Transformers: War for Cybertron: Difference between revisions

The player has the opportunity to play as both the Autobots and the Decepticons. Unlike previous ''Transformers'' games to do this, however, the plot for both factions will be entirely linear in nature, as opposed to [[Multiple Endings|Multiple Ending]] scenarios, with the Decepticon campaign taking place shortly before the Autobots. The game not only gives an idea of the events that led to both the Autobots' and Decepticons' exodus from Cybertron to Earth, it also shows up close how unflinchingly brutal the fighting was.

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Girl]]: Arcee. Being the ONLY female Autobot and up against enemy robots that turn into tanks and jet planes, she holds her own as a small car and does so in style.

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The game combines the best aspects of many prior ''Transformers'' franchises, and is one of the few franchises to avoid both [[camp]]iness and [[Internet Backdraft|fan backlash]].

** Well, not completely, but with [[Fan Dumb|this fandom]], it's as close as we're gonna get.

* [[Always Over the Shoulder]]

* [[An Adventurer Is You]]: Four classes - [[Mighty Glacier|Soldiers]], [[Fragile Speedster|Scouts]], [[Glass Cannon|Scientists]] and [[Jack of All Stats|Leaders]].

* [[Bad Boss]]: Sort of. Megatron certainly shows far less concern for his troops than, say, Optimus does, and he's not above blasting nameless minions who disobey or even question his orders, but he doesn't sacrifice them unnecessarily. And say what you want about him, but Megatron leads from the ''front'', and he'll make sure you don't forget it. He actually spends almost as much time on the frontlines as the local version of Optimus due to both being playable characters.

** And depending on how well you follow orders and/or your usefulness, he'll be pretty flexible. Breakdown gets away with comments that lesser Decepticons would get shot over (as one does early on). Half of Megatron's barked orders to him are irritated but not quite angry calls to shut it.

** Starscream has shades of this with his subordinates.

'''Skywarp''': That's ''exactly'' what I'm talking about! }}

* [[Beware My Stinger Tail]]: {{spoiler|Trypticon}}

* [[The Captain]]: Optimus ''is'' this trope.

* [[Captain Obvious]]: [[The Smart Guy|Thundercracker]], occasionally. This may be why Skywarp and Starscream sometimes neglect his advice, to their peril.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Optimus Prime calls for the Autobots to "roll out!" in the newest trailer, just like he always does.

** Megatron '''''will not be denied'''''.

* [[Civil War]]: The eponymous War For Cybertron.

* [[Class and Level System]]

* [[Cosmetically Different Sides]]: Other than in looks, the [[Mooks]] of both sides are completely identical in actual performance, all the way up to [[Boss in Mook Clothing|Brutes, Titans]] and [[Mini Boss|Destroyers]].

* [[The Corruption]]: Dark Energon's properties are ill-defined at best, but it seems mostly able to subvert programming and cause machines to go haywire. Stuff it affects usually starts sprouting black crystalline spikes that tear it apart, when it's not blown up outright. Megatron is the first Cybertronian ever to weaponize it without being destroyed by it; most of the other Transformers are so terrified of it that they only have a small amount of the stuff in storage and are prepared to destroy it before Megatron hijacks the production facility. The game centers around the discovery and weaponization of Dark Energon, while Megatron's personal plot revolves around using it to corrupt Cybertron itself and bring the planet under his control. {{spoiler|While Megatron succeeds, Cybertron does have a way to purge itself. However, the purging will require Cybertron to shut down and become uninhabitable for millions of years}}.

* [[Cutscene Power to the Max]]: So. Very. Much. ''Every'' named Transformer becomes exponentially more powerful whenever you're not controlling him.

* [[Dark Action Girl]]: Slipstream. Like Arcee she's the only female of her faction, but her dialogue during multi-player matches do seem to indicate that she ''loves'' fighting, and being (essentially) a Seeker, she's more than capable of physically backing that up.

** Except the problem with that viewpoint, is that Exodus contradicts the story of the game so many times, that they are now pretty much entirely [[Canon Discontinuity|incompatible]] with each other.

** Although the view that Megatron was not always an evil bot is still popular—indeed, it seems to be canon in most modern continuities.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Most of the Autobots and Decepticons get a couple sarcastic lines off throughout the game, even the ones that were never that humorous. Like Megatron:

{{quote|'''Megatron''': (with a weary, paternalistic air) ...and ''try'' not to get crushed by the trains.

* [[Escort Mission]]: Delightfully averted for the most part. Though you always travel in a squad of three, your squadmates are invincible. Even if they're auto-killed by an environmental effect (such as falling into a bottomless pit or {{spoiler|standing in front of Trypticon's laser breath}}), they respawn a moment later. In short, you are never punished for any [[Artificial Stupidity]].

** This also has a secondary effect: you'll NEVER use a medic during the campaign. Invincible medic = epic win for you.

* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: Trypticon retains his Godzilla-like form—apparently, even alien robots just ''know'' how awesome dinosaurs are.

* [[Evil Laugh]]: Starscream and Megatron are the most common users of this. Though the latter only does it when he's either killed something big in a fight or achieved some important goal.

* [[Gatling Good]]: The X12 Scrapmaker minigun.

* [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]]: It's never explained where the hell Trypticon came from. There was no indication in the Decepticon campaign, for example, that {{spoiler|the transfer station was alive}}. (It should be noted that while Megatron is never put off by the sheer size and power of Omega Supreme, that might just be Megatron being Megatron...or it might hint of things to come...) It probably has something to do with how new Cybertronians are made, but since we don't know how that is it comes off as a bit odd.

** The DS version attributes Trypticon's existence to the {{spoiler|station having been twisted into a living being by the Dark Energon}}.

* [[Gladiator Games]]: Megatron got his start (and name) in the equivalent of Cybertronian Fight Club. His desire to see a free Cybertron without a caste system where everyone is free to determine their own path sparks his rise to power as more and more Cybertronians (including the future Optimus Prime) come to his cause, leading eventually to a...

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Omega Supreme and Trypticon. The tank mini-bosses also, to a lesser extent. Technically the whole cast is this, but since this game is on Cybertron, you don't notice this.

* [[Hyperspace Arsenal]]: Probably a ''literal'' one, given the franchise's common use of [[Pocket Dimension]]s. Every character carries a melee weapon and up to two ranged weapons, and only the currently-equipped weapon ever appears on their person. Acquiring a new weapon involves some sort of scanning procedure, and weapons transform out of the way and disappear when they're not being used. Furthermore, all of these weapons disappear when the character enters vehicle mode. However, there seems to be a limit to the size of the [[Hyperspace Arsenal]], as the characters can't carry [[BFG]]s taken from turrets around with them.

** And even in his backstory, before his rise to power, he was like this (charismatic and leading by example). See the Gladiator tropes above.

* [[I Will Show You X]]: Skywarp's belated response to Starscream's Not-So-[[Stealth Insult]].

** {{spoiler|Megatron: "Take your Autobots and leave Cybertron forever or stay and face complete annihilation." He probably wanted them to leave ''immediately''; since Optimus chose to fight, Megatron wouldn't let them change their stance after giving his ultimatum}}.

* [[Kid Appeal Character]]: Bumblebee shows up, as a [[Hot-Blooded]] type 3 played by [[Johnny Yong Bosch]].

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Capturing and then crushing a lone soldier right before his leader's eyes, just to demonstrate your power over the facility? Really, Zeta Prime?

* [[Kill Sat]]: The Decepticons use one whilst in control of the orbital space station (formerly belonging to the Autobots). {{spoiler|Turns out, it's actually the alternate form of Trypticon}}.

** {{spoiler|Trypticon}}. DEAR GOD, {{spoiler|Trypticon}}!

** Everybody has a rocket launcher that does this in the Wii game.

* [[Master of Unlocking]]: Megatron loves to use his new Dark Energon powers to [[Mundane Utility|open doors.]] Megatron can be the NPC variant of this trope [[Captain Obvious|provided you're not playing as him at the time.]]

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Breakdown is a nervous wreck half the time.

** He's hanging around with [[Bad Boss|Meg]][[Blood Knight|at]][[Leeroy Jenkins|ron]]. Of ''course'' he's nervous.

* [[Mechanical Lifeforms]]: Aside from the Transformers themselves, the depths of Cybertron have weird floating robot squids and other such things.

* [[The Men First]]: Optimus and Ratchet will constantly try to avoid any casualties on their side.

* [[Mini Boss]]: Destroyers. Also the Decepticon War Machines in the first mission of the Autobot campaign.

* [[Old Soldier]]: Ironhide's age and experience are commented upon during the game, especially on the mission he shared with Optimus and Warpath.

* [[Palette Swap]]: As expected, there are a few characters who essentially have the same appearance, but different colours (i.e. Starscream and the Seekers as usual). The game even gives you the option to do this yourself as part of multiplayer customization.

'''[[Anti-Villain|Thundercracker:]]''' Ugly? You and I look the SAME! }}

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: One of the powers of the Scientist class, basically a [[Palette Swap]]. It's even more paper thin to other scientists, who can see the health gauges of all actual allies, but not disguised enemy Scientists, and even more so when someone tries this as Shockwave who has a very unique character model which involves a big purple glowing chest which when using this ability becomes a big red glowing chest. The lack of these obvious distinctions, however, makes it possible to fool an enemy who isn't a fellow Scientist long enough to club them with a melee attack, usually.

* [[Ruined FOREVER]]: Well, with the fanbase, this was a guarantee.

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Cybertron looks damned good in many of the overhead shots. But then again...

*** The design team was actually very careful about these tropes. The Autobot cities, whilst heavily damaged from civil war, are perfect symbols of the once proud civilization Cybertron must have been before the war, whereas Kaon, the Decepticon city, is purposefully rusty and grimy, with the idea that the Decepticons aren't out to build a functioning society. Or at the very least, a society based more around function, power, and making others do the grunt work. Whereas the Autobots are a cooperative utopia, the Decepticons are a competitive utopia.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: {{spoiler|After ordering the evacuation of Cybertron, Optimus also commisions the building of the Ark, a ship massive enough to much of Cybertron with them as they search for a new home}}.

** [[Epic Flail]]: Megatron's weapon.

** Melee weapons aside, while most characters can equip any two guns they come across, Optimus and Megatron are unable to drop their signature Ion Cannon and Fusion Cannon.

* [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]: {{spoiler|The Aerialbots decide to take out Trypticon's conversion cog and revert him back to his natural Cybertronian form}}.

{{quote|'''Jetfire''': We don't even know what his original form is!

* [[Wing Man]]: The Aerialbots to one another. While the Seekers have the "chatter in the middle of battle" part down, they don't really care enough for each other for the "watch my six" part. [[Anti-Villain|Thundercracker might]], if the others weren't jackholes.

* [[X Meets Y|W Meets X Meets Y Meets Z...]]: Seriously, it's kinda tough to pin down what it exactly took ideas from to mix together.

* [[You Are in Command Now]]: When Zeta Prime is defeated, Optimus is forced to take command of the Autobot army in his place. [[Time to Step Up Commander|Not a single Autobot sees this as a bad thing]], except ''maybe'' Optimus himself. Starscream also tries to invoke this trope many times during the game, but, well, Megatron has a pesky tendency to not die.

* [[You Fool!]]: Used mostly by Starscream, though Megatron says it once.

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