Transformers: Prime - The Game

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Transformers: Prime - The Game
Developers	Altron NOW Production
Publisher	Activision
Written by	Dan Jolley
Platforms	Nintendo DS Nintendo 3DS Wii Wii U
Release date	DS, 3DS, Wii: October 30, 2012 Wii U: November 18, 2012
Rating	ESRB: E10

Transformers: Prime - The Game is a video game developed by Altron and NOW Production.^[1][2] It is published by Activision, and was released on October 30, 2012 for the DS, 3DS, and Wii, and on November 18, 2012 alongside the launch of the Wii U, making it the first Transformers game on that console.^[3]

The game takes place alongside the events of the second season of the Transformers: Prime cartoon (sorta, see below), and involves the Autobots and Decepticons battling over a mysterious meteor made of Dark Energon and its legendary contents.^[4]

Gameplay

The game mostly features third-person melee combat, although some shooter sections are included. There are certain collectibles which allow you to 'upgrade', improving the character's stats based on their skills (e.g. Arcee's combat skills). Occasional driving sections are also included. The Wii version includes full voice acting and uses motion controls, while the 3DS version takes advantage of the 3D capabilities of the system and uses touch-based controls. The DS version features exclusive content.

Story Mode

Story Mode gameplay for Wii and Wii U is broken into 13 stages, each with a varying number of segments. Unlike previous Transformers titles, the Autobots are the only playable characters, with no Decepticon story campaign.

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Multiplayer Mode

Multiplayer Mode character select screen, with all of them unlocked.

It just ain't Transformers if "arena fight" isn't in there somehow, huh? This mode is a "fighter", where players pick one of the Transformers and attempts to pummel the scrap out of all the others inside a variety of special arenas, with a few different rulesets. Initially, only the five Autobots are available with only the Nemesis as an arena, but as more stages of the Story Mode are completed, the six "boss" Decepticons and four more arenas are added to the options. The Decepticons have the same control schemes as the Autobots, though most Decepticons play considerably differently, plus (sadly, if fairly) they lack many of the more impressive moves they display in Story Mode. Also, two players cannot pick the same bot; sadly, no quadruple-Knock-Out matches for us.

Despite its name, this mode can be played by a single player, going up against CPU-controlled opponents. In the Wii and Wii U versions, up to two human players can engage in bouts containing up to four bots at once.

There are three different match types:

• Brawl — The goal is to simply be the last bot standing. Once a combatant loses all their health, they are out of the match. If time runs out before there is a single victor, the remaining players enter "Showdown"; health is brought down into the red, everyone enters permanent Upgrade, and vehicle modes are disabled. Last one standing wins!
• Energon Match — A timed match where every bot has very little health but unlimited "lives", and an upgrade bar that fills faster than normal. Each time you finish an opponent you earn 10 points. Defeat the current top-ranked combatant (marked by a crown) and you get another 10 points. Every time you get scrapped, you lose 5 points. Once time has run out, the bot with the most points wins.
• Emblem Battle — Another timed match determined by point score. Combatants compete over a single Emblem; every second a combatant holds the Emblem, they earn a point. Getting sufficiently pummeled cause the combatant to lose the Emblem, and most likely transfer to another bot. The Emblem holder also cannot transform to vehicle mode in order to prevent them from simply evading attacks, especially fliers. Being destroyed causes a big reduction in earned points. Whoever has the most points at the end of the round wins.

There are ultimately five different arenas to play in:

• Nemesis — Fairly enclosed area with breakable containers.
• Desert — Wide open field with a central pyramid. Lots of room to run.
• Energon Mine — A large circular platform over a vast pit. The outer edges and space between central bridges are endless falls that drain energon from anyone who falls in.
• Grand Canyon — Wide arena with a lot of cover and uneven terrain.
• Volcano — Smallish arena with depressed center. Laser fire rains down from above in the center, damaging anyone caught in it.

There are also five Emblems that can only be obtained in Multiplayer matches:

• #46 Cybertron's All Stars — Rack up 1 Multiplayer win with every character.
• #47 Shield Breaker — Destroy an enemy's shield 5 times in any single match.
• #48 Winner of Showdown — Win Brawl Showdowns with 4 different characters.
• #49 Attack Evader — Win an Energon Match without having been defeated once.
• #50 Emblem Snatcher— Win an Emblem Battle having gained the Emblem at least 5 times.

Story Mode Synopsis

Stage 01: Into the Breach

The Decepticons have discovered a gigantic asteroid composed entirely of Dark Energon, and the Nemesis has traveled into Earth's orbit to obtain it. Once the Autobots became aware of this development, Ratchet sends Optimus Prime, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead onto the surface of the Nemesis via GroundBridge to stop them.

As the other Autobots take care of incoming Vehicon Jets, Optimus fights his way along the Nemesis deck to the machinery tethering the asteroid. He quickly destroys the generator and the asteroid lags behind... until the Decepticon ship fires three more tethers from underneath. Unable to get a good firing angle on the tethers, the four Autobots leap to the rock in vehicle mode. Facing down a few more Vehicon Jets, Optimus destroys all three tethers quickly using a vehicle mode ramming attack, but finds himself facing down Megatron. The vehicle-ram move breaks through Megatron's defenses, and by charging up his energy, his upgraded attacks send Megatron reeling.

Just as Optimus gain the upper hand, the asteroid begins to crumble. As Optimus stares into a deep fissure opening at his feet, two yellow dots look back... and the asteroid shatters, its pieces, and the Autobots, plummeting to Earth. Starscream gloats, mocking their inability to fly, but Megatron quickly rebukes him, demanding his minions hunt down both the Autobots to make certain they perished in the fall, as well as recover as many of the meteorites as possible.

Stage 02: Homecoming

Like a ninja...only better.

Meanwhile, at Autobot Outpost Omega-1, Ratchet tries to contact the team. A single lifesign pops up, and he sets out via GroundBridge in the hopes of finding his teammates. But once Ratchet leaves, three more life signatures pop up. Unable to reach Ratchet, Jack, Raf, and Miko decide to retrieve the missing Autobots themselves.

Arcee awakens in a factory outside Jasper, Nevada, but is quickly set upon by a swarm of Insecticons. Arcee manages to dispatch them, only to face down Airachnid. The Decepticon tries to stick to the rooftops and launch blaster-bolts and webbing, but Arcee's long-range blasters bring her down. Unfortunately, both bots notice Jack, giving Airachnid the chance to break free and kidnap the human, bolting in copter mode.

Arcee gives chase in cycle mode, dodging blaster fire and blasting fallen highway signs. The chase continues into an unfinished section of road, with Airachnid detonating inconveniently placed barrels to put big holes in the concrete. She even manages to collapse a section of road, but Arcee performs a vehicle jump and is able to free Jack.

Stage 03: Deserted

Something about cowards surviving?

Bulkhead wakes up to Miko's voice. He's fallen through the ceiling of an underground temple, and unfortunately, Starscream has found him mere moments after Miko did. Starscream's missile barrage sets the temple crumbling, and Bulkhead is forced to race through collapsing tunnels and over thin bridges while blasting fallen rocks to clear his path before the entire place can bury them forever.

Once outside, Bulkhead finds himself in a ravine. He fights off squads of Vehicon Cars and Jets, until a Vehicon Tank shows up, forcing Bulkhead to use a vehicle mode bash-attack to break through its shields. Bulkhead makes his way through the ravine until he's forced to vehicle mode jump a crevice to tackle another Tank. With the Vehicons in retreat, Bulkhead reconnoiters with Miko, who is proving very agile and adept at finding shortcuts.

Starscream attacks Bulkhead again as he enters an open-aired temple. Starscream launches missiles from atop several pillars, but Bulkhead's charged-up blaster knocks the Decepticon to the ground. Starscream cowers behind a shield, but a vehicle mode charge breaks that handily. Starscream launches volleys of missiles in jet mode, but Bulkhead's shield handily deflects the explosions. Even being backed up by more Vehicon Jets doesn't keep Bulkhead from stomping all over Starscream.

However, Miko's been taking phone pictures, leaving her open to getting captured by a Vehicon Jet. Now with a hostage, Starscream can fly away with at least a partial victory....

Stage 04: Captured!

I don't think I'm even gonna try aiming this time.

Bumblebee awakens suspended by energy shackles deep in a Decepticon energon mine. Raf has managed to GroundBridge his way in, and uses his laptop to free Bee and open up locked doors in their way. Bee tackles Vehicon Cars and Jets until he reaches a main shaft, where he meets a new breed of Vehicon, the laser-sniping Vehicon Helicopter. A few blaster bolts make the raw energon in carts into improv bombs to clear out hiding foes, and Bee charges up the ramp to an elevator that Raf has prepared.

The elevator stops short of ground level, thanks to security protocols. Raf can't hack the security server, forcing Bumblebee to explore the current floor and hunt down two separate computer towers that are blocking Raf's hacking attempts. Once each tower is destroyed, the hall to the security server is open, but guarded by laser beams. Bee's vehicle mode allows him to slip under and through most of them, with some well-timed car jumps to get over low beams. After fighting through swarm of Vehicon Cars, Jets and Helicopters in the server room, Bee is finally able to smash the server itself.

Unfortunately, just as he does, the Vehicons raise the alarm—they've found Raf! Bee charges back to the elevator in vehicle mode, dodging a mass of security lasers and quickly dispatching the Vehicons before they can break through the elevator shield.

Once at ground level, Bee cautions Raf to stay back as he scouts ahead, which proves prudent as Knock Out attempts to run the pair over. Raf shuts the elevator door as Bee takes on the Decepticon medic. Knock Out makes ample use of his vehicle mode attempting to dodge Bee's cannons, but skillful dodging and shooting lets Bumblebee take advantage of openings in Knock Out's attacks. After a while Knock Out reveals a new ability; creating pulsing energy spheres in the hall that do incredible damage when Bee runs into them. Knock Out tries to close the gap and attack at close-range, but throws up a shield as Bee pelts him with blaster fire, giving the Autobot an opening for shield-breaking moves that lead into vicious melee combos.

As Knock Out goes down, Bulkhead gets in radio contact with Bumblebee, alerting him to Miko's kidnapping and asking if Raf is all right. Knock Out runs for it, and Bee wrenches open the elevator blast door... but Raf is gone.

Stage 05: Dark Envoy

Ratchet has located Optimus... under the claw of a monstrously huge robot half-buried in the Dark Energon meteorite. The beast awakens and swats Ratchet away, bellowing "Death to Matrix!" as he tries to smash Optimus. Optimus recognizes the robot as Thunderwing, agent of Unicron, and tries to convince him that his master has fallen, thus he should give up his mission... which works about as well as you'd expect. Thunderwing uses his one free arm to hurl explosive bolts at Optimus, as well as cause energy shockwaves by smashing his fist into the ground. Optimus weakens Thunderwing by blasting away at his head, and pummeling his arm cannon with melee attacks when it's within range, until the cannon explodes.

Though Thunderwing has been weakened further, Optimus is unable to continue the battle as the Nemesis arrives and opens fire on them both. Arcee gets back in radio contact, and opens a GroundBridge for Optimus and Ratchet's escape... unfortunately, on the other side of some hillside ruins from the pair, and will only be open for three minutes!

The normally-straightforward path is blocked by debris thanks to the Decepticon warship's cannons, forcing Optimus to smash through a wall to get around the rubble. Nemesis cannon-fire, collapsing ledges and a few Vehicon Jets get in the way, but Optimus barrels through, making the final jump in vehicle mode to the GroundBridge portal.

Ratchet is just behind, but more cannon-fire sends him flying backwards. Optimus runs to retrieve his friend, but a stray shot from Thunderwing sends Optimus sailing back into the GroundBridge, which closes immediately after...

An unconscious Thunderwing is brought aboard the Nemesis and extracted from the meteorite. Knock Out explains that the giant Transformer is still missing parts of his body, perhaps embedded within other chunks of Dark Energon that had fallen to Earth. Megatron has Thunderwing revived, and the giant immediately makes threats. Megatron convinces Thunderwing that he's in no condition to continue his mission, but should he swear his loyalty to Megatron, he can be fully repaired. Thunderwing doesn't buy it, claiming the technology that built him is beyond their scope, but Megatron assures Thunderwing that the captive medic Ratchet can do the job. Ratchet refuses, until Megatron shows him that they have Raf and Miko hostage. Thunderwing agrees to Megatron's deal, saying once the Matrix is destroyed, his loyalty will once again belong only to Unicron... to which Megatron merely smirks and muses "We shall see..."

Stage 06: Shock and Dread

Bumblebee and Arcee converge on some Decepticon signals in hopes of discovering where their allies are held, with Bumblebee exploring a dark canyon. Bee quickly finds himself in the sights of several Vehicon Helicopters. Boulders strewn through the canyon floor provide cover from the snipers' blasts, allowing Bumblebee to pick them off from a distance. The two Autobots meet up and discover Dreadwing blasting open a chunk of Dark Energon, revealing a piece of Thunderwing.

Dreadwing blasts off in jet mode, and Bumblebee gives chase in car mode, blasting the proximity mines and fallen rocks Dreadwing leaves in his wake. Bee is forced to jump across a ravine, and the two Autobots finally manage to bring Dreadwing down, with Bee clinging to the Decepticon's jet mode in what must be a very familiar method for Bumblebee. Bee and Dreadwing fall into a deeper crevasse, and continue the battle on foot.

Dreadwing makes ample use of the valley's cover, attacking from a distance with his cannon. Shortly into the fight, he launches into the air, dropping a ton of proximity explosives into the field. His blaster cannon also grows progressively more powerful as the fight wears on, but thankfully he must frequently pause to adjust the weapon. The battle is largely a long-range one, as Dreadwing makes closing the gap between them tricky, and he is no slouch at hand-to hand combat either. Bumblebee's upgraded blaster attacks proving especially useful, and eventually, the Decepticon falls.

Dreadwing attempts a last-ditch attack that results in him being buried under several tons of rock. Arcee arrives, but both Autobots are too late as Soundwave arrives to take the Thunderwing component and fly away.

Stage 07: Into Ruin

Optimus Prime and Bulkhead meet up inside a partially-collapsed ruin along a seashore cliff, just as Megatron and Starscream are ready to pull Thunderwing's power core link from a Dark Energon chunk. Bulkhead's urge to throttle Starscream gets them noticed, and the Autobot charges after the retreating Starscream. Megatron, however, has no intention of letting Optimus get away.

The battle goes much the same as it did in space prior, but soon Megatron pulls some new moves, including a leaping ground-pound that sends an energy shockwave throughout the entire room, forcing Optimus to jump to avoid damage. As the fight carries on, however, Megatron engages a SynthEn upgrade, extending his battle blade to chain together massive combo strikes, upping his running speed, switching to jet mode to begin a shield-breaking dive attack, and boosting his cannon's power. He also tends to jerk back out of range when hit with a melee move, making it incredibly difficult to get a combo attack on him. Optimus pelts him with cannon-fire as best he can, forcing Megatron to throw up a shield, allowing Optimus to use a shield-breaking vehicle mode attack that allows him to pull off a complete combo attack. Despite his power boost, Megatron is ultimately sent flying through a wall, and he jets away with the Thunderwing part. Optimus moves on the rendezvous with Bulkhead.

Outside, Optimus is immediately set upon by some Vehicon Jets. After they fall, he encounters a new enemy; the Vehicon Truck, a foe best tackled at a distance thanks to its stunning energy shield and brutal vehicle mode ram attacks. As Optimus progresses up the mountain, taking out Jets and Trucks, the battlefield becomes more and more restrictive. Upon entering a second collapsed building, Optimus is forced to tackle several Trucks in close combat while a Tank lobs shots from an upper level. Once they're cleared, Optimus proceeds, but a weak bridge collapses under his weight, forcing him to take the long way up.

Having learned his lesson, Optimus races across similar bridges in truck mode, enabling him to cross before the bridges collapse. More Vehicon Trucks attack on the cliffs, as well as a sniping Helicopter. Just before he can reach the mine entrance leading to Bulkhead, Prime is ambushes by the dangerous combination of a Vehicon Tank, Helicopter and Truck, all while on a not-too-wide land bridge over a deep, deadly ravine.

Once inside the mine, Optimus begins climbing up the walls, only for Megatron to arrive, carrying the Thunderwing component. Megatron immediately blasts Optimus back to the ground and collapses the mountain, burying Optimus under tons of rock...

Stage 08: The Escape!

Back on the Nemesis, Megatron enters Ratchet's cell with the Thunderwing component, ready for him to complete the monster. A Vehicon alerts them of Starscream's return via Space Bridge... and security cameras show that Starscream is actually being held prisoner by Bulkhead. Ratchet uses Megatron's moment of rage to slip out of the cell and lock his captors in, making a break to rescue the kids.

With security now on high alert thanks to two Autobot intruders, Ratchet has to slip through halls full of moving laser beams. Inside Thunderwing's chamber, the giant is thankfully asleep, but the Vehicons and Vehicon Truck inside are very much on alert. The kids are in an alcove high above the room, forcing Ratchet to find another way up to them. The next hall has doorways that only stay open a short time after a yellow switch is activated by stepping into its light beam. Once activated, Ratchet must race through the doors in vehicle mode before they can slam shut. After clearing out a room full of Vehicons, the next hall proves to be a fakeout, as tripping the yellow switch not only opens the door, but activates more sliding laserbeams.

Ratchet arrives at a balcony on Thunderwing's side of the repair room. With the door switch on this side and the time-lock door on the other side of the room, Ratchet must leap across a series of hovering platforms to get to the other side in time, and up to the cell containing the kids.

Once rescued the trio take a long open-platform elevator to the main computer room. Between Miko's furious picture-taking and a serious design flaw Ratchet discovered while working on the giant, they have a lot of information they need to get to the others. However, swarms of Vehicon Helicopters swoop in and engage the Autobot. Charged shots bring down the flying ones, and the numerous storage crates provide cover to avoid the sniper-shots of the grounded troopers. After they've fallen, the lift shudders to a halt, and multiple Vehicon Cars and Tanks take their turn. Due to Ratchet's comparatively weaker combat skills, his best tactic is to force his foes off the platform, as the electrified rail instantly fries them. Ratchet's shield-breaking one-two combo is especially quick and effective at dropping foes off the lift fast, especially the hardy Tanks. The lift starts up again, but now the Decepticons prioritize taking out the power cells on each side. Cars, Tanks and even Helicopters take their turns at the cells. Ratchet manages to shoot the Helicopters out of the air, but the ground forces require more direct confrontation.

Finally, the trio reach the top of the shaft and the main control room, only to find Soundwave there, and behind a protective force field. Raf attempts to hack his way in, but the best he can do is drop the shielding that protects the four force field generators in the room, and only for a short period of time before Soundwave can get them back running. Ratchet has to fight his way through Vehicon Cars, Helicopters and Trucks until Raf can drop the shields, allowing him to attack the generators one by one until all four are down and Soundwave is exposed.

Soundwave is extraordinary evasive, using the Space Bridge to warp in and out of the room. Landing on higher-up platforms, he unleashes sonic wave attacks that can be evaded by ducking behind cover, or prevented by Ratchet's charged blaster attack, readied while Soundwave is outside the room. When he appears on the floor, though, he rushes in to try and slice Ratchet up with his arm-blades in brutal combo attacks. As the fight wears on, Soundwave teleports faster, his sonic attacks get wider, and he adds a brutal jet mode charging attack then ends in a tornado-like blur of blades. But Ratchet's use of his charged shots to stun Soundwave and well-timed Upgraded attacks brings the communicator down, forcing him to retreat.

With Soundwave gone, Ratchet and Raf are able to use the control room to break the scramblers that are blocking Autobot transmissions and contact Bulkhead...

Stage 09: The Spider's Web

Arcee and Bumblebee infiltrate the Nemesis via GroundBridge, but their communicators are still scrambled, so they split up to find their teammates. Arcee ends up caught in Airachnid's webbing, and flung off the ship, but Arcee manages to free herself in time to land safely, and the two get down to pounding the hell out of each other.

Airachnid primarily tries to keep her distance, pelting Arcee with long-range pulse-blasts and webbing from atop the ship's high walls, but thankfully Arcee's blasters have the range to hit the spider-bot as she sidesteps, avoiding the web-traps left on the ground from missed web-balls. As Airachnid charges to ground level in copter mode, Arcee's charges her blaster and unleashes a blast as soon as Airachnid transforms, stunning her out of her followup attack and leaving her wide open for Arcee's combo kicks.

Airachnid soon retreats to one of the Nemesis's stabilizer fins, outside of Arcee's range. The Autobot can do little more than dodge Airachnid's firepower... until she notices some structural damage on the fin leftover from the battle with Thunderwing. Changing her target, Arcee unleashes a hail of blaster fire that brings the fin -and Airachnid- tumbling down.

Unwilling to give up, Airachnid calls a pair of Insecticons to aid her, but the weak drones fall quickly to Arcee's blasters. But their arrival gives Airachnid enough time to start a SynthEn upgrade, dramatically boosting her speed as she closes the gap on Arcee to try and tear her apart with brutal combos. Arcee's charged blaster still gives the Autobot an opening to slip in and pummel her opponent, and soon Airchnid is sent flying.

Another pair of Insecticons arrive to help their commander, but as Arcee disposes of them, Airachnid has vanished....

Stage 10: Dangerous Vantage

Bumblebee and Knock Out are engaged in a vehicle mode duel when Bee is forced through an exterior wall. Barely saving himself from a fall, Bumblebee manages to get back on stable footing despite Knock Out's attempts.

The two resume their duel from the mine in much the same manner, with Bumblebee's blasters forcing Knock Out to raise his shield, leaving him vulnerable to a vehicle mode shield-breaking charge. He also creates his energy orbs again, but this time adds a new twist to the move by beginning an unstoppable tornado-like spin attack, caroming around the battlefield and slicing into Bumblebee should he get within range. Bee can do nothing but stay out of Knock Out's reach until the Decepticon exhausts himself, leaving him very open for a retaliatory strike.

Eventually Knock Out abandons his previous moves and engages his SynthEn upgrade, permanently unleashing his saw and drill weapons. He dashes around the battlefield in both modes, employing vehicle mode booster-rams and leaping attacks to cut into Bumblebee. Quick jumping and sidestepping leaves Knock Out briefly open as his attacks miss, eventually wearing him down.

His paint job grievously scuffed, Knock Out attempts one more ramming attack, but Bee leaps into the air, sending the Decepticon flying off the ship. With no sign of Knock Out anywhere, Bumblebee is able to continue his search of his allies.

Stage 11: Retribution

Meanwhile, Starscream has led Bulkhead into a trap, siccing several Vehicon Helicopters on the Autobot inside a storage room. Starscream himself uses the same tactics he did in the ruins battle, but the addition of the painfully-accurate sniper shots puts Bulkhead at a disadvantage even with the cover. But charged shots and vehicle mode shield-breakers do bring Starscream down, despite his own SynthEn upgrade. Starscream is soon forced to retreat, locking Bulkhead in the room.

Making his way to Thunderwing's room, Starscream attempts to revive the giant, but is stopped by Megatron, who is not exactly happy with Starscream right at this moment. Thunderwing awakens and takes the power core link back inside his chest, restoring him to full power. The giant immediately rebuffs Megatron's commands and launches a massive energy blast at the Decepticon leader. Starscream finds himself suddenly being used as a shield and bears the full brunt of the blast. Thunderwing launches himself from the ship, sending shockwaves and cascading damage throughout the Nemesis.

Bulkhead soon finds himself in a room on the verge of collapse, one that will crush him within mere minutes. As he knocks aside interfering Vehicons, Ratchet is finally able to get back in touch with his teammates and directs Bulkhead out. Following the marker on his radar, Bulkhead uses fallen rubble to make his way to the room's perimeter ledge, smashing through numerous storage crates that block his path. Finally making his way to the exit, he must bash through the partially-collapsed door to make his escape.

Stage 12: One Shall Fall

What the hell is Megatron doing in my corner?!

Back at base, Ratchet tries to lock in on Optimus's signal, but is having little luck. With Thunderwing loose, the Autobots decide they need to stop him no matter what. As the beast is composed primarily of Dark Energon, Ratchet is confident that he can build a device that can significantly dampen the Dark Energon's effects, leaving Thunderwing vulnerable to attack. Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead travel to Thunderwing's destination, a raging volcano plain, ready to delay Thunderwing... but quickly fall to Megatron's brutal assault. The Decepticon leader is about to deliver a killing blow to Arcee when Optimus arrives via GroundBridge, knocking Megatron away and giving his teammates a chance to retreat.

Optimus and Megatron face off, though at first Megatron has not changed his tactics much since their last encounter. The wider field of battle also gives Optimus more opportunity to force Megatron into a defensive posture. Megatron soon reveals a new move; a powerful shield-breaking midair charge that is very hard to dodge at close range. He also engages his SynthEn upgrade, and begins using a vehicle mode dive that ends in a colossal shockwave attack. Optimus carefully leaps over the ground-based blast, slipping in to pummel Megatron in the brief moment of recovery after the move. As the fight wears on, Megatron tries one more upgrade, boosting his power to incredible levels; but Optimus's quick thinking again lets him evade the moves and unleash his own flurry of attack that soon fell the Decepticon leader.

Stage 13: The Last Stand

Optimus offers Megatron one last chance to save his life by surrendering. Megatron readies his blade... and Thunderwing arrives, unleashing a powerful blast at Optimus. As Optimus dodges, the blast instead collides with Megatron, the force of the explosion sending the Autobots flying. Thunderwing has found what he's after; the bearer of the Matrix, Optimus Prime, and is ready to fulfill his mission and destroy both!

Thunderwing begins his assault using his arm-cannons, each one with different firing patterns. His left arm unleashes a steady stream of blasts that he sweeps the battelfield with; Optimus times his jumps carefully to get over the hail. Thunderwing's right arm, as it did in the first battle, unloads powerful single blasts that explode upon contact with the ground. Optimus must target each cannon, blasting away at each, and getting in close to poerform more powerful melee attacks during Thunderwing's pauses. However, staying too close too long proves dangerous, as Thunderwing slams his clawed hands into the dirt to try and smash Prime to pieces.

With both cannons inoperative, Thunderwing is done underestimating Optimus. The four Autobots seem to be having little effect on Thunderwing proper. Ratchet finally arrives, carrying a damper device, but informs Arcee that he only had enough time to make one that is only effective once inside Thunderwing. The situation looks hopeless, but Jack and Miko pipe up, having snuck through Ratchet's GroundBridge portal. Miko shows the Autobots a phone picture showing a small gap in Thunderwing's armor they could get the dampener through, but Arcee notes it's too small for even her to fit through. Jack, however, notes he can fit in there and place the dampener. None of the Autobots are willing to risk the kids' lives, but as Bulkhead and Bee are now down, and Jack pleads that this fight is as much theirs as it is the Autobots', Prime reluctantly agrees.

Arcee transforms to cycle mode, carrying Jack and the dampener through a narrow canyon, dodging Thunderwing's blaster shots and air attacks. Arcee keeps her blasters firing on full, breaking up fallen rocks in her path. As she gets near the beast, Thunderwing readies his energy-breath attack, forcing Arcee to hit her boosters to slip under the blast in time. Now under Thunderwing, Arcee lifts Jack into the gap in his armor. Thunderwing staggers as the dampener does its work, causing him to stagger. Jack falls but is saved again by Arcee. As reactors in Thunderwing's shoulders open up, Ratchet recognizes them as a weak point for Optimus to exploit.

Up close again, Optimus blasts away at each of the exposed reactors. Thunderwing tries to smash Optimus under his claws, but in his weakened state, each blow causes him to stagger, letting Prime rush in and unleash a flurry of melee attacks at the lowered generator. Thunderwing launches Dark Energon fireballs from his into the air which fall down and explode, but Optimus is able to avoid this by rushing in close to the beast. With both generators crippled, Thunderwing is prepared to expend every last drop of energy to destroy Prime and the Matrix... and Optimus is ready to unleash the Matrix's power to stop Thunderwing once and for all.

The Matrix power upgrades Optimus's attacks, letting him unleash full-powered attacks on Thunderwing's now-exposed core. Taking to the air, the giant spews Dark Energon fireballs in large numbers into the battlefield, forcing the Autobot leader to stay on his toes at all times. Back at close-range, Thunderwing unleashes a tongue of Dark Energon fire that he uses to scour every inch of the battlefield, gain forcing Optimus to run and leap while trying to land blasts on Thunderwing's core. The giant also tires good old-fashioned forearm smashes, though each time he misses, he is staggered, which allows Optimus to rush in and land numerous melee attacks on his core.

Weakened, Thunderwing staggers backwards, plummeting into a pool of lava below. The Autobots beat a hasty retreat as the nearby volcano erupts, spewing chunks of Dark Energon into the field.

Back at base, Optimus ruminates at how their human allies have saved them all, and proclaims again that the Earth is the Autobots' home, and they will defend it and its people against any Decepticon threat.

Featured characters

Quotes

"You know I'm going to stop you, Megatron!"
"I know you're gonna try!"

-Optimus Prime and Megatron begin their first confrontation.

"I'm glad you survived the fall, Arcee. It would've been so boring to find your spark extinguished."
"You're about to wish you had."

-Airachnid and Arcee prepare to brawl.

"You should rename your pet human, Arcee! If I were you, I'd call him 'Strategic Weakness!'"

-That wasn't very clever, Airachnid.

"You're surprisingly in-tact for having dropped out of orbit!"

-Starscream speaks what we all are thinking.

"Knock Out, your analysis?"
"He's definitely incomplete. Once we pull him out of that meteorite I'm afraid he'll look like a puzzle with pieces missing."
"Your ability to state the obvious staggers the imagination."

-Megatron and Knock Out exchange in some entertaining conversation.

Reception

Transformers: Prime - The Game received mixed to generally positive reviews, praising the game for its gameplay and multiplayer features, but criticized for how overwhelmingly simple the campaign is to beat.

Notes

Continuity headache

According to a producer at Activision, the game takes place alongside the second season of the cartoon, but could be "wedged in" anywhere in the season.^[4] However, this is impossible thanks to the makeup of the Decepticon team:

• Starscream is the main problem here. He became a rogue agent back in "Partners", a first-season episode, and did not re-join Megatron's forces until "Patch", the twenty-fourth episode out of season two's twenty-six-episode run. Yyyyyeah.
  • Let's pretend that they kept Starscream in the game as a rogue agent like in the show, which would really only require some cutscene tweaking, right? Well... Starscream lost his T-cog, stripping him of his ability to transform, in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2", the episode before "Loose Cannons" (Dreadwing's first appearance), and did not get it back until "Regeneration", the episode after "Patch"... and also the episode where Dreadwing dies. Oops. This lack of a T-cog is workable, but would severely strip his usefulness as a major "boss" character in a game.
  • Even if you drop Starscream from the game roster altogether (which naturally they would never do), this still only allows the game to occur between the back-to-back episodes "Loose Cannons" and "Crossfire", where Airachnid bails on Megatron.
• Speaking of Airachnid, her Insecticon minions were only under her control while she too was an independent agent, and really only for the singular episode "Armada". This episode ends with her being locked in stasis (where she remained into season three) and losing control over the swarm to Megatron. And all this happened well before Starscream rejoined Megatron's forces. But if the Decepticons have some new Vehicons we've never seen before or since here, hey, a few smaller, lower-powered Insecticons from a different swarm aren't exactly a stretch.
• And just because we're pedantic like that, there's the lack of Smokescreen, whose absence from the Autobot roster would be very conspicuous, thus it'd more or less have to happen before "New Recruit".
• Wheeljack and Breakdown are also not in the game, but their absences are far easier to explain away even without resorting to the latter's dying (at Airachnid's hand)....

Other notes

• At BotCon 2012, concept art for a Tank Vehicon and a Helicopter Vehicon was released.
• Unlike other Transformers games, the differences in the versions of Prime - The Game mostly involve presentation, not story.
• As there is a playable segment where you control Jack and Arcee in her bike mode, this could possibly be considered the first game to have a playable human. It's most likely Arcee, though, considering Jack was carrying a huge cylinder and lacks access to Arcee's guns.
• The "Cybertronian Artifacts" hidden throughout the levels bear great resemblance to the Spark extractor from Prime.
• Dreadwing is the only character whose TV actor (Tony Todd) did not return to voice in the game.
• Ratchet notably is depicted with firearms to stay consistent with the rest of the cast's gameplay, whereas in the show he only ever has his retractable blades for weapons.

References

External links

• Official Website
• Teaser Trailer
• Debut Trailer
• "Rivalries" Trailer