Inferno's vehicle mode is a quite realistic fire truck, though what makes it closer to Inferno's Generation 2 version as opposed to his Generation 1 toy is the inclusion of a "water cannon" (which can fire a spring-loaded projectile) instead of the traditional ladder. Inferno is covered with detailing in this mode (where appropriate), with little panels, "bolts", "pistons", and the links covering the sides of his form. He also has molded-in exhaust pipes on the back end, and a good amount of paint detailing on him with such details as the "401/Fire Rescue" emblems and the white angled stripes working well against the red and brown-- it's not exactly the most exciting color scheme in the world, but it's realistic and gets the job done. His transparent windshield lets you see two seats inside, and the headlights and sirens are transparent as well (though the sirens are clear plastic, which is a slight bummer). I'm also not a fan of how two of the windows on each side of Inferno are black as opposed to the clear plastic of the front windshield-- it looks weird, either make all the windows transparent or don't, but I'm not fond of the middle ground. Still, all of these are pretty minor complaints. There's one that I have for this mode that isn't, however, and that's that you can see the arms and the soles of the feet from the robot mode quite clearly from a top view. Granted, they fit in with the overall shape of the fire truck seamlessly, but the detailing makes them unmistakable to anyone who's accustomed to Transformers. The only thing "covering them up" is the aforementioned water cannon (which can rotate at its base or swivel up and down), and that's not enough.
    On its surface, Inferno's robot mode is good, but fairly unremarkable. Broken down to basics, he's got the well-worn transformation of folding and spreading out all the limbs and head around the front of the vehicle mode to form the robot mode, and his chest is rather wide and flat as a result of this, which doesn't look too hot even if it is a throwback to his traditional design. However, there's lots of "little touches" that, when taken together, really make Inferno quite a good figure. The way all of his vehicle mode panels tuck into small panels on the backs of his lower arms and behind his shoulders is really quite ingeious, and in this configuration they barely impede any movement at all. In fact, for a design like this his articulation in general is quite remarkable-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at four points), elbows, wrists, hips (at three points), knees (at two points), and the ankles. Much of this articulation wasn't at all necessary, but it's stil there via nice touches-- how his shoulders can move backwards where they meet the body, how his wrists can rotate, his hips can rotate upward slightly where they meet the body, how the ankles are on nice, rather unique joints that give them almost free reign in regards to movement, how his kneecaps stick with the lower legs so that when he's bending the legs they still look rather "solid"-- even having a few of these unique movements is unusual, but Inferno has them all. It definitely appears that quite a lot of thought went into making this figure as articulated as possible. I'm also fond of how a little panel comes up and fits into place on his upper back so that you can't see all the way through his transparent chest out his back. His robot head sculpt is also quite good and pretty much spot-on G1 accurate, and the pistons in his feet are really nice details. Inferno's water cannon now rests underneath his right arm in this mode-- unfortunately it can't detach and allow him to hold it in his hands, but that's a small quibble. I also don't like how the front bumper from vehicle mode just sorta flips down-- it just inteferes with leg movement a little and doesn't look much like anything, so what's the point?
    Universe 2.0 Inferno is the only original Voyager mold for the line, and it's a pretty good one. The basic design isn't innovative, but several little touches that give him quite a good range of motion in robot mode and eliminate stuff like being able to see all the way through his chest in robot mode almost elevate him to the "must-buy" rating of 9.0+. The only things that keep him from getting there are his overly wide, flat chest in robot mode and his fairly obvious arms and feet in vehicle mode.

Review by Beastbot

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