Daniel AgiusI’ve been a fan of the Transformers since the beginning. Starting with Generation 1 right through to the Netflix series, with every toy, video game and show in between. When I heard about this game and its upcoming release, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Developed by Meta4 Interactive and available to play exclusively for Sony PlayStation VR, Transformers Beyond Reality will have you shooting Berilium bugs from Mt Saint Hilary to Cybertron and back again. Get ready to Roll Out!
Transformers Beyond Reality is an arcade style on-rails first person VR shooter, where you take control as a human recruited to fight alongside the heroic Autobots to stop the evil Decepticons from destroying Earth and corrupting Cybertron with Synthetic Dark Energon. It’s great that Meta 4 went for a cartoon style approach to the game, mirroring both the Netflix series and the original cartoon and not the style of their live action counterparts. I love the little nods and Easter eggs in the game, I reckon I haven’t found all of them yet.
Playing the game with Move Controllers made it feel very intuitive, especially given the character classes you could play as. I was mostly playing as the “Tank” class which carried a shield and a pistol. The other options were “Heavy” which was full on offence and sported a minigun and a pistol, and the “Champion” which was equipped with a sword and pistol and focused on parrying shots. It was however a missed opportunity not to make the blaster/pistol equipped with rapid fire by default with a cooldown feature. Squeezing the move trigger for every shot got tedious very quickly and my fingers were sore and cramping by games end.
The dodge mechanic used is brilliant! At certain points in a level, you’ll get the opportunity to duck under a beam coming towards you. This had my kids in stitches as they watched me Limbo underneath. It might be a sign of how unfit I am but dodging and crouching got my heartrate up so much that my smart watch thought I was in a workout.
Transformers Beyond Reality has a Campaign mode of six stages over various terrains. At the beginning of each level, players can choose their loadout and change the difficulty level. Playing the game on Normal bought about a good amount of challenge to the gameplay. However, I wish there could’ve been a bit more enemy variety considering the vast history and cast of the Transformers. There are plenty of options they could’ve gone with for troop building, not just Insecticons and Seekers. The boss fights, however, were fantastic. I felt as though I was making a difference to the outcome of the game, not just shooting cannon fodder Insecticons.
Pickups are aplenty in Transformers Beyond Reality. Shooting the vehicles and environments will net you a bundle. There are the usual health and weapon pickups as well as the game’s currency – Energon which is used to upgrade stats and abilities. By campaign’s end I had maxed out all my stats ready for New Game Plus because being the completionist I am. I want that Platinum Trophy!
I found myself spending a lot of time in Arcade mode where you are stripped of all your upgrades, choose a loadout and see how far you can survive and how high you can get your score. I am yet to master this mode; I keep getting owned by Soundwave.
Between the character designs and the stellar voice acting, one could tell the developers are fans of the franchise. Optimus Prime sounded like his iteration in Transformers: Combiner Wars thanks to the wonderful voice acting by Jon Bailey. Alicyn Packard seems new to the franchise but fits in perfectly as Windblade. It was surprising to learn that these two amazing actors voiced all the characters in the game. It was a nice touch also to have the Recruit’s exosuit look like G1 Prowl, especially with the headcrest.
Overall, Transformers Beyond Reality is a very enjoyable game with a good amount of challenge and fan service. I am looking forward to continuing my journey down Arcade mode and beating Soundwave and grabbing that elusive Platinum Trophy.
This review utilised a PlayStation VR key provided by Meta4 Interactive. Transformers Beyond Reality is available now exclusively for Playstation VR.
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Written by: @blustreak81
Chris Inglis
