Publisher: Activision
Developer: Vicarious Visions
ESRB Rating: Teen
Release Date: June 22, 2010

    War for Cybertron's DS release may share its "larger console version's" name, but it's an entirely different gameplay experience, and as such really deserves its own review. For those expecting pretty much the same experience but with lower-res graphics, that's not at all what you get. Now, granted, the story more or less follows the same path-- the Decepticon's game comes first sequentially, with the Autobot's following it, Trypticon is the final boss of the Autobot's game while Omega Supreme is the final boss of the Decepticon's game, etc. The actual dialogue for the story, while following the same path, is different, however, and sadly doesn't really take place in cutscenes, but merely small pictures of the character in question with the text of what they're saying under them, in front of a "space" background. Also, the dialogue BEFORE a level is voiced by the proper actors (for the most part-- a few from the "main console" game, like Breakdown, have been replaced with inferior, odd-sounding voices), but the dialogue AFTER a level isn't voiced, for some odd reason. There are also some really brief, static "cutscenes" in-level where you're staring at still versions of the characters in question talking, but it's not like any actual action happens in those cutscenes. So you're basically told the story instead of a shown it, which is just a huge shame and one of my biggest beefs with this game.
    As far as the base gameplay goes, it has a bit more in common with previous Transformers DS games than the "main console" War for Cybertron. As opposed to mass firefights, you generally take on no more than four or so enemies at one time, and they're not all TFs-- there are many turrets and flying drones to deal with, as well. You have your normal health bar and "energy" bar that shows you how much firepower you've got left (staying still and not firing allows your energy to recharge). You also have an experience bar, which, when filled, levels you up. At the end of every level, you can use your level-up points to add points to your melee strength, firepower, health regeneration rate, and the like. In addition, each character gets certain bonuses when some of their stats reach a certain level, such as damage-radius attacks, more varied firepower, etc. You can also equip various different data disks found hidden throughout the levels that will better your Transformers' stats-- an incentive to replay levels you've already beaten.
    The core crux of the gameplay revolves around changing between two different Transformers that you select at the beginning of your mission-- definitely something new and one the most different things about this game compared to other TF games. You can switch between them instantaneously, and they'll regenerate normally when they're in "reserve", so if one of your TFs gets low on health, just switch him out for your other guy. (In fact, this is pretty much a must if you want to get through the later levels, which can get a bit tough.) If one of your TFs dies, you can revive him by killing enough enemies with your remaining TF. Beyond the different stat perks mentioned earlier, each character does a different type of damage-- either laser, plasma, or "solid", each represented by either a yellow triangle, red circle, or blue square for easy reference. Learning which TF does which damage, and paying attention to which type of damage your target enemy is vulnerable to (displayed along with their health bar above their form), is vital to being about to beat this game. Attacking someone with something they're vulnerable with will kill them MUCH faster than other damage types, though if you peg away long enough you can always kill them with other damage types as well. In robot mode attacks melee attacks generally do one type of damage while ranged attacks do another (though some characters can do two types of damage with ranged attacks once you level them up enough). You can transform between modes by pressing on the Autobot or Decepticon symbol on the touch pad, and in vehicle mode every TF can do all three types of damage. However, there isn't any "hover mode" in this game like on the "main console" versions-- in vehicle mode although you're faster, you can't maneuver nearly as well as in robot mode, though you can regenerate health and energy faster. (Generally, I only use vehicle mode if I need to get someplace fast or if I need to run away and regenerate health quickly.) You also have a radar on your lower screen which shows you the location of objectives in a manner similar to the "main console" version where it shows the direction and how far away you are from your objective, along with nearby enemies. Generally you don't really need your radar unless you're in a rare large firefight, though, or in the couple of rooms in the game where the camera can get a bit wonky because of cramped quarters.

    For each individual DS game, there are eight story levels for the side in question, each of which are fairly long-- but if you're expecting a level of interaction and storytelling on par with the main console version, you aren't going to get it. Usually the only time when the story really goes forward is when you finish an entire story level, during the aforementioned "cutscenes". For the most part you're in metal corridors-- and occasionally on the edge of some large Cybertronian structure where a fall means instant death-- killing your way to the next room or figuring out how to open up a door by finding the correct switch. The graphics are on par with what you'd expect from the DS-- no worse, no better. There's also a special battle sequence/camera at the end of the story levels where you verse either Omega Supreme or Trypticon, but it's not anything particularly epic-- you avoid attacks while on a ledge about waist-high to them and just keep shooting away at them for a while until their health is depleted. For each version, there's also an "abridged" version of the other side's story levels, with four of the levels that you'd get if you bought that side's game taken out, including the final boss level. Generally these "abridged" bonus story levels end in a cliffhanger to entice you to get the other DS game, but honestly it doesn't work that well-- only a handful of characters and a few levels are exclusive to either version, so if you have only one version you aren't missing a whole lot of the total experience. In addition to the story mode levels, there's many, many "Arena" levels where you can play as any character you've unlocked on either side, with short challenges that usually involve you killing a boss, fighting off a number of enemies, or completing a task in the allotted amount of time. By beating the various bosses you can unlock those characters to play as in your game, but the boss fights here are way too danged long and repetitive, and just generally a chore. There's also a multiplayer component where you can link with another person who has the game within a short distance-- if you're lucky enough to know someone else who has one of the DS games. I don't, so unfortunately I can't comment on the multiplayer aspect of this game, except to say it's more of a bonus extra than a core component of the game.
    As far as the characters go, both of the DS games combined have a huge roster-- 30 characters total, with 15 for each side. Needless to say, there's some that appear in the DS versions that don't appear in the main console version. You can unlock the entire roster for the relevant side of the game you've picked up, while you can only unlock a limited roster (about 2/3rds of the characters) for the opposing side. Except for the few characters you have at the beginning, the way you unlock additional characters is either by finding little collectible disks hidden throughout the story levels, beating Arena levels, or-- as is the case with two of them-- entering secret codes. The characters are generally automatically leveled up to the relevant point that you find them in the game-- for example, you get Skywarp early so he's only about level 5 or 6, but probably won't get Shockwave until late, so he's about level 15 when you get him. Although they differ by damage types dealt and a couple of bonuses, characters fall into three classes-- light (small ground vehicles), heavy (large ground vehicles), and air (jets). Light characters are fast and agile, heavy characters are strong and have a high endurance, and air characters can, obviously, fly, which is a huge advantage. The way the game balances this out is that you don't regenerate your green "firepower" bar as an air-based character in the game, which means after so many shots (usually not many) you have to transform back to robot mode to regain your energy bar.
    Listed below are all thirty Transformers characters you'll find in the two DS games. Unless otherwise listed, the characters are in both versions of the game:
-Air Raid
-Barricade
-Brawl
-Breakdown
-Bumblebee
-Cliffjumper
-Cyclonus
-Dirge (Decepticon version only)
-Drag Strip (Decepticon version only)
-Grimlock
-Hot Shot (Rodimus, named Hot Shot likely for legality's sake)
-Ironhide
-Jazz
-Jetfire (Autobot version only)
-Megatron
-Motormaster
-Onslaught (Decepticon version only)
-Optimus Prime
-Ramjet (enter code 99871 to unlock)
-Ratchet
-Shockwave
-Sideswipe (Autobot version only)
-Silverbolt (enter code 10141 to unlock)
-Skywarp
-Soundwave
-Starscream
-Swoop (Autobot version only)
-Thundercracker (Decepticon version only)
-Ultra Magnus
-Warpath (Autobot version only)

    Although the DS games for War for Cybertron aren't nearly as impressive as the "main console" versions, they're still decent games in their own right. Although the firefights aren't nearly as epic and there are some annoying/disappointing aspects such as occasional camera problems, lack of any real cutscenes, and a need for more checkpoints, this is partially made up for by the unique positives in this game. Having different types of damage, combined with switching between two different Transformers on each mission, gives this game a different kind of strategy than the "main console" versions, and the game has a pretty fair length, especially if you go back and look for all the hidden discs. Mildly recommended.

Graphics: 7/10
Music: 7/10
Gameplay: 14/20
Storyline: 8/10
Level Design: 8/10
Cutscenes: 5/10
Controls: 17/20
Replayability: 7/10

Overall Rating:73/100 Good

(Screencaps taken from Gamespot.com)

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