Transformers: Devastation review

[Darwock]

That will be useful thanks, that trophy is sitting there taunting me so I will have to tackle it eventually. By chance I unlocked one hidden trophy that clued me in to some of the others (defeat each chapter's final boss on commander without taking damage) so I have been focusing on that challenge with my Grimlock play through. Nailed it earlier this evening.

Grimlock's grapples are fun but don't work on oversized enemies which are fairly common. I also found him awkward to use, with the way he would auto-transform I would haveten (<- thanks grammar filter...) get myself stuck in dino mode, and the racing sections were a pain with the need to button mash every time he lost momentum. Now I've used all characters on commander difficulty I'll be going back to Prime or Wheeljack for Magnus difficulty.

Grimlock's ultimate attack combined with equipping an 'all-in' tech made short work of most bosses and helped me get the trophies though.

[JU!]

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.

Ye I have not been able to combo into them yet. Just charge for a big hit.

[k0pp0]

I still don't know how to punt decepticons for that challenge

[Darwock]

One of bumblebees basic combos knocks them back (so... fist weapons?) - just don't follow up with the vehicle attack or you will probably kill them.

You only need to get one in a goal to clear the challenge, I fluked it with Optimus.

I started Magnus mode last night, died in the very first fight. I have had to start using items to survive on this mode, as I need regular health top-ups in most battles. Some of the 10,000 credit tech is essential as well.

[Darwock]

Now at the end boss of chapter 4 on Magnus mode, but the first SS rank weapon I have ever seen appeared in the Lab shop (at 1.5 million credits) so I broke off to farm credits for a bit to make sure I can purchase it. Hopefully it's the first of many.

Optimus Prime has been toughened up by using him in this mode, I went to tackle one of the challenge mode missions I had been stuck on in commander mode (a gauntlet run of all bosses mixed with regular enemies, and then the same bosses return in pairs, it goes on forever) and was able to clear it.

On other matters, it seems that identical abilities don't stack. I made a pair of burn gauntlets with five slots filled with the same lvl 4 focus time+, and one lvl 4 focus attack+, expecting a very lengthy focus period - but it only lasted a couple of seconds. I would even say it didn't feel extended at all.

[BIG EDD]

This is on sale with Shopto for ?24

[CMcK]

So I had a 1.4 GB update for Devastation last. Anyone noticed anything new?

[Darwock]

What format? I played all night tonight and had no update on PS3.

Heard about an inventory bug where you after you have already maxed all your stats, your storage fills up with stat boosting items you are unable to dispose of. This ends up not allowing you to obtain any recovery items. Needs patched for sure, but 1.4 gig? Can't be that.

After nailing Magnus mode last night (5 auto-repairs used in the last two boss fights, gah) I started going back through looking for SS ranks, and it's a nightmare. You've got to do a whole chapter in one go, so on the longer levels one screwed up fight half way through and you may as well restart. Even with my weakest weapons I still kill enemies too fast on commander, so tried going for pure speed and no damage - sometimes this works, but most times I only get A or S.

[CMcK]

The update was on the Xbox One version.

[Darwock]

Aargh, the SS rank all chapters trophy is driving me insane!

I have a pair of blasters with Defect lvl 5, that do 0 damage, that still one shot all the grunt enemies when I try to milk them for head shots. It feels like complete chance, you have to do each battle as fast as you can and just pray you get enough extra points in. Unless it's a boss the enemies won't take enough point scoring hits to compensate for taking a longer time.

[Darwock]

Update on my chapter 1 frustration:

I read you only need SS ranks on half of a chapter's missions to get an SS overall. Well, I got SS on 12 out of 17 missions, 1 mission was S and 4 were A, and I only got S rank overall. Woe is me.

I'm getting a system down for most fights, the risky ones are the long range snipers as you need to kill them all in around 10 seconds and score at least one headshot to hit SS, but at least those conditons are clear. Also, Megatron. If I defeat him efficiently and quickly, I only get A rank. Can't go for reversal head shots as he just hides out behind his shield. Any other method takes too long or doesn't score enough. Maybe I need to up my rush attack power and just try and finish him off faster.

The one mission I can't figure out is one of the subway tunnel sections - grunts as you go in, two tunnels of shielded grunts, then a yellow grunt at the end. Best I've managed is S there, but A or B is most likely.

[QualityChimp]

Can you post a video of your 'bots in action?

[Darwock]

Only if I can continue to operate the dualshock 3 with my feet while I use my hands to record the video on my phone. PS3 can't do any of that fancy streaming stuff AFAIK.

[Fader209]

There's something about the scoring system in this that puts me off really loving the game. It feels too finicky compared to the other PG releases or other titles of the same ilk, leading me to not get fully invested in it like Darwock.

On the second play through I have been skipping the cutscenes which I now realise were needed to break up the repetition of the gameplay and samey environments.

[Darwock]

I went the other way - I started off very aware of the identikit locations and repetitive battles, but as I grew into the combat, it stopped mattering. Every fight is a joy. It really is the successor to DMC3 for me in that sense.

Sadly, the SS requirements force you to take a calculated approach, rather than just going with the flow. I have on occasion nailed an SS rank after a very natural fight but usually I have to plan it out.

edit - scoring could use some tweaking... less emphasis on headshots and more on overdrive perhaps?

Edit 2 - *finally* SS ranked chapter 1, via 14 individual SS ranks and 3 S ranks. I didn't do any of the extra missions, too much of a gamble. That is the longest chapter, so the most irritating one to have to do over and over is out of the way at least.

Early tries at chapter 2 seem to favour just balls-to-the-wall attacking - insecticons don't give up easy headshots so it's just take them out as fast as you possibly can. I prefer that.