Rise of the Machines

'Transformers: The War for Cybertron' has landed. Enlist today.

by Peter Y. Levin

What could be more heavy metal than Dave Mustaine's tool shed? Hey, we were just wondering the same thing. Then we got our hands on Transformers: The War for Cybertron, the epic new machine massacre that lands on consoles and PC today. You want metal? This robot run-and-gunner turns the clock back on the Transformers universe all the way to Planet Cybertron and the turf war that started it all.

The plot, as you may have guessed, is that habitual evildoer Megatron wants to rule the galaxy. And while he's at it, he wants the Autobots dead. Zeta Prime sleeps with the fishes, so it's up to Optimus—voiced by Peter Cullen—to rally the troops and save Cybertron from the dark side of the force. Oops! Wrong evil. That's the gist of story mode, which is broken into two campaigns: one in which you play as the Decepticons and one in which you're the Autobots. Play solo or cooperatively, either split-screen or online.

Then, there's the game's deep commitment to multiplayer, which is almost enough to make your forget all about 2007's already very forgettable Transformers: The Game. Here, you'll choose a side, custom-build your own Transformer from one of four classes and get fired from work after spending every waking hour blasting away in six modes: Escalation, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Counquest, Power Struggle and Countdown to Extinction. Game on!

Forward to a Buddy Invite a Buddy