Transformers Fall of Cybertron

The sequel to 2010's Transformers: War for Cybertron, this game shows the the tailend of the War before it left for Earth. Technically the Decepticons have won the war, but since the planet is slowly dying it becomes a race to gather what survivors they can and get off the planet. Because of this it was much Darker and Edgier than other Transformers games.

High Moon Studios revamped the gameplay system extensively from its predecessor, changing quite a lot of the fundamentals to the point it is more of a natural successor rather than a true sequel. The gameplay was more varied as the abilities of certain characters will factor into the missions and different characters will have different playstyles, e.g. Jazz makes use of a grappling hook to reach higher vantage points to avoid snipers and Grimlock will only be able to transform into his T-Rex form once he smashes enough enemies and gets angry enough.

As tradition for Transformer games, there is opportunities to play both factions. But instead of having separate Autobot and Decepticon campaigns (splitting the game down the middle as WFC did), it intermingles the play-through to create one complete story told from different perspectives.

The full trailer is here.

Tropes used in Transformers Fall of Cybertron include:

• Adaptation Name Change:
  • The first piece of media to rename "Slag" as "Slug".
  • "Shrapnel" is now "Sharpshot" and "Bombshell" is "Hardshell".
• Adaptational Wimp: Though based off his Marvel self's personality, Shockwave is quite easily thrown around.
• After the End: Following the events of the first game, Cybertron is in the process of shutting down and energon is in desperately short supply. Thick layers of ash cover much of the land, and many of the Tron Lines that were so prevalent before have gone dark.
• Arm Cannon: As a nod to Transformers Prime, Optimus shifts his hand into a gun similar in appearance to what he uses in the series, only MUCH larger.
• Art Evolution: The characters have changed appearance since War for Cybertron and seem to be more of a hybridization between the WFC designs and Transformers Prime. Optimus in particular looks a little more lanky with larger shoulder pieces and Megatron is a little bigger and bulkier, and his armour also has spikes. Also of note, Cliffjumper shares a body with Bumblebee, like his toy and appearance in the DS version of WFC, but his head design has changed from the G1-esque look he had prior to a look far more similar to his Prime appearance. Considering that the games and Prime take place in the same Continuity Family, it's likely an intentional change.
• Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Bruticus.
  • On the Autobots' side we have Metroplex, a transforming city. Optimus Prime's special ability is to call down attacks from Metroplex, who can often be seen walking around in the background of stages.
• Awesome but Impractical: Metroplex to the Autobot army. Yes, he can stamp out the whole Decepticon army but he burns through so much energon that it takes literally their entire supply to keep him mobile.
• BFG: Most guns.
• BFS: Grimlock's main weapon, which is certainly big compared to him, when one notices that how big he is, it's longer than some characters are tall.
• The Berserker: Grimlock. He transformers into his dinosaur mode only when really angry.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The Insecticons.
• Bullying a Dragon: Grimlock is properly introduced by Starscream getting too close while the Dinobot is still restrained, allowing Grimlock to grab him and throw him at a control panel, busting it up and freeing him.
• Came Back Strong: Megatron. Which is pretty damn terrifying considering how powerful he was originally.
• Character Customization: Improved over the previous game and the DOTM tie-in. While previously online characters would be just identical to other characters save for changeable weapons, abilities, and colour schemes, this time around the developers have confirmed various character pieces available to change and customize.
• Companion Cube: Optimus made a memorial to his lost Energon axe.
• Continuity Nod: The Nemesis is almost completely identical to its appearance in Transformers Prime.
• Darker and Edgier
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Bumblebee only has any real prominence in the tutorial level with Ratchet and Ironhide being reduced to Mr. Exposition.
  • Sideswipe is now an NPC who merely gives Worldbuilding audio logs.
• Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: The Dinobots. Shockwave rebuilt them after viewing dinosaurs via records of the ancient Cybertronians' journeys across the galaxy.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Warpath is clearly jealous that Metroplex has replaced him as Optimus Prime's biggest gun.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Grimlock's only projectile is grabbing enemies and throwing them.
• Hammerspace: Grimlock's transformation into a T-Rex borrows from his G1 transformation, arms turn into the T-rex's legs, his legs in robot mode form the tail, but has some bits of this with unfolding parts with his tail and the head and T-rex body partially as Rule of Cool, but mostly because the designers wanted to make sure they have a design that doesn't leave anything that block the player's view in robot mode (they noted that if they copied the G1 design too much, all the player would see of Grimlock while controlling him is his back).
• Homeworld Evacuation: The Autobots are scrounging up the resources to enact this.
• Human Resources: The Autobots are using Trypticon as a battery after they defeated him.
• How We Got Here: The game opens with the Autobots launching the Ark and beginning their exodus, followed immediately by the Decepticons sending a force to board and destroy the ship. Most of the game is a flashback that starts after Megatron critically injures Bumblebee, leaving him on the verge of death.
• Hypocrite:
  • It's downplayed but it's clear several times that Jazz can't take the same manner of insults that he dishes out to Cliffjumper.
  • Megatron claims Starscream is a wasteful hedonist. After tearing down Starscream's statue, an even bigger statue of Megatron is air-lifted in.
• Lost Technology: Space Bridges were once ubiquitous in Cybertronian society billions of years ago but fell into disuse when the isolationism policies set in. Shockwave discovers the last of them in the Sea of Rust.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Grimlock has a huge one.
• Mook Horror Show: Grimlock's rampage through Shockwave's lab. Decepticon Mooks are positively terrified of him. Decepticon: "I don't want to die!"
• Mythology Gag: A tradition for Transformers, but even the trailer already has some, with transformation sound effects from the live-actions films, and Optimus Prime turning his hand into a gun very reminiscent of the arm cannon his Transformers Prime appearance has, except much larger.
  • Weapons named so far include the Pathblaster, the name of a gun from the G1 Marvel comics, the Energon Havester, a reference to a MacGuffin from Transformers Prime (though in this game it functions as a shotgun that restores the health of the player using it), and the Dinobots being Autobots that were captured and experimented on by Shockwave references their origins from the Marvel comics and IDW's G1 universe.
  • Slug knocks down a door on top of Kickback, and whilst walking on top of it apologises to the Insecticon with "Excuse me" as he passes him. The same thing happened to a Quintesson in Transformers: The Movie, only the context in which the line was spoken appears to be more self-aware and sarcastic in the game, rather than the more playful nature that Slag had in the movie.
• Mad Scientist: Shockwave, who's responsible for giving the Dinobots dinosaur altmodes and mutating the subterranean Insecticon creatures to make them even deadlier.
• Never My Fault: Despite being the one who pumped Dark Energon into the Core, Megatron holds Optimus responsible for Cybertron shutting down.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Starscream freeing Grimlock.
• Oh Crap: When the Decepticon troops see Metroplex in the E3 trailer, they run like hell.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Decepticons as usual have this as per default. But the Autobots also have certain members of the Dinobots displaying this trait as well (and they are traditionally more dangerous or aggressive in combat than your typical Autobot).
  • Certain members indeed. In the second trailer Swoop and Slug have blue eyes. The latter case is very interesting, since he's traditionally one of the most aggressive. (Grimlock had red in both modes.)
  • Not to mention Metroplex's eyes glow red. But with him, that's not so much the real warning. Him transforming at ALL is the real warning, in and of itself.
• Scenery Gorn: The World Premiere trailer.
• Stealth Pun: The game was released in autumn of 2012. Fall of Cybertron, get it?
• Technology Marches On: The designers made Optimus' Path Blaster look like an earlier version of the guns that he has in Transformers Prime.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Grimlock can impale enemies with his sword, tear them off, and slam them into the ground.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The demo released for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 version gave away that Metroplex crushed Megatron.
• Transforming Mecha: As always. But this time around, we also have...
  • Combining Mecha: Courtesy of the Combaticons, and Bruticus is playable, giving us more...
  • Humongous Mecha: Metroplex is also making an appearance, letting us see the good counterpart of Trypticon.
• Villains Want Mercy: After megacycles of torture and promising gruesome demises, Sharpshot has the audacity to beg Grimlock for mercy.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Jazz and Cliffjumper. Though Jazz would prefer that Cliffjumper just take the insults, not dish them back out.
• War Is Hell: And don't you forget it. Cybertron was once a beautiful planet with a rich history that stretched back billions of years and now its people are living in the bombed out ruins of their world.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Shockwave. He only wants to save Cybertron.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The game never reveals what happened to Starscream after he was thrown aside by Grimlock and how he managed to rejoin the Decepticons in Prime.
• You Have Failed Me: Megatron orders Trypticon to be permanently transformed into the Nemesis as a result of his failure to kill Optimus.