Transformers: Devastation review

[QualityChimp]

I love it when Bumblebee nutmegs the Decepticons!

They should pay him to demo their games!

[Darwock]

I started a second play through from scratch on a new account (so technically it's my first play again).

I noticed very early on that I had been mixing up my dodges and my parries - the temptation is always to trigger focus time so I was largely ignoring parry and going for the slo-mo. Still need to train myself to use it properly, but I did successfully catch the two different constructicon drill missiles. The trophy requires you to also catch a boulder and a missile - I've identified that another constructicon drops a boulder on your head, but not been able to parry it yet - however which enemy fires missiles that you can parry?

By the way thanks for posting that Saurian vid, I need to see stuff like that to confirm that what I suspected is possible actually can be done. I have chained a couple of vehicle attacks together with rush combos in the past, but it was mostly a fluke. I find that going for a quick lock on and shoot after a vehicle attack can sometimes trigger the option for a follow-up (lucky head shots I guess?).

He only seems to have one gameplay video on his channel though. Are there others?

[djtickle]

For the missile it is the boss after the side scrolling bridge section.

[Darwock]

After...? Or before? I waited and waited for the boss after the bridge to chuck a missile at me, but he never did (only dropped bombs). The guy pre-bridge did seem to launch something at me, but not often enough for me to try and catch it.

Oh well. I will no doubt be playing through this many more times, so many more chances.

[k0pp0]

I don't like the way you can't charge up charge moves for combos.. it would be really nice to finish a combo with a charged hit.

[Darwock]

Surely you can if your opponent is stunned?

I have a problem with charge moves in general because unless it as a 1v1 fight I always get interrupted, even if I take advantage of focus time.

Edit - another query: what purpose do the stats serve? I mean, intelligence in an action game? I haven't upped any of my stats because I either don't know what they do or don't know what they are at all. Were there any instructions with the disc version?

[Darwock]

Second question in a row, three strikes and I'm off to gamefaqs lol

I'm drowning in C and D class weapons. Inventory maintenance after every visit to the Ark is taking too long... trouble is I don't want to throw away any with skills in case there is a way to combine skills and level them up. There doesn't appear to be, if I synth two with the same skill and one slot, it just asks me which of the two I want to keep - it doesn't combine them.

I saw people on the YouTube thread commenting on their lvl 10 skills, but the highest I have had is only a lvl 4. How do you upgrade this? My weapons are capping out at either level 5 or 10 with no change to the skill levels as I upgrade them.

[djtickle]

After...? Or before? I waited and waited for the boss after the bridge to chuck a missile at me, but he never did (only dropped bombs). The guy pre-bridge did seem to launch something at me, but not often enough for me to try and catch it.

Oh well. I will no doubt be playing through this many more times, so many more chances.

I'm sure it's the boss after I did it in, when he turns into a tank if you keep you distance he fires at you.

I'll try and answer your other questions.

I maxed the stats for 1 character the only way I knew what was doing what was to watch the stat numbers on the right go up as I pushed up a level. One full bar of stats doesn't always push your stats up if it adds a faint star point. Unlike normal games STR pushes up for HP.

The weapons I only ever saw drop with level 5 stats on. I'd say feel free to sell anything with level 1 to 3 on as once you play on Magnus you will be drowning in level 4 and 5 stats. One thing they are useful for is if you have a 5 slot weapon you could combine multiple weapon drop and rare drop to create a farming weapon.

[Darwock]

Ah... Ok... I was confused because I expected something that looked like a missile - what he fires in tank mode is more of a shell. Caught it though! Thanks.

[Darwock]

Starting from commander mode with a blank slate character is really brutal. I picked Wheeljack for my next run and his different moves and the lower stats really caught me off guard. I'm up to chapter 5 now and he's starting to feel like he can survive, but boss fights are typically five defeats in a row before I crack it. Son of Sparda level for sure.

Edit - I also managed to combine skills and raise their level, but no idea as to how exactly... two identical level skills combined into one skill higher on the created weapon. Then I managed to get a level 3 skill on the base weapon upped to level 5 by combining with a level 4. Tried it again several times afterwards and it didn't work again.

[Darwock]

Now moved onto Bumblebee, and against all the odds it seems like he is the most OP character so far. That slide under the legs and back attack move gets you out of trouble very easily, and his combos link much more easily than the previous characters I tried.

I am starting to get a nice selection of weaponry, particularly fond of the grapple gun for pulling enemies back into range (this is a life saver on a certain boss...) Btw do I still have to tiptoe around naming the bosses? I'm the only one still active on this thread and the games been out for a few weeks...

Oh yeah, a question on the abilities - are they latent effects? Will they work if you have the weapon equipped even if you don't kill with it? The robot/alt speed skills obviously don't need kills to work, but how about drop rate abilities? I put a few farming skills on the grapple gun, but it doesn't kill so I wonder if I wasted them.

How about the skills on the unselected weapons? Are they inactive?

[Soundwave]

Had our first encounter with Soundwave last night...had to give my brother the controller...I couldn't bring myself to fight him

I squeal like a little girl everytime we make it through to new bits & something new rears it's head.

Like the first real fight with the big Insecticons & you see them in Robot mode for a second, I nearly exploded & then Ravage oh my god Ravage...it's ALL so awesome.

Neil

[QualityChimp]

I'm still reading and enjoying your updates, [MENTION=2357]Darwock[/MENTION], thanks!

[Darwock]

I recently found an S rank frost machine gun - it had like 5 or 6 ability slots available so I went through my stock and added all the best skills I thought would work for a machine gun. Recoil, fire rate, headshot damage bonus, freeze ability and cryo attack damage boost.

Weird thing is, when I go to use the gun it basically functions like an ice version of the flamethrower. I just get a big spray of white cloud out the end, no discernable bullets, and it has fairly limited range (in the birds eye view sections it doesn't reach the edge of the screen). It doesn't work at all like the basic machine gun (which has bullets that travel far and recoil that scatters your shots the longer you fire). I can't use it to pick off rooftop seekers, it doesn't shoot that far.

It drains enemy HP like a charm up close but it seems like I wasted the skills like headshot and freeze (especially as you can't see anything in front once you start firing). I am wondering if I changed the nature of the gun by increasing the fire rate etc or if this is just how the elemental machine guns are to begin with? Until I get another one in a drop I can't be sure.

I took down two bosses without taking damage with this gun, it kills things FAST, but at the cost of earning decent ranks.

[QualityChimp]

Is this any use?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/walkthroughs/14787-Transformers-Devastation-Easy-SS-Ranks-Tips

Earn Easy SS Ranks in Transformers: Devastation With These Tips


Grind your gears and prepare for high scores in Transformers: Devastation with these tips, helping Optimus Prime earn SS Rank on every mission.


Platinum Games are all about character action. Stringing together attacks and dodging at just the right moment builds those points like nothing else. But we can't all be master gamers, and if you're having trouble pulling together enough points to unlock those SS Ranks, we've got a few handy tips that should make sense out of the scoring system. It's all about points, and the three methods below are simple enough for anyone to follow.


EASY SS RANKS TIPS
Hunt down optional Missions and bring Level-Specific Weapons while attempting to SS Rank a Chapter. Too powerful weapons will kill enemies quickly, lowering your score potential.


Like other titles developed by Platinum Games, Transformers: Devastation has the requisite scoring system. Do well enough in a mission and you'll earn the coveted SS Rank.


Avoiding damage seems like your best bet at getting a high score, but that isn't the case. Earning enough points you'll compensate for the "No Damage" bonus and get an SS Rank no matter how many hits you take.


Instead of mastering the combat engine, you can simply farm for points. It's slow, but it works against bosses and any encounter. Also, don't forget, to SS Rank a full chapter, you only need to earn SS Rank on half of the sections -- you don't need perfect scores across the board.


With that info out of the way, let's look into some strategies for racking up huge point scores.


METHOD #1
To earn lots of points, equip a weak low level Machine Gun and use Reversal Headshot attacks on enemies. You'll need to purchase this power from the store before attempting this method.


Wait for opponents to attack, then use the Reversal Headshot ability, shooting your opponents with bursts of weak attacks that earn lots of points. Dodge and aim with your equipped gun. It takes a long time to kill opponents, but time doesn't matter.


This works on bosses too. This doesn't work for all sections of the game. Top-down or other gimmicks don't allow Reversal Headshot moves, so you'll need to try other methods. But, as long as you earn SS in a majority of sections you'll earn the rank for the entire chapter.


METHOD #2
Normal Reversals will also work. Enter Focus then cancel by dodging out to earn extra points. This method can take longer, but it's easier for certain tricky missions later in Devastation.


METHOD #3
Combo Vehicle Rush into Vehicle Attacks over and over for high score. This works in Top Down areas, or while fighting annoying Insecticons.