8. Grimlock is in the game
As we mentioned earlier, fan favorite Grimlock has a big role in Fall of Cybertron, showing up as a playable character. Personality-wise, he's sort of an amalgamation of different Grimlocks throughout Transformer's history, keeping the speech pattern of the classic "Grimlock smash!" character without having a dull, dim-witted mentality. He was described not as being stupid or slow, but "having an issue getting the words out," which means he essentially has a speech disorder, not a learning disorder.
He's also unique in that he is the only Transformer in the game without guns. Instead, his main weapons are a sword and shield, letting him slice and dice through enemies that get in his way. If he wants to hit something from afar, he needs to pick up an enemy and throw them at it, which looks pretty cool. Oh, there are also two things worth mentioning about him: he's voiced by Gregg Berger...
9. ...and he can transform into a fire-breathing robotic T-Rex
Oh. Oh yes. Grimlock, being a Dinobot (yay 1980s!), can transform into a gigantic, robotic space T-Rex. But unlike the other Transformers in the game, he can't transform at will. Instead, he needs to build up a rage meter by killing enemies, only gaining the ability to activate his special ability once it's full. Once it is, Grimlock is only a button tap away from transforming into the giant, hulking, fire-breathing T-Rex. It's absolutely awesome, and should more than satiate anyone who wanted to see the beloved character added to the game.
It also adds another level of strategy. Since his ability is limited, you'll need to try to save it for the perfect situation, instead of just using it every time it's available - all the while trying to continue to kill enemies to keep the rage meter up.
10. You can buy and upgrade gear
"Variety is king" is a phrase we heard mentioned again and again by the developers of Fall of Cybertron, and one such way the game is being varied is with the addition of more weapons and an upgrade shop. At certain spots on the map you'll be able to go to a store (we're not sure who's still running businesses as Cybertron crumbles, but whatever), where you'll be able to upgrade your character and buy weapons.
Different weapon upgrades do different things, too, such as taking the standard electricity gun and turning it into a devastating lightning beam of destruction. It might not be a complete game changer, but a little bit of persistence isn't a bad thing.
11. Cybertron is no longer flat
We didn't really mind that Cybertron was fairly flat in the last game. It... sort of made sense, right? It's a robot planet, and the cities didn't have many hills. Even so, High Moon Studios wanted to add more variety, so now there will be - gasp - hills!
Apparently there are parts of the planet that aren't entirely covered with metal, and some of those places will feature varied terrain to make the game feel more bumpy. Get ready to go off-roading.
12. Nolan North voices an archeologist
No, Drake isn't making an appearance on Cybertron. Everyone's favorite actor, Nolan North (who actually played Major Reynolds in the horrible Dark of the Moon game) is going to provide the voice for the Autobot Cliffjumper. When this was brought up, the developers joked that, apparently, part of his mission requires him to recover ancient artifacts, essentially turning him into the robotic version of Nathan Drake.
We're personally hoping that his entire level is filled with Uncharted puns and cinematic camera angles, but we're not going to hold our breaths for that.
13. There's more ammo this time
One of the most consistent complaints High Moon Studios heard of the original game was that there simply wasn't enough ammunition around. creating a game that was more difficult than originally intended. This, apparently, was the easiest thing to fix when making the sequel. High Moon just added more ammo. Done.
So yes, there's more ammo this time. Hooray! There are also more guns to use, too, giving you more stuff to find ammo for.
14. There's no campaign co-op
Yeah, we were sad about this, too. Thankfully, High Moon Studios had a good excuse: when you're making a game with multiple playable characters, each with their own abilities, you need to design for the weakest ability. If Jazz is able to zip around with a grappling hook but another Transformer needs to stick to the ground and cloak or dodge or whatever, the developers simply can't make the most engaging levels.
So it was a sacrifice. Campaign co-op was killed in favor of a more enjoyable campaign, and we can't complain. The developers didn't write off the possibility of some other type of co-op, like a wave-based multiplayer mode of some sort, though they wouldn't comment on it either way.
15. Character creation is insane
Sorry, we didn't get any images of this one, so we'll just have to fill your mind with our magical, magical words. The character creation in War for Cybertron wasn't bad; it was just really limited. This time around, it's absolutely crazy with all of the possible combinations. After choosing between one of four classes, you're able to change the head, chest, shoulders, arms, legs, and other parts out, and there are a bunch of different options for each. They'll all change what the Transformer looks like completely, which is already awesome.
But it gets downright absurd when you transform. All of the cool designs and interesting elements from the Transformer's robot form carry over to the vehicular form. Those cool circular disks on your arm? Those are wheels. That interesting leg with the lines on it? That'll be used on the wings. Everything transforms amazingly, and for once it really feels like you're making an actual Transformer, not just a generic robot that happens to be able to transform into a generic car.
