Video Game / Transformers: Devastation

The old show has never looked better.

Transformers: Devastation is a Stylish Action Beat 'em Up video game based on the Transformers franchise, released on the 6th of October 2015 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Developed by PlatinumGames, the game is based on the Generation One era of the franchise; while ostensibly based on the recent Generations toyline, the game looks and sounds closer to the classic Sunbow cartoon, and uses Cel Shading to achieve an aesthetic similar to it. To help round off the nostalgia-fest, many actors from the series, including Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Frank Welker (Megatron/Soundwave), Dan Gilvezan (Bumblebee), Gregg Berger (Grimlock/Long Haul) and Michael Bell (Sideswipe/Scrapper) reprise their roles.

The plot starts out with a typical 80s era Decepticon plan, where a city is suddenly ravaged by hordes of Insecticons separate from the trio who work for the Decepticons. Realising the significance of what is happening, Megatron takes advantage of the situation and quickly learns that a legendary Cybertronian ship called the Proudstar, which carried a priceless supercomputer containing historical and cultural records long lost due to the Transformers' unending war, is buried on Earth. The Autobots naturally arrive to stop the Decepticons, who plan to use the Plasma Core Generator housed within the ship to cyberform Earth into a new Cybertron. Of course, this being Transformers, there's more going on than meets the eye.

Gameplay-wise, the game is a Beat 'em Up similar to Platinum's previous work, The Legend of Korra (and to some extent Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which happens to have the same director as this game), and features fast-paced Hack and Slash action and combat, including the ability to turn into vehicles during combat to damage foes. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Wheeljack and Grimlock all appear as playable characters.

Since December 2017, this game along with all of Activision's other Transformers games are no longer available for purchase from digital stores such as Steam due to Activision's deal with Hasbro expiring.

You can catch the teaser for the game here, and demo gameplay here.

Has a character page desperately in need of construction.

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This game contains examples of these following tropes:

• Aborted Arc: The game has a Sequel Hook with Nova Prime awakening but nothing's been heard of since.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Bumblebee was mostly just a Kid-Appeal Character in G1 and could be smacked to the side by most Deceptions with little effort. Here, he can beat down Megatron just as easily as Prime himself (and, in fact, his unique dodge ability actually makes him the most combo-centric character in the game, since it resets your combo).
  • G1 Starscream was a Dirty Coward to the extreme end of the scale and fled or begged for his life at the first sign of danger. Starscream here, on the other hand, takes a little from certain of his later incarnations, keeping the whiny traits of the original, but making him a capable combatant who isn't afraid of one-on-one combat.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Nova Prime is depicted as a Wide-Eyed Idealist whose fall from heroism was due to dealing with Unicron, when IDW's Generation One comics depicted him as a supremacist who looked down on life forms he deemed inferior to Transformers from the get-go.
  • Likewise, Jhiaxus was presented in Transformers: Generation 2 as a sadastic tyrant and in IDW canon as a Mad Scientist who worked with the aforementioned Nova Prime. Again, like Nova, Jhiaxus here is presented as a scientist helping Nova's quest to preserve Cybertronian culture and was considering becoming an Autobot himself—and like Nova, his turn to villainy is the result of corruption by Unicron.
• Adaptation Species Change: Kranix from The Transformers: The Movie is detailed through logs in this game and given a new backstory. But whereas there, he was a native of the planet Lithone and its last survivor, here he was originally from Cybertron as part of Nova Prime's crew, and when things went horribly wrong he decided to escape back to Lithone to live the rest of his days. The game does also note Lithone is a planet that was cyber-formed by the Proudstar into its current state, thereby making the entire race of Lithonians a Cybertronian colony world, rather than a wholly separate species of Mechanical Life Form as they were implied to be in their earlier incarnations.
• And Starring: Peter Cullen gets this credit during the cast list in the game's end credits.
• Antagonist Title: The game's subtitle refers to Devastator, a Humongous Mecha by Cybertronian standards.
• Apocalyptic Log: Throughout the game are files that flesh out the story of the Proudstar and how it came to crash on Earth.
• Arm Cannon: Megatron, Starscream and Shockwave all have cannons on their arms. Shockwave, true to form has more of a Hand Cannon.
• Astral Finale: The tail end of Chapter 7 has Optimus and Megatron square off one last time just above Earth.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: But of course; the music has been described as 80s-rock.
• Badass Adorable: Bumblebee is the youngest of the Autobots and is very good at kicking Decepticon skidplate.
• Badass Crew: The team Optimus Prime leads is one of these, despite being made up of characters who traditionally don't have much to do with each other. The Constructicons are a more traditional example, especially when they are fought and demonstrate teamwork.
• Bag of Spilling: Thankfully averted. Unlike Korra in Platinum's pervious game, the Autobots have full access to their moves at the start (unlike Korra, who'd lost her various elemental powers at the start of the game). Only advanced moves like parrying or rush combos need to be bought with credits.
• Big Bad: Megatron, as expected, is the main villain.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The Insecticons are one of the various types of Decepticons fought.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Decepticons are defeated, and Earth is saved, but to do so, the Ferrotaxis (and all of the Cybertronian history and culture within) had to be destroyed, the Autobots have to hold Nova Prime on a Broken Pedestal due to certain revelations, and, since this is canonically before The Transformers: The Movie, things will get much worse. ^note  Bumblebee and Grimlock survive the movie, Sideswipe vanishes from the series afterwards but has no confirmed death, and Optimus is revived for good at the end of season three. And in the Japanese continuity, Wheeljack shows up alive and well in Transformers Victory.
  • It helps that, while this game is set in the Generation 1 Continuity Family (which includes a lot of different G1 Continuities, such as the original cartoon, the Marvel comics, the IDW comics, etc.), it's not set in the specific continuity of the original G1 cartoon. So, the events of the Movie may very well play out in a completely different way, and with a happier ending. They may even not happen at all, since the introduction of Nova Prima and Optimus Maximus could bring the story in a brand new direction. At the very least, the game was billed as prequel to the Combiner Wars multimedia branding.
• Boom, Headshot!: Doing so scores you bonus points, high-rank prizes and Sideswipe will flaunt this off, "Headshot! Hold your applause!"
• Bland-Name Product: Most of the alt modes that were meant to look like real life vehicles are changed a bit to look a bit more generic. Most obvious with Bumblebee who was obviously a Volkswagen Beetle in the original Sunbow cartoon, but is a generic small car here.
• Blow You Away: Menasor can create a cyclone that drags the Autobots into the air, where they're helpless to protect themselves.
• Boss Banter: All of the Decepticons talk during their boss fights.
• Boss Rush: The final level is basically one of these, as the Decepticons throw almost everyone they've got at the Autobots to buy time for their plan to come to fruition. This starts off with wave upon wave of regular Decepticons with Motormaster, Skywarp and Thundercraker thrown in. Upon reaching the final area, the player (along with all other Autobots) fight off all the Constructicons, who merge and form Devastator once all beaten. When Devastator hits half health, Menasor comes along to back him up. Lastly, control shifts over to Optimus for two back-to-back fights against Megatron.
• Boxing Battler: Possibly taking a cue from his Prime incarnation, Bumblebee's fighting style is based on boxing strikes.
• Break the Cutie: Wheeljack, when Teletran Alpha describes his fate in vague terms.
  Wheeljack: My time is short?! Good thing I don't believe in hokey predictions!
  Wheeljack: Please-don't-be-true. Please-don't-be-true-please-don't-be-true...
• Breath Weapon: Grimlock's ranged attack in dinosaur mode is a stream of fire from his mouth, matching his ability to do so in the cartoon.
• Broad Strokes:
  • The game is said to take place sometime before the movie, although certain characters have alt-modes and abilities that wouldn't be implemented until later incarnations.
  • As proof, there are several mentions and references to the movie, such as Kranix and the planet Lithone. There is also mention of some...thing travelling through space destroying everything in its path, a clear reference to Unicron.
  • Notably, Nova Prime from the IDW comics appears as part of the game's plot; as he was introduced decades later, Nova Prime never appeared in the G1 cartoon. A character with the name Prime Nova was part of the series retroactively, but wasn't even close to being the same character.
• Broken Pedestal: The Autobots feel about this concerning Nova Prime, who started out as an idealistic Autobot hero who simply wanted to preserve the culture of his homeworld, but wound up forcibly cyberforming various planets before his ship the Proudstar crashlanded on Earth. Optimus actually spends some of the game refusing to accept this fact when Megatron and Shockwave taunt him about it.
• Bullet Time: Similar to Bayonetta, by dodging at the right time you can slow time around you. Alternatively, landing a Vehicle attack or activating your Ultimate can freeze everything but you.
• Butt-Monkey: About midway through the game, Starscream shows up to put on his big bot britches and take a crack at the Autobots. This being, well, Starscream, nobody takes him seriously, and all five of them mock him repeatedly throughout the fight. Even Optimus gets in on the snark.
  Optimus: You're not really going to try and stop me, are you, Starscream?
  Optimus: Ever wonder what happens when a truck hits a delicate jet?
• Call-Forward: Teletraan Alpha tells Optimus and Wheeljack, vaguely, of their oncoming deaths in The Transformers: The Movie.
• Canon Immigrant:
  • Nova Prime, who originated in the IDW comics, is incorporated into the game's story, which is heavily based on the history of the original G1 cartoon.
  • Jhiaxus, who came from the G2 Marvel comics, follows him, being part of the Proudstar's crew under Nova Prime's command in the backstory.
• Car Fu: A FAR more literal example than most. By hitting the transform button after a combo, you can perform a special attack that usually involves transforming into vehicles and ramming into enemies, complete with copious amounts of spinning and flashy acrobatics. In Grimlock's case, he transforms into a T-Rex and stomps his enemies.
  • Enemies will also transform as part of their attacks, such as the Battlechargers trying to ram the player in car mode, the Seekers transforming into jet mode to bombard and evade, while the bosses all make use of their alternate modes (e.g. Shockwave blasting you in blaster mode, Motormaster ramming you in truck mode, Starscream et al strafing in jet mode). Except Soundwave, whose tape deck mode probably wouldn't be very useful.
• Cel Shading: The game uses this to match the animation style of the Sunbow cartoon.
• Chainsaw Good: The Cutter class melee weapons.
• Combining Mecha: The Constructicons are fought as dual bosses (Scrapper and Hook, Scavenger and Bonecrusher, Long Haul and Mixmaster), and then later as their combined form Devastator. Motormaster appears as a boss fight, and later reappears as the main body of Menasor.
• Composite Character: A few characters, while based heavily in G1, are using elements introduced in later segments of the franchise.
  • Most remember G1 Megatron as the one that can turn into a gun, but he turns into a tank here. This brings him in line with the recent Combiner Wars Megatron toy.
  • Bumblebee, while clearly based primarily on the G1 cartoon version of the character (with his original voice actor Dan Gilvezan returning to the role after twenty-eight years), sports the Subaru-esque hatchback alt mode of his Classics toy (complete with extra kibble in robot mode) instead of the classic VW Beetle, and his default melee weapon of fisticuffs was possibly inspired by his Transformers: Prime incarnation.
  • Blitzwing's duality of fire and ice comes from Transformers: Animated.
  • Sideswipe wields twin swords the way his movie counterpart did.
  • Menasor and the Stunticons' design is taken from the Combiner Wars toy line with a few tweaks. In fact, on top of Blackjack being involved, Wildrider is absent, and in his place is Offroad. Motormaster's robot mode is based on his old G1 design in general proportions, but his added detail and truck mode are also taking after the Combiner Wars version.
  • The Constructicons use updated versions of the old character models, but their larger size matches more with the Combiner Wars figures who ended up much taller than the average bot.
  • Likewise, both Defensor and Superion are based on their Combiner Wars versions.
  • While the game draws from the cartoon, Unicron's backstory suggests his now-standard (i.e., not his backstory from the cartoon or IDW's original continuity) of being a God of Evil and Evil Counterpart to Primus, but the use of the color purple to denote corruption by him brings to mind hs depiction in the Transformers Aligned Universe.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Kremzeek from the titular episode of the cartoon appears as a collectible.
  • Bumblebee is bemused to learn that another Cybertronian ship had crashed on Earth. Never mind the Ark and the Nemesis, according to Beast Wars, the Axalon and the Darksyde also crashed on Earth.
• Cool Ship:
  • While never viewed from the outside, the Autobots use the Ark as their base of operations. It's where players can modify and equip weapons as well as select their preferred Autobot to play as.
  • The Proudstar was one of these too, being a famed ship that was tasked with taking the culture of Cybertron away from their war-torn planet.
• Creator Thumbprint: Due to being developed by Platinum Games, it’s no surprise that some of their influence would rub off on this game:
  • Flashy, fast-paced attacks.
  • A mechanic that slows down time when dodging an attack at the last second.
  • Hidden missions with strict conditions.
  • A grading system that marks how well you do based on time and damage taken.
  • Boss Subtitles for every enemy you encounter.
  • Collectible files that detail lore about characters and locations.
  • An ability that lets you parry an attack by pressing the analog stick in the direction of the attack.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: One would expect that parrying works when the player pushes the direction of the incoming attack with thumb stick/direction keys along the light attack button when actually in this game, parrying works with only the direction of the incoming attack with just the thumbstick/direction keys. Plus it's a bit harder to time it right compared to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
• Demoted to Extra: While the Constructicons get some entertaining boss fights even before combining into Devastator, Motormaster is the only Stunticon who is an actual character. The other Stunticons appear only to combine into Menasor. Blackjack, who forms Menasor's chestplate, doesn't even appear properly until Menasor is formed and simply materializes into place.
  • Defensor and Superion only appear at the very end of the game, and only as 2D images instead of proper 3D models.
• Developer's Foresight: There's unique dialogue for playing as certain characters in parts where they're normally not playable in (like fighting the first boss battle as Bumblebee instead of Optimus Prime). Somewhat subverted in that it was expected that people would do so (considering there are achievements for beating stages while only using a certain character).
  • The ally characters who'd normally assist you in Mission 1, will change, depending on who you are (During the first fight, Sideswipe will assist you but if you're playing as him, Optimus will be the ally, instead).
  • If you play as Wheeljack during the Protect Missions, Bumblebee will take his place. However, there's also some Challenges where you need to defend 2 Autobots operating on machines instead of 1 and normally, they're both Wheeljack and Bumblebee. If you play as either of them during those Challenges, Sideswipe will take their place on operating. And like Wheeljack, both Bumblebee and Sideswipe have their own unique lines if they're hit.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Parrying, as usual. You need perfect timing, but against some of the harder bosses (IE the Challenge Mode triple boss of Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream), it becomes a godsend.
• Disney Villain Death: Both, Devastator and Menasor fall to their doom after defeating them. And to top it off with a big single explosion when they hit the ground.
  • This is ultimately averted since they both appear alive and well during and after the movie.
• Doomed by Canon: As the game takes place sometime before the movie, this means most of the characters in the game have their days numbered. Wheeljack, Starscream and Optimus Prime are famously killed in the movie (and Shockwave is killed off-screen), while Skywarp (or was it Bombshell?), Thundercracker and Megatron are rebuilt into Cyclonus, Scourge and Galvatron. Teletraan Alpha even alludes to this when speaking with Optimus and Wheeljack.
  • Zig-Zagging Trope. The game does contain references to the Movie, which imply the game may be a prequel to the Movie. However, the game also contains notable differences and contraddictions (for example, Kranix and the planet Lithone have a different backstory, the characters have abilities that they only gain after the Movie, new character Nova Prime is brought in with his own nefarious plans. And, after the events of the game, Optimus comes to the conclusion that the way they have been fighting the War until now is not good enough anymore, and introduces a new Combiner Optimus Maximus to end it quickly and potentially change history). Add in the fact that the game was billed as prequel to the Combiner Wars multimedia branding, where Megatron never becomes Galvatron, and it could very well mean that the events of the Movie will be completely different.
• Doppelgänger Attack: Shockwave can create monochrome duplicates of himself to fight for him.
• Dual Boss: The Constructicons are initially fought in pairs (Scrapper and Hook first, while Mixmaster and Long Haul and Scavenger and Bonecrusher can be fought in any order). Skywarp and Thundercracker also appear as such. And finally, Devastator and Menasor. Have fun.
• Dual Wielding: Sideswipe dual wields swords as his default melee weapon. Bumblebee's default ranged weapon are a pair of blasters. Pairs of swords and blasters are also equipable. In addition, the Elite Seeker uses twin swords in close quarters.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Optimus Prime fears this will be the result of Megatron's tampering with the Plasma Core Generator. Megatron himself, as expected, doesn't care.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: During their final confrontation, Megatron doesn't understand why Optimus would fight so hard for a planet that isn't even his, especially one crawling with lowly organics. In fact, him rigging the Ferrotaxis to only stop the Inspections when its destroyed and forcing Optimus into a Sadistic Choice was done on the sole belief that Optimus wouldn't sacrifice years of Cybertronian culture just to save Earth and is genuinely shocked when Optimus proves him wrong and destroys the Ferrotaxis.
• Fallen Hero: Nova Prime. It isn't his fault, though, as it's clear that something or someone messed with his mind, which makes devoted Transformers fans claim it must be Unicron.
• Final Boss, New Dimension: The Final Battle with Megatron takes place in space.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: All non-unique weapons have fire, ice, and lightning variants, and there are three status conditions related to the elements that only weapons of the appropriate element can have: Burn, Freeze, and Shock.
• Flash Step: Sideswipe's unique ability is the ability to quickly dash in a given direction.
• Fling a Light into the Future: The Proudstar's purpose. Fearing the loss of Cybertron's culture, Nova Prime convinced all the factions of his era to create the Colonnade of Cybertron, thus ensuring that even if Cybertron itself should perish, its culture will live on. Thanks to Megatron, this fails.
• Flunky Boss:
  • Soundwave summons Rumble, Lazerbeak, Frenzy, Ravage and Buzzsaw to assist him during his boss fight.
  • During Kickback's boss fight, he summons Skrapnel and Bombshell (both previously fought as bosses) as backup.
• Fragile Speedster:
  • Sideswipe totes high speed to compensate for his low defense stat. Sideswipe's unique skill allows him to reach his target almost instantly, where his close combat skills can do their work.
  • Bumblebee is the most agile of the characters, having a combo reset as his special ability. He's also relatively frail.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: At various points, the player will have to pursue an enemy, either to take the enemy down before it reaches a certain point, or outright defeat them.
• Ghost City: Despite a large part of the game taking place inside an unnamed city, there are no humans around at all. Justified, as Optimus observes that the humans evacuated once the Proudstar's autodefenses sent Insecticons and massive clawed tentacles tearing through the streets. Abandoned cars can be seen all over the place.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Nova Prime, who brought the Proudstar to Earth and made it possible for Megatron to try to cyberform the planet. Worse, savvy fans will recognise that everything that happens basically leads back to Unicron.
• Ground Pound: The Autobots can perform this as an attack and as a means of un-earthing hidden items by transforming mid-air, with Grimlock having a more traditional variant of this.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Parrying boss projectiles will result in you catching them. This applies to Blitzwing's tank shells, Bonecrusher and Devastator's drills and Scrapper's boulders. If you can do it right, once caught, they can be thrown back at him.
• An Ice Person: Blitzwing's attacks when in his jet mode are ice-elemental, and he has a chance of freezing the player solid for a few seconds. Furthermore, all non-unique weapons have an ice variant, some of which can also freeze enemies with the right skill.
• Idle Animation: Each of the playable cast have their own idle animation, such as Optimus confidently putting his hands on his hips, while Wheeljack thoughtfully strokes his chin.
• If I Can't Have You…: Megatron's sentiments about the Ferrotaxis as he starts a Villainous Breakdown when his minions have all fallen and the Autobots are still standing and outnumber him.
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • One of Optimus Prime's attacks involves him weaponizing his vehicle mode's trailer.
  • The Car Fu in general is this.
• Ironic Echo: At one point during the finale, Megatron admonishes Optimus, telling him that he thought he was made of "sterner stuff". This exchange being a reversal of the (chronologically later) movie.
• Jack of All Stats: Optimus Prime. Tougher and stronger than Bumblebee or Sideswipe, faster and more agile than Grimlock. And he's also got the widest selection of weapons, as well: the only weapons he's unable to use are the ones that are unique to the other characters, like Wheeljack's wrenches, Sideswipe's flare gun and swords, and Grimlock's Galaxial Launcher.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Grimlock.
  Grimlock: Quiet, Teletraan-1! Me Grimlock know turrent is there! Me Grimlock know everything!
• Lampshade Hanging: Bumblebee does this a lot. His reaction upon learning that the Proudstar, the ship of Nova Prime, had crashed on Earth is, "Another Cybertronian ship crashed on Earth? ... what're the odds?"
  • He even does this with his Goldbug-inspired DLC costume (renamed Goldfire for trademark reasons).
  Bumblebee: They call me... Goldfire. (beat) Ridiculous, I know.
• Lightning Bruiser: Pretty much all of the playable characters to varying extents, being giant robots that fight using a Bayonetta-like combat system.
  • Blitzwing is a Tank/Fighter Jet hybrid. He's as powerful and fast as both. Megatron doesn't have as much defensive strength, but he can easily do far more damage.
• Light Is Not Good: Nova Prime, who has wing-like attachments on his back that make him look almost angelic. He used to be the other, but Unicron's influence put a stop to that.
• Limit Break: Each of the Autobots have a special attack which is recharged by attacking enemies. Optimus Prime has a super-powerful ground punch, Bumblebee tosses grenades, Sideswipe fires a barrage of missiles from his shoulder rocket, Wheeljack builds a device that freezes anything he hits (or he throws) and Grimlock unleashes a massive blast of flames. They all go boom very nicely.
• Long-Range Fighter: Wheeljack fills this role, with the widest array of weaponry available and a Deflector Shield.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Some enemies wield arm-mounted shields that can only be broken with a rush attack i.e. driving at them at full speed before transforming and delivering a powerful blow. Wheeljack uses a shield as his special skill and Megatron's Fusion Cannon, when equipped by Optimus, Wheeljack, or Grimlock, produces a shield that covers you when aiming as its special ability. Using the Fusion Cannon shield can also boost your score through Parrying points.
• MacGuffin: The Ferrotaxis and in the middle of the story, the Plasma Core.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Gatling Missile Launcher, a rapid-fire missile launcher.
  • Or the cluster missile launcher types, which launch up to six missiles at once and each can track an individual target.
  • Sideswipe's ultimate can count as this, as he let's loose a stream of missiles that all explode at the end of the ability.
• Made of Explodium: Red Energon. Also red Insecticons, which are One Hitpoint Wonder enemies.
• Mascot Villain: Devastator is present in all promotional material; even taking up a third of the box art. The Constructicons are recurring enemies throughout the game, being one of two Decepticon teams to be fought more than once, separately and as Devastator (the other being Motormaster and the Stunticons, who form Menasor), and the only team to have individual robot modes for all limbs accounted for (Menasor is formed from the vehicle-mode Stunticons simply attaching to Motormaster, who grows and switches his head out for Menasor's ala the original cartoon).
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Grimlock's Dino mode plays very different from the Vehicle modes of the other characters. He can get to full speed quickly by mashing one of the buttons, he doesn't have access to the upgraded Rush Attack, his ranged weapon is a short ranged fire breath, and he can actually use melee attacks as a T-Rex.
• Mighty Glacier:
  • Grimlock is slow, but powerful.
  • Devastator and Menasor move surprisingly quickly for 'bots of their size but they're still no where close to the agility of regular sized characters.
• Money Is Experience Points: While the Autobots can level up normally by fighting Decepticons, they can also level up their stats individually by using credits, which are also used to buy consumable items and weapons. You could also level up your weapons by fusing it with an unwanted weapon and paying the required amount of credits.
• Mook Chivalry: Averted by the Constructicons. Their battle eventually gets to the point where all six are attacking from all sides individually before they even consider forming Devastator. During a challenge mode mission where the player must fight all six at once (without backup, no less), it isn't unusual to be knocked dizzy by Hook, then run over by Long Haul before being smothered in toxic goo by Mixmaster.
  • Even the Battlecharger and Seeker mooks avert this, as they have no qualms striking while the player is busy knocking around someone else.
• Mythology Gag: The game is a giant love letter not only to Generation One but almost all sorts of Transformers media throughout the franchise's years. You can take a look at them here.
• Nintendo Hard: Commander, Magnus, and Prime difficulties show no mercy. You'll die. A lot.
• Noble Demon: Thundercracker lives up to his usual reputation of this. After being shot down, he tells the Autobots what they need to know without a fuss, mostly because he believes Megatron is going too far trying to use plasma energy so carelessly.
• No Campaign for the Wicked: The Decepticons aren't playable at all.
• No MacGuffin, No Winner: Optimus and Megatron both decide that neither side (Autobot or Decepticon) possessing the Ferrotaxis is a much better trade off than the rival side having it. For Megatron, it's a case of If I Can't Have You… when he fires it off into space hoping the Autobots would give up then, though Optimus chases after it. Not accepting this, Megatron follows him and they have a grand finale battle in which Optimus emerges victorious and realizing Megatron installed a failsafe to insure only destroying it can stop the Insecticon armada. Guess what Optimus does next...
• No-Sell: Be it a shield carrying mook, Megatron, Wheeljack or any character using the fusion cannon, as long as you have the shield up and it's facing the attack, chances are you will automatically parry the attack, staggering your opponent. It even works on Megatron in the final boss fight.
• Not So Above It All: While rare, there are a few points in the game where Optimus actually will Trash Talk his opponents. Easily a funny moment.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Most Autobots will have this reaction upon their first encounter with Devastator.
  Optimus: Devastator...
  Bumblebee: Devastator! Had to be Devastator, didn't it?
  Wheeljack: Devastator's here. That's bad news.
  Grimlock: Devastator? Me Grimlock wish rest of Dinobots were here...
  • Averted with Sideswipe.
  Sideswipe: Devastator! A worthy opponent!
  • Around the finale, the Autobots fight both Devastator and Menasor, at the same time, and whichever Autobot you're playing as will issue their own take on this situation.
  Optimus: This will be... A challenge.
  Bumblebee: Great. Just great...
  Sideswipe: This could be trouble!

  Wheeljack: If I were a betting bot, I'd put my money on THEM.
  • Grimlock, however, is unfazed.
  Grimlock: Nobody bigger than Grimlock!
• Playing with Fire: Grimlock can breathe fire in dinosaur mode. Sideswipe's default ranged weapon is a flamethrower. Blitzwing gets flamed up when he's in tank mode. Most weapons have a fire-based variant, too. Such weapons can also get the Burn skill, which has a chance to set the opponent on fire.
• Plot Hole: The Autobots claim that Shockwave is mad for thinking he can control plasma energy, even though the Autobots themselves use a variety of plasma weaponry such as laser guns and Grimlock has fire breath (Fire is a form of plasma).
• Power Copying: Subtle but present. Beating Chapter Bosses adds their weaponry to your arsenal, which gives you everything from Starscream's Null Rays to Megatron's Fusion Canon.
• Power of the Void: Megatron demonstrates the power to physically summon the black hole powering his Fusion Cannon.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In the final battle between Optimus and Megatron.
  Optimus: It's OVER, MEGATRON!!!
• Protection Mission: At a couple of points, you'll need to protect Wheeljack (or Bumblebee if you're playing as Wheeljack) while he's making field repairs to a piece of equipment. His health regenerates when he's not taking damage, but on the higher difficulty settings he still dies in only a couple of hits.
• Pummel Duel: You saw who developed this game, right?. In Chapter 7 Megatron and the player's Autobot engage in one of these (assuming that the player was successful in the vehicle joust immediately before).
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: One of the unlockable moves upgrades the non-launching Rush Attack to allow the ability to go all Star Platinum on enemies. It works for everyone but Grimlock, because reasons.
• Recurring Boss: With the exceptions of Shockwave, Kickback, and Skywarp, every Decepticon featured as a boss in the game is fought at least twice.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Despite being based on the original cartoon, Rumble is colored this way and not Frenzy. The immortal FIRRIB/FIBRIR war lives on.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As part of the Generation 1 setting, the Decepticons all have red eyes (despite some Decepticons having yellow eyes on their toys). Nova Prime's blue eyes turn red when he loses his mind during a flashback.
• Retraux: AS part of its homage to original cartoon and the tie-in movie, the game features similar designs, writing, voice work, and music.
• RPG Elements: Characters can level up their stats by fighting enemies or by collecting Rare Candy to permanently boost them. There is also a large variety of weapons to unlock and upgrade.
• Satellite Character: Motormaster is the only member of the Stunticons to be given screen time or characterization. The others only appear as Menasor and briefly separate for an attack during the boss fights.
• Schrödinger's Gun: The Autobots split up to explore the Proudstar during Chapter 2; no matter who the player character is, they always go through the same level, including the boss battles.
• Sequel Hook: Nova Prime is seen waking up from his pod in the Proudstar after the ending, presumably to menace the characters in a future game. This of course after Optimus and Wheeljack look over tech specs for Optimus Maximus.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock: The attacks of Seeker class enemies can prevent you from transforming for several seconds at higher difficulty levels. What's worse, the effect also prevents you from dodging.
• Shock and Awe:
  • Motormaster and Menasor have the ability to shoot SwordBeams of electricity when he swings his weapon.
  • All non-unique weapons have electric-elemental variants, and some of the unique weapons (Menasor's Sword, the Star Sabre) are also electric-elemental.
• Shout-Out:
  • Devastator makes his presence known much like the Colossal Titan.
  • Optimus Prime's Super Move is basically the Power Geyser.
  • One of Bumblebee's attacks is the Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku.
  • Megatron and Shockwave can use Akuma's Ashura Senku teleport, pose, sound effect and all.
  • The Decepticon barriers in the game look a lot like the barriers from Contra.
  • During his boss fight, Starscream can attack the Autobots with what appears to be the Super Inazuma Kick.
  • During his first battle, once he reaches 1/2 health, Menasor strikes a pose reminiscent of a certain other sword-wielding combining mecha.
  • Megatron has Akuma's teleport and Raging Demon.
• Spin Attack:
  • One of Sideswipe's Vehicle Attacks involve turning himself into a giant, car-shaped shuriken.
  • The Seekers (both the uniques like Starscream and the generics) as well as Blitzwing can use a spiraling attack in jet mode.
  • Blitzwing and Megatron do this in Tank mode. Most of the Autobots have some form of spin attack, be it a single swipe or rapid spiral.
  • Many of the weapon combos also involve this to varying degrees.
• Stance System: The cast can switch between their robot and vehicle modes on the fly (and said vehicle modes can be used for Car Fu). There is also a close combat and range combat stance, and each of the five playable characters have varying degrees of ability at both (e.g. Wheeljack is primarily geared for long range firefights, while Grimlock is primarily upclose and personal, and the only one who has melee attacks in his alternate mode).
• Stealth Pun: The transform button is also the button to use the Dodge Roll. Transform and roll out.
• Stylish Action: It's made by Platinum. This was inevitable.
• Super Prototype: Teletraan Alpha, the Proudstar's computer, is apparently this for the Teletraan series (including Teletraan 1). Teletraan 1's files state that every other model is inferior to Alpha due to some of the technology being lost, and that Alpha was the very pinnacle of technological perfection. Alpha is so powerful, it actually predicts the future!
• Tank Goodness: Megatron eschews his Walther P38 mode and transforms into a tank instead. Blitzwing, as per tradition, has a tank as an alt mode in addition to his jet mode. The huge hammer-wielding Ground Soldiers also transform into tanks.
• Tantrum Throwing: Despite being a giant Transformer, Menasor throws one like a 5-year old when the Autobots defeat him.
• This Is a Drill: Devastator demonstrates his old toy's ability to replace his hands with a pair of drills when his health gets low enough. Said drills are equipable after defeating him.
• Title Drop: When the game starts, Optimus says it. After you finish the final level, other characters will say it.
• Turns Red: Some bosses, most notably Devastator and Menasor, unlock new moves and weapons when they sustain enough damage.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Grimlock's entire fighting style amounts to "beat the crap out of those dudes as savagely as possible."
  • The Fist class of melee weapons generally follow this pattern.
• Unusable Enemy Equipment: Averted. Pretty much every weapon the Decepticons use has some variant the Autobots can use. Most bosses even drop their signature weapons when beaten, meaning you can use Menasor's sword or Starscream's Null Ray, among many others.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: Megatron discovers a way to harness plasma energy to do this to the entirety of Earth.
• Variable Mix: The music gains or loses instruments based on the intensity of the battle. Best heard with Soundwave and Shockwave's themes.
• Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: Grimlock's Breath Weapon in dinosaur mode. While devastating on Scout and fairly effective on Warrior difficulties, on higher difficulties its weak DPS and inability to stagger make it useless against most enemies. Averted by equippable flamethrowers, especially when upgraded.
• Vocal Evolution: Megatron's voice is more like his screechy G1 incarnation, but has shades of the voice from Transformers: Prime, where he's much more quiet and contemplative. This is especially notable when he muses on what he and Optimus could've accomplished had they been fighting side-by-side.
• What Could Have Been: An in-universe example: Megatron almost wistfully opines that he and Optimus Prime should've been on the same side, and wonders what they could've accomplished together.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Starscream sort of just drops from the story after he rejoins Megatron and company on Cybertron.^note Given his tendency to run at the first sign of trouble, this may be justified.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Inverted. Megatron doesn't hate humanity, but he certainly doesn't see it as a valid form of life worth fighting over compared to Cybertronians and can't fathom why Optimus sees Earth's population as anything worth putting the future of their race at stake for.
  • After being corrupted, Nova Prime is also revealed to view organic life as an inconvenience to be eradicated
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The files that tell the story of the Proudstar reveal that Nova Prime was one of these to such an extent that Jhiaxus, traditionally a Mad Scientist, was inspired enough to become one himself. It sadly doesn't last.
• Wolfpack Boss:
  • The Constructicons never fight solo, and quite a few battles against them involve all six taking you on at once. Each has their own quirks that you need to look out for and prioritize. Scrapper is an all-rounder and just tries to ram you, Scavenger can slam you with his excavator arm and use it to throw things at you or dig potholes to root you in place, Mixmaster can lay down sludge that slows you down, Hook has a fast-swinging sword and can whip his crane around, Bonecrusher can tunnel underground and fire the drill he carries, and Long Haul hits hard, takes a lot of damage, and won't react to most of your attacks.
  • The Insecticons likewise become this during boss fights with all three present. Kickback will hop around trying to kick the player around, Bombshell will either launch disorienting sludge, performing ram attacks or activate a explosion wave, while Skrapnel will blast lightning from a distance.
• Wrench Whack: Weaponized by Wheeljack, using the wrenches that came with his Generations figure.
• Wrestler in All of Us: The movesets for Sideswipe and Optimus Prime involve dropkicks. Also, Grimlock has at least one grapple attack and one of his melee attacks in Dinosaur mode is a flying bodyslam.
• You Are Too Late: Megatron loves to throw this line at the Autobots.
• You Can't Go Home Again: After defeating Megatron at the end, in order to spare humanity from having their planet terraformed, Optimus decides not to rebuild Cybertron and chooses to destroy the Ferrotaxis and tells the Autobots to treat Earth as though it were always their home planet.
• You Fight Like a Cow:
  • Bumblebee is prone to Spider-Man-like taunts in combat. All of the cast taunt their opponents while dodging, but Bee's the one who sounds like he's having the most fun. (Bumblebee's voice actor has also played Spider-Man himself, so this may be deliberate)
  • The Decepticons get in on the act as well, like Long Haul mocking the Autobots for missing him despite him being a slow as all hell dump truck. Even generic mooks have their own taunts.
• You Have Failed Me: When the Decepticons depart for Cybertron, Starscream is ordered to stay behind by Megatron and distract the Autobots to buy some time as punishment for failing to deliver the plasma core where Menasor succeeded.
• You're Insane!:
  • Most Autobots will tell Shockwave that plasma energy can't be controlled, but Wheeljack will flat-out tell Shockwave that he's "beyond insane."
  • Even Thundercracker is entirely against the idea of capturing and controlling plasma energy, and so he secretly helps the Autobots foil Megatron's scheme.

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Transformers!
Face the devastation!
Decepticons wage a war of wars!
'Til all are one, the Autobots
Will fight to save us all
From devastation!
TRANSFORMERS!