Was Transformers: Devastation the Ultimate 80s Cartoon Game

As a big fan of The Transformers, I often remember Transformers: Devastation fondly. Not as the best game starring the giant alien robots, but certainly as the best game of a cartoon. History lesson!

Back in the 1980s, The Transformers were brought to life in a short-lived 80 issue long four issue comic book mini-series. Simultaneously, it was made into a cartoon which wound up running for three seasons, a fourth mini-series and a kick-ass blockbuster movie. We’ll ignore how much more it got in Japan (SO MUCH), for the purposes of this article.

As a kid from the 80s, I of course loved the show then, and still regularly watch The Transformers: The Movie from 1986. So any time I get to hear Frank Welker and Peter Cullen voice their iconic roles of Megatron and Optimus Prime, I’m in one hundred percent. Which brings us back to Transformers: Devastation, a game released in October 2015 from PlatinumGames and Activision. I scored it 8/10 in this very publication, because it was (thankfully) a well put together game. However, it was delisted from the PlayStation Network and Steam just over two years later, because Activision did not negotiate long license agreements.

You take on the role of one of five Autobots aiming to put a stop to Megatron and his Decepticons. You can switch between levels, so if you want to be a dinosaur instead of a car that’s fine. It can feel a little repetitive, fighting and running to fight again, but I hear that’s a common thing with Platinum Games titles. It’s third-person action, full of kicking, punching, driving and occasionally shooting people with upgradeable lasers.

You really do get the feeling that you’re playing a cartoon as you go through Transformers: Devastation. The enemies are generic and die easily, the bosses are interesting and run away, the villain’s plan almost ends up causing his own destruction… Oh, and most of the voices are done by the same voice actors as the cartoon from the 80s. You could even argue that the limited number of Autobots was a cost-saving measure so the studio didn’t have to call in so many voice actors for this episode.

True, the cartoon didn’t have the same soundtrack, but it was done by Vince DiCola, the maestro behind most of the score and music from The Transformers: The Movie so it counts. The underscore never overpowers, but during cutscenes it makes things more awesome.

Not directly related to The Transformers, but there can be no doubt that PlatinumGames used some ideas from this for their very well received NieR Automata. Giant bosses equipped with construction equipment? Sure, you never have to climb Bumblebee up and around Devastator, but you do need to keep on the move while trying to hit it in the head.

It’s quite upsetting that Transformers: Devastation never received a sequel. The story ends satisfactorily, but it does hint at more things to come. The game was developed alongside a toy line and Machinima cartoon, all tying into the “Combiner Wars” theme, as part of what Hasbro called The Prime Wars Trilogy. It’s weird that the game doesn’t fit into the same continuity, as the Machinima series took place on Cybertron, and Transformers: Devastation is set on Earth during the Generation One continuity… Just look at the cars that get smashed as you’re running around - in the boxy 80s style like you would see in the cartoon.

Again, is it a perfect game? No, but it does a great job of evoking an episode of The Transformers. It doesn’t try to retell the origins like some cartoon tie-ins, it’s perfectly happy assuming you bought this because you knew about the show already. The artstyle is familiar, similar to portions of The Transformers: The Movie, the voices are either the same or similar enough, it’s scored by a man known for the franchise…

Transformers: Devastation is the ultimate 80s cartoon, and five years on I salute it. I honestly hope in five years time I’m writing something similar to this about Transformers: Battlegrounds, the upcoming turn-based game based on the Transformers Cyberverse cartoon, but I doubt it. After all, you can’t beat an 80s cartoon.