tom doesn't want to give anything away.
- Activision views the handhelds (DS and PSP) as supplementals to the platform versions.
- DS version takes advantage of the hardware considerably. It really pushed the limits.
- PSP: wanted to make a game with the Transformers stuff that they themselves wanted to see in a game (they are fans).
- There are 26 characters in the PSP.
- A company called "Savage" worked on the PSP.
- PSP provides a unique experience you aren't going to get anywhere else such as versus modes, capture the flag, etc.
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Other Transformers Websites Reviews:
GameNewsI.com
TFW2005.com
TFArchive.com
GameSpot.com
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Posted by jonusjaxon on June 12th, 2007 @ 10:44pm CDT
Posted by Shadowman on June 12th, 2007 @ 10:51pm CDT
Wait, when's Super Smash Bros. Brawl coming out? It might be that.
Posted by bumblezzz on June 12th, 2007 @ 10:57pm CDT
Posted by Spooner on June 12th, 2007 @ 10:58pm CDT
Posted by TheMuffin on June 12th, 2007 @ 11:07pm CDT
Posted by Robinson on June 12th, 2007 @ 11:44pm CDT
Posted by Fang Wolf on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:24am CDT
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:41am CDT
Spooner wrote:I'm confused - will the original transformation sound be used in the movie or not? If it's not in the game, I can't see it being in the movie, either.
The original transformation sound was NOT used in the game. I don't believe it will be used in the actual movie either so I'm confused as to why it was used in the trailer other than to show fans that it doesn't sound right in the live action setting.
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:43am CDT
Fang Wolf wrote:Why does the 360 look better than the PS3? Odd that.
I was told by an unnamed Activision employee that the Xbox 360 version is THE version to buy. He told me that I should buy the Xbox 360 because it's a better machine over the PS3. From the conversations that I've had, it sounds like the game was developed for the Xbox and then ported over to the PS3 - though the Activision employee did not say this, it was just my impression. Or maybe I totally misunderstood the conversation that I had with the Activision employee.
Posted by cellshock on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:54am CDT
Posted by cellshock on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:57am CDT
This news about G1 models and a triple changing Shockwave has me buzzing!
Posted by 0ptimus Prime on June 13th, 2007 @ 1:01am CDT
Also, is the G1 Prime just a re-color/different skin of the Movie Prime model or is it a completely different character model?
Posted by Lapse Of Reason on June 13th, 2007 @ 1:34am CDT
Posted by Megatron Wolf on June 13th, 2007 @ 2:02am CDT
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 2:24am CDT
Posted by KoH4711 on June 13th, 2007 @ 3:30am CDT
Though, it does make me wonder if Shockwave would be used in a movie sequel at all. Not that the game'll be treated as canon, but you think they might've said, "Hey, don't use him" to Activision, especially since there seem to be a few sequel ideas cooking already.
Posted by Insurgent on June 13th, 2007 @ 5:59am CDT
Still, this game is looking good. Even if the PS2 version is 'not worth getting', I aint getting a new console so it's PS2 FTW! All the unlockables like G1 skins should be in that version, right? Just inferior graphics and some viewable unlockables not included?
Posted by SmokeStack on June 13th, 2007 @ 7:39am CDT
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 10:30am CDT
Autobot Optimus Prime wrote:Did you guys get any info about the PC version? Do you know if it's more of a port of the PS3/XBox360 version or the older console version?
We didn't find out any information about the PC version. I didn't think to ask either.
Autobot Optimus Prime wrote:Also, is the G1 Prime just a re-color/different skin of the Movie Prime model or is it a completely different character model?
It's the G1 Optimus Prime that we all know and love: long smoke stacks and flat nosed semi truck included!
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 10:32am CDT
SmokeStack wrote:I didn't see it in your notes, but are you able to free roam in there or is it only mission to mission? I'm definitely glad, now, that I bought the Xbox 360. This game is the main reason I bought it. I'm glad to see that the 360 version seems to be the best version.
Hm ... I'm not a big gamer so my limited experiences will limit how I can answer this. It seems that the environments are pretty damn big (as in HUGE). You can go anywhere and destroy anything within that environment. However, there are boundaries that you have to stay within which I encountered a few times to keep you within that particular misssion. I believe one of the Activision guys said that the mission's environment was equivalent to 4 square miles. Big.
Posted by Counterpunch on June 13th, 2007 @ 10:39am CDT
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 12:33pm CDT
Counterpunch wrote:How were the Wii controls for the game?
They were OK. I think there will be a greater learning curve for the Wii controls. When I was playing Starscream, you used the Wiimote to guide him through the air so it was definitely different than a typical game.
Posted by Punisher on June 13th, 2007 @ 2:14pm CDT
I wonder what achievments will be on the game?
Maybe there will be a "busting deceptichops" achievement.
Posted by Seibertron on June 13th, 2007 @ 3:50pm CDT
Posted by Liege Evilmus on June 13th, 2007 @ 5:04pm CDT
Posted by Dclone Soundwave on June 13th, 2007 @ 5:05pm CDT
That's all I have to say. Oh, & Shockwave better be playable. THAT'S all I have to say.
Posted by TheMuffin on June 13th, 2007 @ 8:27pm CDT
Seibertron wrote:I think the nice thing about the Transformers game is that it's not an adaptation of the Movie. It basically does what they couldn't do in the movie which is give us a ton of screen time with the Transformers themselves. Plus there were a couple of things that they did in the game that I was told I couldn't tell you guys about ... even more surprises coming down the pipes!
Please tell me that doesn't include mods and admins as well.
Posted by Neko on June 13th, 2007 @ 8:32pm CDT
TheMuffin wrote:Seibertron wrote:I think the nice thing about the Transformers game is that it's not an adaptation of the Movie. It basically does what they couldn't do in the movie which is give us a ton of screen time with the Transformers themselves. Plus there were a couple of things that they did in the game that I was told I couldn't tell you guys about ... even more surprises coming down the pipes!
Please tell me that doesn't include mods and admins as well.
*Puppy Dog Eyes*
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 8:42pm CDT
AWWW SHIT! NO FUCKIN MULTIPLAYER! AWW WELL I'LL JUST TAKE IT OUT ON THE PUNY FLESH CREATURES WITH STARSCREAM THEN!
*Edited By Neko. No need to quote Seib's entire post. It takes up too much space and isn't needed in order to get your point across.
Posted by Robinson on June 13th, 2007 @ 9:18pm CDT
TheMuffin wrote:Seibertron wrote:I think the nice thing about the Transformers game is that it's not an adaptation of the Movie. It basically does what they couldn't do in the movie which is give us a ton of screen time with the Transformers themselves. Plus there were a couple of things that they did in the game that I was told I couldn't tell you guys about ... even more surprises coming down the pipes!
Please tell me that doesn't include mods and admins as well.
No playing favorites.
Posted by TheMuffin on June 13th, 2007 @ 9:51pm CDT
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 10:41pm CDT
TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the fuck?
Posted by TheMuffin on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:07pm CDT
Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:09pm CDT
TheMuffin wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
U Think that highly of yourself eh? Well then everybody loves me THEN!!
Posted by Shadowman on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:12pm CDT
Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
U Think that highly of yourself eh? Well then everybody loves me THEN!!
Stop. HAMMER TIME!
Banhammer time, that is.
EDIT: And you're MY favorite Muffin.
It's just that CB is even more my favorite, because he can ban me.
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:16pm CDT
Shadowman wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
U Think that highly of yourself eh? Well then everybody loves me THEN!!
Stop. HAMMER TIME!
Banhammer time, that is.
EDIT: And you're MY favorite Muffin.
It's just that CB is even more my favorite, because he can ban me.
Ban who ?! Why the hell would he ban me?! Just over stupid conversation that meant nothing!
Posted by Shadowman on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:17pm CDT
Godzilla wrote:Shadowman wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
U Think that highly of yourself eh? Well then everybody loves me THEN!!
Stop. HAMMER TIME!
Banhammer time, that is.
EDIT: And you're MY favorite Muffin.
It's just that CB is even more my favorite, because he can ban me.
Ban who ?! Why the hell would he ban me?! Just over stupid conversation that meant nothing!
You basically called a Mod arrogant.
If it was a joke, why not post the " " emoticon? That's what I'd do.
In any case, i was kidding too. Hence the MC Hammer reference.
It's impossible to be serious when quoting MC Hammer.
Posted by Anonymous on June 13th, 2007 @ 11:22pm CDT
Shadowman wrote:Godzilla wrote:Shadowman wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:Godzilla wrote:TheMuffin wrote:But...I'm everybodies favorite.
What the ****?
I don't believe I stuttered.
U Think that highly of yourself eh? Well then everybody loves me THEN!!
Stop. HAMMER TIME!
Banhammer time, that is.
EDIT: And you're MY favorite Muffin.
It's just that CB is even more my favorite, because he can ban me.
Ban who ?! Why the hell would he ban me?! Just over stupid conversation that meant nothing!
You basically called a Mod arrogant.
If it was a joke, why not post the " " emoticon? That's what I'd do.
In any case, i was kidding too. Hence the MC Hammer reference.
It's impossible to be serious when quoting MC Hammer.
I didn't say he was arragant! I said u think highly of yourself. I think highly of myself! Theres nothing wrong!