Welcome to our review of Transformers: Battlegrounds, a tactical game based on the Transformers franchise.
BUMBLEBEE and the Autobots have a new commander – you. Assemble your squad and roll out for battle against the Decepticons… and team up in local multiplayer!
With Earth under invasion and MEGATRON, leader of the Decepticons close to capturing The Allspark, BUMBLEBEE and the Autobots need a new commander to help them restore peace to the universe – you!
Assemble your squad and roll out, for a turn-based tactical war that will rage from Central City to Cybertron itself. You’ll need both strength and strategy to outwit the fiendish Decepticons. Choose the Transformers characters and their abilities to dominate the battle ahead, with OPTIMUS PRIME, GRIMLOCK and more ready to join the fight. Use each environment to your advantage, taking cover in desert sandstorms, avoiding Cyberton’s Energon storms, and battling your foes in city streets. And fill up your Energon meter to unleash powerful Ultimate Abilities that crush the fiercest enemies. With intuitive controls and three difficulty settings, the size of the challenge ahead is up to you.
Then team up together in local multiplayer and put your strategic skills to the test in games like Capture the Flag, Horde, Last Stand and more. It’s the strategy action game Transformers fans have waited an eternity for!
LEAD THE AUTOBOTS – Command Bumblebee , Windblade , Optimus prime and more heroes in thrilling strategic battles
FROM EARTH TO CYBERTRON – Smash and blast across cities, forests, deserts and beyond in explosive missions
HONE YOUR SKILLS – Accessible controls and 3 difficulty modes welcome beginners and put tacticians to the test
LOCAL MULTIPLAYER – Team up with a friend or take them on solo in arcade-style games
As I’ve said quite a few times in previous reviews, there really have been a lot of tactical games out there and while most do play the tactical parts very well it is all about the actual content of the game to keep you busy. Transformers is a pretty well-known franchise thanks to American movies, cartoons, toys, and so on. I actually think this game really worked well for the franchise blending in with the genre of the game.
I often hear people say that if you’ve played one tactical game, you’ve played them all. Sadly this is true in my humble opinion, the gist of these games is always based on the same principle. Whether or not you enjoy them it’s completely up to how the game is presented and this is exactly where Battlegrounds succeeds.
Backed by a lot of voice-driven narratives, Battlegrounds aims to bring you as the player into the main driving seat of the game. You are the one ordering the Transformers around and making sure they survived the battle. Incorporating some of the better ideas out there such as the ability to hide behind the wall and take less damage, the ability to do combo damage and so.
At times you will even end up damaging the surroundings though it is usually nothing more than small cosmetic damage, nevertheless contributing to the overall feeling that this is a well-polished game. I played the preview a while ago and was amused at that time by the way it was presented and the full game did not disappoint. While this is clearly not XCOM I can say however that fans of the franchise and friends of the genre will really enjoy the depth of this game and the variation offered. Capture the flag is more fun than I expected and it is probably my favorite part of the game.
Graphically this game is not a highflyer but tactical games usually are not. Nothing wrong here, just stating the very obvious. I have to also admit that I really enjoyed the audio part of this game. I used to be a big fan of the toys when I was little and I’m a fan of this game now.
In conclusion, Transformers: Battlegrounds is a more than decent game out on Switch now, guaranteed for several hours of Transformers fun. Its difficulty settings are really very accessible and even those among us that hate the genre should be able to see the effort that went into this game. It looks very nice on the big TV as well.
