Hands up if you thought Transformers Universe would be a lane-pusher? Me too! Jagex has avoided that temptation, turning Transformers into a third-person bot-basher instead.
All the playable Transformers in Jagex's universe are new to the series, though I wouldn't have known if the team hadn't told me before my hands-off demo. Front-Line is an SUV in his driving form, but transforms slickly into a buff headcruncher when he meets some of the wandering AI. He looks the part, whipping out a minigun that fires electric blasts with a wide area of effect, and supporting that carnage with a twin-axe melee move and a giant hammer.
Getting a feel for the game from just watching an instanced battle was tough, but I could tell that those who played as a team definitely had the advantage. The healer, Sparkscape, played like Team Fortress 2's medic. He kept behind the tank, and constantly buffed him with a green beam that boosted his defense.
Sparkscape also had an interesting weakness: he could only self-heal as part of a group, so if no one was near he wouldn't be able to repair. But he could transform and flee, screeching off as a vehicle in search of friends to heal and hide behind as he rehealed.
The map was bland, but it's a busy and bright-looking game when the robots start hitting each other: every thwack seems to spark off electrical blasts and plasma bursts, It's nearly too busy, but if you're making a game that you hope the general public will pick up, it helps to be look lively.
The battle ebbed and flowed, largely because the robots are part of a deck, and when you're in a fight you can swap out one from your collection if the team balance isn't quite what it should be. For every death, as you're waiting to respawn, you have to make the decision to heal or come back as a different class.
Paying for more characters is a pretty standard model, but in Transformers Universe you won't be able to buy or grind any of the recognizable characters from the lore. They'll show up, but they won't be fighting. It's an odd decision to make in a free-to-play game with collectibles and an established canon.
Transformers looks to be a decent game, and Jagex can make free-to-play online games work, but I'm baffled as to why it didn't play to its biggest strength.
Craig Pearson
DEVELOPER: Jagex
PUBLISHER: Hasbro
LINK: transformersuniverse.com
