History Videogame / TransformersFallOfCybertron

* MoralDissonance: Cliffjumper finds [[spoiler:Sludge still alive, but in stasis lock]]. Cliff indicates that he'll come back for him once his mission is complete. Later Jazz [[spoiler:floods the area, leaving no survivors left inside; later dialog with Swoop implies Slug was, in fact, left behind and died]]. What's really odd about it is that neither Jazz ''nor'' Cliffjumper seemed all that bothered by leaving one of there own behind to die. They don't even mention his name after the section where they find him in stasis.

* UnexpectedCharacter: In Escalation, they added [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Quake_%28G1%29 Quake]] as a playable character.

* PressXToNotDie: At the end of Chapter 3. [[spoiler: Metroplex walks up behind Megatron's apparent triumph. The entire back wall is torn out, and the METROPLEX ONLINE message appears. A few moments later, Megatron is flattened by Metroplex's massive fist, and a QTE prompt comes up, allowing you to continue the pounding.]]
-->'''Press RS to [[spoiler:destroy Megatron]]'''

** Slug knocks a door down on top of Kickback and says "Excuse me" to the Insecticon as he enters. The same thing happened to a Quintesson in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', only the context in which the line was spoken appears to be more self-aware and sarcastic in the game.

* OhCrap: When the Decepticon troops see Metroplex in the E3 trailer, they wisely begin to retreat.

''[[VideoGame/TransformersRiseoftheDarkSpark Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark]]'' was released in 2014, featuring segments both on Cybertron (though these segments take place before the events of this game) and Earth and is a {{Crossover}} between the game's universe and that of the [[TransformersFilmSeries live-action films]], specifically ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 The announcement trailer can be found here.]]

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: The holographic observatory scene in Cliffjumper's level.

The sequel to 2010's ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'', this game shows the [[AfterTheEnd tailend]] of the war before it left for Earth. Technically the Decepticons have won, but since Cybertron is screwed, it becomes a race to gather what Energon and survivors they can and get off the planet. Because of this, it's DarkerAndEdgier than any other {{Transformers}} game.

-->-'''Optimus Prime'''

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: During the final chapter, after the player beats the FinalBoss fight between Optimus and Megatron, the game has a checkpoint right before the fight that lets them replay it as either character without having to go through the whole level again. [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Not that one might mind...]]

->''"We have no choice, Bumblebee. The [[TransformersWarForCybertron war]] is lost. Leaving our home is the hardest decision I've ever had to make. It has been a long, painful war with the Decepticons. Whatever lies beyond that portal is our best - and last - hope, my friend."''

The sequel to 2010's ''TransformersWarForCybertron'', this game shows the [[AfterTheEnd tailend]] of the war before it left for Earth. Technically the Decepticons have won, but since Cybertron is screwed, it becomes a race to gather what Energon and survivors they can and get off the planet. Because of this, it's DarkerAndEdgier than any other {{Transformers}} game.

* AfterTheEnd: Following the events of [[TransformersWarForCybertron 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 TronLines that were so prevalent before have gone dark.

* ArtEvolution: The characters have changed appearances since ''WarForCybertron'' and seem to be a combination of the WFC designs and ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. Optimus in particular looks a little more lanky with larger shoulder pieces and Megatron is a little bigger and bulkier, and his armor 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, it's likely an intentional change.

*** Even worse, he doesn't even have a long term plan to defeat the Autobots beyond trying to hold onto a supply of energon that, according to Megatron, he wasted most of. He also thought that using the space bridge was a waste of time and energy, even after he found out that it would lead to another energy-rich planet. He uses resources to fill Kaon with statues of himself and constantly broadcast needlessly long speeches where he admires himself that the {{mooks}} imply happen routinely. Even Megatron considers this a waste, though that's arguably hypocritical (though ''his'' propaganda in ''WarForCybertron'' was intended to demoralize and bully the Autobots into surrender).
** PointyHairedBoss: When Starscream takes charge, he leads a mission to recapture energon the Autobots jacked from the Sea of Rust. Onslaught devises most of the plan and the Combaticons put it into motion. Then, Onslaught discovers the transport system has too many air defenses for an air assault to do anything, and advises calling off the attack. Starscream calls him a coward and sends in the troops, who promptly get slaughtered. Onslaught salvages the mission with just his 5-bot team and manages to get away with at least half of the Energon. Starscream blames him for the "failure", [[ItMakesSenseInContext as half the energon was destroyed when they brought down the transport]], and Onslaught [[CaptainObvious points out the Autobots would have gotten all of it if his team followed Starscream's orders]]. Starscream has him and the other Combaticons arrested for insulting him. (In comparison, Megatron would have likely executed them on the spot for such insubordination, but then Megatron probably wouldn't have found himself in that situation to begin with.)

* BullFightBoss: Leapers and Bruiser insecticons attack alot by rushing the player [[spoiler:and Optimus will try to ram Megatron if you play as him]].

** Shockwave seems to make a point of provoking and talking down to Grimlock after he escapes, even though he basically built him to be the ultimate fighting machine. He believes that he can control him [[spoiler: he can't]].

* ChainsOfCommanding: Optimus Prime clearly feels the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders. His refusal to yield to Megatron was the right one, but one can't help but hear the weariness in his voice when he walks through Autobase and other Autobots speak to him. He even has to put one of his badly wounded soldiers into involuntary stasis, despite the soldier pleading that he can still fight.
** In contrast, Starscream isn't burdened by these at all, and it's part of the reason Onslaught in particular detests him.

* CombatPragmatist: Possibly in reference to his ''TransformersAnimated'' incarnation, Starscream can stick a bomb onto enemies when they aren't looking.

** And of course when the player takes contrl Grimlock, he single-handedly lays waste to a small army of them.

* CriticalHit: The Path Blaster's aptly named "Gambler" upgrade makes a random shot in its clip take 2 rounds instead, and does enough damage to instant kill Mooks, cripple GiantMooks and blast open large sections of room. The Riot Cannon's "Planet Buster" upgrade makes the last shot of every clip do 5x damage.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Fall of Cybertron is this to WarForCybertron. It's a far more violent, graphic, and much solemn and sadder tale. It's arguably the darkest Transformers story told outside the modern comics. Among other things:

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: During the final chapter, after the player beats the FinalBoss fight between Optimus and Megatron, the game has a checkpoint right before the fight that lets them replay it as either character without having to go through the whole level again. [[BestLevelEver Not that one might mind...]]

** Optimus has a holographic shrine to his old axe from ''WarForCybertron'' hidden near the start of said character's chapter. Optimus says "Your sacrifice won't be forgotten old friend." upon activating the shrine, indicating he lost it in battle. Soundwave makes a cameo disguised as a turret in Optimus' second chapter as well; a homage to G1.

* JustBeforeTheEnd: The story focuses on both the Autobots and Decepticons trying to gather enough energon to escape Cybertron before the planet shuts down.

** Starscream refuses to listen to Onslaught's warning about the energon transport being armed with heavy artilery, and charges headlong into battle with the rest of the Decepticons forces. They get their skidplates handed to them, leaving Onslaught and the Combaticons to salvage the mission.

* MookHorrorShow: Starscream's level has him taking out Shockwave's minions while cloaked. To some extent, Cliffjumper's as well. You can also hear the absolute terror the Autobots have when it turns out that Megatron [[spoiler:is alive again, which he takes full enjoyment of]] and when playing as Bruticus. Some of Grimlock's enemies simply cut and run while trying to avoid him likes he's a mechanical mini-Godzilla.
** Not only do some of Grimlock's enemies run in fear of him, or even cower in place, [[spoiler:his revenge on Sharpshot plays out like something out of ''JurassicPark''. Not that Sharpshot didn't deserve it.]]

** Slug knocks a door down on top of Kickback and says "Excuse me" to the Insecticon as he enters. The same thing happened to a Quintesson in ''TransformersTheMovie'', only the context in which the line was spoken appears to be more self-aware and sarcastic in the game.

** A few scenes are a direct homage to TransformersTheMovie, specifically, [[spoiler:Starscream's coronation]].

** And Rumble [[TransformersTheMovie once]] [[TransformersWarForCybertron again]] says "Get ready to crumble, before Rumble!" and "First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!".

* ShaggyDogStory: Grimlock's attempt to find energon, and then find out what Shockwave is doing with it, ends with his team in stasis or captured. The energy is found by Jazz and Cliffjumper, taken by the Autobots, and then stolen back when the Combaticons take down the carrier, all with no input from the Dinobots. (However, Jazz and Cliffjumper wouldn't have gone out that way if they hadn't been looking for Grimlock and company.) Shockwave's towers also end up destroyed as an indirect result of their actions.

* SymbolicBlood: There's some pretty graphic depictions of robot dismemberment. Also, when you get melee kills, like in War for Cybertron, your screen gets blue-ish fluid splattered on the screen. That's energon, folks; literal blood of the Transformers.

* [[spoiler:TooPowerfulToLive: Metroplex, literally. With energon in such short supply, just activating him leaves the Ark without enough power to be launched, much less make it to another world. In the end, he gives up his energon to power the Ark.]]

* VirtualPaperDoll: Your multiplayer character. Obviously, you can customize your weapon and upgrade loadouts, but the sheer amount of parts you can unlock just by playing (and earning energon shards) is staggering. You can even add ''subfaction decals''. Wanna make your Autobot Titan a Wrecker? Go right ahead.

* WarIsHell: Not since ''TransformersTheMovie'' (aside from its prequel, ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'') has warfare between robots been so heartbreaking and ''horrifying'' to watch. This trend is continued in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''.

** [[spoiler:The game no qualms about showing both Autobots and Decepticons dying in horrific ways. Not to mention that some sections of the game are littered with Autobot and Decepticon corpses]]
** [[spoiler:Shortly before the final battle, Optimus Prime briefly loses its temper and threatens to kill Megatron, after the latter almost kills Bumblebee]]

* TheStarscream: Starscream as usual, [[spoiler:after Megatron is seemingly killed by Metroplex]]. There's also an achievement called 'Starscream's Betrayal'.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In-universe; [[spoiler:Shockwave did have designs for Sludge's Dinobot form. But he probably perished during the Insecticon attack. So we only get to see his new form in the ending ending credits and official artwork]].

'''Mook 1:''' "Hey- you hear about Starscream?"\\

-->'''Megatron:''' Impressive for a data clerk... You should've spent more time in the pit!\\
'''Optimus:''' You should've spent more time in the library!

* InMediaRes/ColdOpen: Subverted. The game begins at the very end, when the Decepticons aboard the Nemesis attack the Ark, as seen from the eyes of Bumblebee. The rest of the game shows the events building up to that point; the events Final Chapter shows what was happening on the Ark while Bumblebee was trying to get to Optimus.

** BadBoss: For reference, Starscream started backing out of his own op, while Megatron leads from the front. Megatron executes his soldiers, but generally in response to ''actual'' incompetence and failure; Starscream ended up jailing the Combaticons for salvaging a mission that ''he'' screwed up. And all round, he manages to be an even bigger jerk to the point where Onslaught can't hide how much he hates Screamer's guts anymore.

* {{Berserker}}: Grimlock has so far been stated to be very angry with a lot of things and his ability to use his T-Rex mode is, plotwise, triggered by him getting ''very'' angry.

** BadBoss: For reference, Starscream started backing out of his own op while Megatron leads from the front lines in any mission he leads. Megatron may also execute his men, but not needlessly for the most part, while Starscream ended up jailing the Combaticons for salvaging a mission that ''he'' screwed up. And all round, he manages to be an even bigger jerk to the point where Onslaught barely hides how much he hates his guts.

*** Even worse, he doesn't even have a long term plan to defeat the Autobots beyond trying to hold onto a supply of energon that according to Megatron, he wasted most of. He apparently also thought that using the space bridge to raid a new planet for energy was a waste of time. He prefers using energon to fill Kaon with statues of himself and constantly broadcast needlessly long self-admiration speeches that the common {{mooks}} imply happen routinely. Even Megatron considers this a waste, though that's arguably hypocritical.
** PointyHairedBoss: When Starscream takes charge, he leads a mission to recapture Energon from the Sea of Rust. Onslaught devises most of the plan and the Combaticons put it into motion. When Starscream orders an attack, Onslaught protests, saying that there are too many air defense cannons. Starscream calls him a coward and sends in the troops, who promptly get slaughtered. Onslaught salvages the mission with just his 5-bot team and manages to get away with at least half of the Energon. Starscream blames him for the failure, [[ItMakesSenseInContext saying half the energon was destroyed when they brought down the transport]], and Onslaught [[CaptainObvious points out the Autobots would have gotten all of it if his team followed Starscream's orders]] (plus losses would probably have been even higher), and Starscream has him and the other Combaticons arrested for insulting him - obviously a leader can't take insubordination but Starscream clearly can't think of a better way.

* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler: When Megatron is BackFromTheDead and crashes Starscream's coronation, some of the Decepticons willingly attending are stupid enough to actually to try and fight him. Eventually they take a hint and leave Starscream when they see him for coward he is.]]
** Also, just about anyone trying to fight Metroplex is effectively performing this trope. It takes an enormous cannon to take him down, and even then only temporarily.
** Shockwave seems to make a point of provoking and talking down to Grimlock after he escapes, even though he basically built him to be the ultimate fighting machine. He believes that he can control him [[spoiler: he can't]].
** Starscream's treatment of Grimlock. Grimlock is restrained, but that doesn't change the fact that Starscream's plan to convince him to work for him involved a great deal of '''INSULTING HIM TO HIS FACE''', and he doesn't think it would backfire.

** The Nemesis is almost completely identical to its appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. [[spoiler:Furthermore, Trypticon's body is rebuilt into the Nemesis, he transformed into it in ''Literature/TransformersExodus'' and it's hinted at in ''Prime'']].

** When Optimus is brought before Megatron, he references the fact that this is the first time they've met since Optimus became a Prime and is still in the same body he possessed in WFC. [[spoiler: After Metroplex pounds him into the floor, Soundwave recovers and revives him with a body that aesthetically looks far more similar to his ''Prime'' design than his previous body]].

** During one of his logs, Shockwave notes that Insecticons communicate via ultra-sonic frequencies, which with the exceptions of Hardshell, Kickback and Sharpshot, whom are more evolved, is what he uses to control them. Whilst being a possible MythologyGag to the G1 Insecticons, it also provides further explanation as to how Airachnid is able to control Insecticons in ''Prime'', as well as why [[spoiler:she lost control of them when she was trapped in stasis]]. It may also be a more direct reference to the distinctive shriek uttered by the Insecticon drones in ''Prime''.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Grimlock and his team (pre-Dinobot forms) vs the Insecticons, they got thrashed, though we don't know how many of them there were. Later, while searching for his team, he tore them a new one. Jazz and Cliffjumper can fight of the Insecticons that captured Grimlock's team. Justified because they were sort of informed by Sludge's memory banks, and Grimlock was made a lot stronger by Shockwave, and Jazz and Cliffjumper just made a run for it.
** And of course when playing as Grimlock, he'll single-handedly lay waste to a small army of them.
* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Rather than repair and reactivate him, Megatron tells [[spoiler:Trypticon]] his plans for him while he is still in stasis. Granted he's not sure if he can here him or not.
* CriticalHit: The Path Blaster's aptly named "Gambler" upgrade makes a random shot in it's clip take 2 rounds instead, and does enough damage to instant kill Mooks, cripple GiantMooks and blast open large sections of room.
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:Megatron recovers Trypticon, only to berate him for his failures and convert him into the Nemesis as "atonement". It's noted by Soundwave that with the damage Trypticon's taken, the change would be permanent.]]
** [[spoiler: In Megatron's opinion, keep in mind, this is actually an act of compassion, because he's giving Trypticon a chance to atone, considering what he usually does if somebody displeases him.]]

** Everything trying to stand in Grimlock way ends with him delivering this.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Fall of Cybertron is this to WarForCybertron. It's a far more violent, graphic, and much solemn and sadder tale. In fact, It is arguably the darkest Transformers story ever told. Among other things:

** [[spoiler:It has an outright DownerEnding that leaves the fates of several characters deliberately ambiguous ]]

* DeadlyDisc: One of the newer arm weapons that fires buzzsaw blades.
* DemotedToExtra: Some of the playable Transformers from the last game get only few scenes devoted to them, namely Soundwave, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and the Aerialbots.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: During the final chapter, after the player beats the FinalBoss fight between Optimus and Megatron, the game has a checkpoint right before the fight that lets them replay it as either character without having to go through the whole level again.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Megatron, who gets pummeled by Metroplex early on in the game. A few levels later, he's rebuilt by Soundwave.]]

** The Insecticons are this to the Decepticons despite them being on the same side, with one audio log from a {{Mook}} commenting that they just do what they want when they want and Shockwave isn't really controlling them, and going by most of what we see, he's half right, the Insecticons will attack most anything except Shockwave. Sharpshot is a pretty nasty case in that he's so sadistic even Shockwave is unnerved by him.

** Several levels have places to plant det-packs about the size of their torso. In the final battle Megatron and Optimus will pull out shield after shield when the last one is destroyed.

* HypocriticalHumor: When the bridge that the carrier is about to pass needs subterfuge to dismantle, Vortex brushes off Brawl's attempt to help. When the carrier is nearly there, Brawl decides to blow away all the present enemies. Vortex asks why he didn't do that earlier.
* InMediaRes/ColdOpen: Subverted. The game begins at the very end, when the Decepticons aboard the Nemesis attack the Ark, as seen from the eyes of Bumblebee. The rest of the game shows the events building up to that point; the events Final Chapter shows what was happening on the Ark while Bumblebee was trying to get to Optimus.

** Starscream manages to be a bigger case. He doesn't even bother to hide that doesn't care about the fate of Cybertron, or anything, but himself.

** Not only do some of Grimlock's enemies cower in fear of him, even flat running in fear, [[spoiler:his revenge on Sharpshot plays out like something out of ''JurassicPark''. Not that Sharpshot didn't deserve it.]]
* MoralDissonance: Cliffjumper finds [[spoiler:Sludge still alive, but in stasis lock]]. Cliff indicates that he'll come back for him once his mission is complete. Later Jazz [[spoiler:floods the area leaving no survivors left inside]]. What really hurts is the fact that neither Jazz ''or'' Cliffjumper seemed all that bothered by leaving one of there own behind to die. They don't even mention his name again afterwards.

* OneBulletLeft: The Riot Cannon's "Planet Buster" upgrade makes it's last shot do 5 times the damage of a normal shot.

** Bruticus, who is of the strongest usable characters in the game.
* OnlyAFleshWound: The characters often take damage that would kill a human outright, though justified since they are robots. Special mention goes out to Megatron. [[spoiler:After he gets smashed by Metroplex, he'll ''keep firing,'' at least after the first punch.]] If you pick him for the final boss fight, he manages to beat Optimus upside the head while ''impaled with a sword.''
* OnlySaneMan: Onslaught and the other Combaticons take this role during Starscream's reign.

* RememberTheNewGuy: All of the new Transformers introduced are treated as if they've been in the war since the beginning despite not being mentioned at all. Justified as it's a large scale war and they would've most likely been fighting somewhere else off-screen.

* ReplacementScrappy: Starscream is this in-universe for the Decepticons [[spoiler: after Megatron is killed by Metroplex]], with them getting sick of him after what could only have been a few days. During chapter 9 [[spoiler: after Megatron sends him running scared]] talking to the other Decepticons, notably the Combaticons, and they'll go into how much they hated him with Brawl saying he wanted to smash Starscream's statue the moment he saw it built.

* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: Both cinematic trailers end this way, the first with Grimlock breathing fire at the screen, and the second with Metroplex firing off his [[WaveMotionGun shoulder cannons]].
* SecretAIMoves: During the boss fights at the end of the game have characters that were playable early use attacks they couldn't use when controlled. [[CombiningMecha Bruticus]] uses the cannons on his back (which up to this point served no purpose) to [[DeathFromAbove fire shots into the air that come down on random spots]]. For the FinalBoss fight with Optimus and Megatron, AI controlled character will use an attack that has them using their vehicle mode (the player can't transform in the fight), Optimus will [[RammingAlwaysWorks try to ram the player]] and Megatron will sit back in a corner and shoot at them. Optimus also use the [[BlowYouAway Shockwave ability]] and attack where he does a jumping slash, Megatron uses the [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning Whirlwind]] and [[NotQuiteFlight Hover]] abilities, along with a grenade that screws with what the player can see.

* ShaggyDogStory: Grimlock's attempt to find energon ends with his team in stasis or captured. The investigation goes to bust when the Combaticons take down the carrier. Shockwave's towers are destroyed indirectly however.

* ShapeShifterBaggage: The Combaticons get at least twice as large when they combine into Bruticus. [[spoiler:Trypticon is slightly smaller than the Ark when he is turned into the Nemesis. Oddly enough, its his dinosaur mode that is the one that removes baggage, as his station form in War was that size.]]
** Most of the Dinobots are a good deal bigger in dino mode than robot mode. Slug you can actually see grow bigger when transforms.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Of all times and of all bots, Optimus and Megatron trade barbs and blows with each other during [[spoiler: the final battle.]]
--> Megatron: Impressive for a data clerk... You should've spent more time in the pit!
--> Optimus: You should've spent more time in the library!

-->Autobot Mook: "Optimus! There are reports on the battlefield that Megatron is alive!"
-->Optimus (via Holographic transmitter): "Are those reports confirmed?"
-->Megatron: "Here's your confirmation!" *Blasts the autobot mooks to bits*

-->Mook 1: "Hey- you hear about Starscream?"
-->Mook 2: "Hah! That idiot finally got what's coming to him!"
-->Starscream: "Do tell."
* TheStarscream: Starscream as usual, [[spoiler: after Megatron is seemingly killed by Metroplex]] and there's an achievement called 'Starscream's Betrayal'.
* StealthExpert: Cliffjumper and Starscream, with both levels playing as them involve sneaking around and picking off your enemies one at a time. Cliff's level in particular bears some familiarity with ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''.

** Starscream doesn't think much of the reports on the carrier's weaponry and issues a full assault regardless. This ends badly for the airforce and the Combaticons are forced to bail them out.

* SwordFight: The final boss fight with Optimus Prime and Megatron, where both have triple their normal health. The player can chose which one they control, which doesn't affect the fight much beyond some of the attacks (Megatron will turn into vehicle mode and fire his cannon, Optimus will ram the player). Regardless of who the player uses, the ending cutscene will depict whoever was chosen about to finish off their enemy, [[spoiler: but the portal that the ships are approaching pulls both ships through and thus, they can't finish the fight]].
* SymbolicBlood: There's some pretty graphic depictions of robot dismemberment. Also, when you get melee kills, like in War for Cybertron, your screen gets blue-ish water-like liquid splattered on the screen. That's energon, folks; literal blood of the Transformers.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Grimlock's executions in robot mode. For Insecticon Swarmers, he impales them with his sword, tears them off it (which rips them in half) and then slams their top half into the ground. For normal Decepticons, he impales them, then stabs them repeatedly. From the [[HeavilyArmoredMook Shotgunners]], he lops off their heads and stabs them. In Dino mode, he bites things in half or he spears [[BossinMookClothing Leapers]] on his tail and roasts them.

** [[spoiler: Metroplex killing Megatron. Megatron was still alive after the first punch, but the third and forth seem a bit much, not that he didn't deserve it. And despite that, Soundwave still managed to fix him, though he did say he had to use a bunch of new parts.]]

* TookALevelInDumbass: Brawl was an effective field commander in the previous game, to the point where he had more in common with Onslaught than the typical dumb killing machine his incarnations usually are. However, probably because of the actual Onslaught's debut, Brawl is demoted to being a dumb bruiser, back in line with how he's always portrayed.

* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Metroplex, quite easily. Not that anyone could have stopped him. [[spoiler:Tripticon is reformatted into the Nemesis without trouble despite being in the middle of one of the few remaining places under Autobot control.]]

** Other then Hardshell, Grimlock does not have boss battles against the other Insecticons [[spoiler:or Shockwave]]. But this is due to his sheer power, the moment they get into range Grimlock takes them out in a cutscene easily.

** When Megatron [[spoiler: is rebuilt]] and discovers that Starscream has taken over, he is ''not'' amused.

* WarIsHell: Not since ''TransformersTheMovie'' (aside from its prequel, ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'') has warfare between robots been so heartbreaking and ''horrifying'' to watch. This trend is continued in its sequel ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''

* WhamEpisode: Chapter III: [[spoiler: Megatron has been killed by Metroplex, but the Autobots' Energon reserves are exhausted.]]
** Chapter IX: [[spoiler: Megatron has returned with a bang, Starscream is now an independent, and Megatron moves to leave Cybertron immediately.]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In-universe; [[spoiler:Shockwave did have designs for Sludge's Dinobot form. But he probably perished during the Insecticon attack. So we only get to see his new form in the credit ending and official artwork]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Starscream's fate is ambiguous. We see him try to talk Grimlock into joining him, after which he gets too close and Grimlock grabs and throws him at the control panel that powered his restraints. After this, he's not mentioned for the rest of the story.]]

** [[spoiler: Grimlock never manages to find the last Dinobot, Sludge. For the record, Cliffjumper and Jazz find him in Chapter 5. He's in stasis after a failed battle against some Insecticons.]]
*** [[spoiler: Jazz later floods the area with a severely caustic liquid, so even if he was OnlyMostlyDead, he ''probably'' didn't survive that.]]

-->Metroplex: Why do you fire at me?

* TheWorfEffect: The Insecticons make their debut in the war taking out and capturing Grimlock's team, the heavy combat team of the autobots. Cliffjumper actually notes this before Jazz has to have a round with them.
** When Grimlock first encounters a Bruiser, he briefly grapples with it before it tosses away. The 2nd one the player sees will likely be this to Grimlock's dino mode.
* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler:Megatron states that a combination of this and failing to stop the Autobots despite his immense power is why he salvages Trypticon to build the Nemesis.]]

''[[VideoGame/TransformersRiseoftheDarkSpark Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark'' was released in 2014, featuring segments both on Cybertron (though these segments take place before the events of this game) and Earth and is a {{Crossover}} between the game's universe and that of the [[TransformersFilmSeries live-action films]], specifically ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 The announcement trailer can be found here.]]

A sequel has recently been announced, entitled ''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark'', it will feature segments both on Cybertron and Earth and is a {{Crossover}} between the game's universe and that of the [[TransformersFilmSeries live-action films]], specifically ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 The announcement trailer can be found here.]]

* ActorAllusion: [[NolanNorth Cliffjumper's]] no stranger to [[{{Uncharted}} exploring tombs]].
** [[SteveBlum Swindle]] should also be pretty experienced with that [[VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}} grapple beam]] of his.