When the first Transformers cartoon came along, the technology simply was not there to create the game it deserved. It needed to be a playable cartoon, where you took control of your favorite Autobots and trashed the Decepticons. The best the technology of the time could do was crap like this, but it increasingly appears that Platinum Games is addressing an ’80s pop culture failure.
Nothing is official, yet, but Pure Xbox leaked a series of screens from a game Activision is supposedly announcing at E3 called Transformers: Devastation. It’s a cel-shaded brawler from Platinum Games, starring the original cast of the ’80s cartoon. This sounds too good to be true, but was further proven by a Best Buy leak found by NeoGAF. Among the claims at that leak, quickly taken down, is that you can play as Optimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Wheeljack, and Sideswipe, that you can turn into your alternate form at any time for combo attacks, and that the original voice cast of the cartoon would be returning to voice their roles. The leaked screenshots also show Devastator and Megatron, and Soundwave is mentioned in the marketing materials as a cast member.
As for the game itself, apparently there will be “deep customization” and five difficulty levels. The marketing text make it sound like the game is fairly short, and it looks like it’s coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 as well as PS4 and Xbox One. But really, I suspect most people won’t care. As long as it’s a playable cartoon, complete with cheesy score and that ’80s look, most will be overjoyed. Now how about a shooter with the G.I. Joe license, guys?