XCOM In Disguise
Transformers Battlegrounds is a turn based strategy game based on Transformers Cyberverse. Battlegrounds wears its inspirations on its sleeve as it incredibly clear, that most of the design choices are clearly being inspired by the post 2012 XCOM series. While Battlegrounds is clearly inspired by XCOM, Coatsink’s approach with Battlegrounds is not 1:1 as Coatsink decide to implement several changes to the XCOM formula, providing Battlegrounds with its own identity.
Graphically, Transformers Battlegrounds is relatively simple. Character and environmental designs are detailed enough for the top down nature of the game; the simplistic designs do look good enough when viewed up close. With all cut scenes done in-game, the cut scenes highlight the limited nature of Battleground’s character designs and animations as the movements of the characters are quite stiff and deliberate, coupling this with more simple graphics and level design does extenuate the budget feel of the release, as it is only £25 when full price. The budget, I guess you could call it A and ½, also shines through in the menu screens as they are quite cheap looking and basic in design and layout, functional but does much to limit the extent of your expectations. One nice addition in the options is the ability to scale the HUD, which allows it to be easier to view at longer viewing distances.
When it comes to the framerate, Battlegrounds, at least on the PS4, is pretty well optimised as it only suffers from only occasional frame rate drops or stutters. The camera however has a mind of its own as likes to spin around the selected transformer rather than staying still. The camera also does occasionally not show clearly the events happening on screen due to the camera either being blocked by the environment or not positioning itself correctly when it is close to the action. The game is fully voiced with the cast of the Cyberverse series reprising their roles.
The story of Battlegrounds is pretty standard Transformer fare. The Autobots and Decepticons are after a Mcguffin which in this case is the Allspark. The game follows the Autobots as they attempt to stop Megatron implementing his nefarious plan to use the Allspark to create new and powerful Deception army. One interesting aspect is Battlegrounds story does directly address why it is a turn based strategy game.
Battlegrounds’s gameplay structure is based around two part levels. The first half requires the player completing an objective such as moving across the map or defeating a number of deceptions before the second stage of the level being a boss fight.
The more complicated gameplay design of XCOM has been streamlined in Battlegrounds. The cover system has the choice of either full cover or environmental cover, such as vehicles or Energon storage which provides temporary protection which can be destroyed if attacked, though the AI controlled Decpticons rarely deliberated chose to do so. In the second chapter, there are sands dunes which if attacked can create a dust cloud which if stood inside stops the ability to attack or be attacked. Battlegrounds also no verticality in the level design, reducing the strategic options available. This leads combat usually revolving around find a defensible location on the map and positioning your Autobots into cover and waiting for the AI controlled Decepticons to come to you before moving on through the level.
For the vast majority of the game, the player has control of three Autobots per level. The Autobots are split into three classes. The Scout class contains Bumblebee and Windbreaker have the ability to move the longest distances and have the largest line of sights in combat. The Brawler class, which contains Optimus Prime and Grimlock is the heavy class, which is all doing as much damage as possible. They have a smaller line of sight during combat and movement but these limitations are made up with larger health bars and more damaging attacks albeit ones which favour close quarters. The third class is the Support class, containing Wheeljack and Arcee. As the name suggests, they are all about providing support through healing fellow party members. The Support class has a slightly more restricted line of sight during combat and movement than the Scout class.
Each Autobot has access to three abilities, a standard ranged attack, a secondary ability unique to each Autobot, the power of which can be increased by consuming more of the three available action points each Autobot has available each turn to move or attack. Using more action points increases the damage of the attack and increases the chance of secondary effects occurring. The third ability are the Ultimates, these are abilities which are charged through completing a turn to gain Energon to fill a bar on the left hand side of the screen. The amount gained can be increased by either ending a turn when not all action points have been used or by having an Autobot stand near a Energon container. The power of the ultimate is increased by the amount the bar is filled up.
If you have played XCOM or a similar title, you have a good idea what to expect gameplay wise, the player and the AI take turns moving around the levels on tile based movement system and if action points are still available, you could engage an enemy character, if they are in your line of sight and not behind cover. Battleground however simplifies this as alongside the lack of verticality in the level design; Battlegrounds removed the percentage chance of attacks landing, so in Battlegrounds no attacks have a chance of missing.
Prior to starting a level, Battlegrounds allows the player to change the Autobots they wish to use unless they are central to events of the level. The player is also able to change an Autobot’s abilities if desired at the level select screen. Unlike XCOM, however, members of your party if defeated are revived at the end of the first half of the level or the end of a level. As well as being revived every Autobot has their health bar slightly restored.
This does make Battlegrounds more forgiving than similar titles as the removal of being able to lose party members allows the player to more reckless or aggressive with their strategy as there is no need to ensure party members can endure attacks from the AI. While it does reduce the games difficulty, bad strategy is swiftly punished by the AI as they will swarm any Decepticons which are close to a Autobot and quickly drain their health bar. Playing through on the medium difficulty setting has seen me only have to restart a level from the last set save point a handful of times, mainly down to bad strategic decisions on my end rather than due to sudden difficulty spikes.
The secondary attacks, usually area of effect or close range have a range of secondary effects such as anchoring an enemy in place or stopping their ability to attack or for their attacks to land or damage at a start of a turn. These status effects are more likely to occur when more action points are used. Ultimate’s are also area of effect or movement based attacks and can be used even when a Autobot’s actions points are used up. An advantage the Ultimate’s have is that characters that are immobilised can still move when using the Ultimate so can be used to get a damaged Autobot to safety. Some secondary and Ultimate’s have the chance of providing additional damage such as throwing Decepticon into objects in the environment or forcibly moving them across the map. Therefore at times a good defence is a good offense.
At the end of each level you receive points which can be used in Wheeljack’s lab to unlock both class and individual abilities. These abilities can change the nature and strength of each of the Autobot’s primary, secondary and ultimate. These abilities can be used to fine tune each Autobot to support their strengths or reduce weaknesses. As for example Wheeljack can be with equipped with abilities to make him an even more effective healer. Another example is that Grimlock can be equipped with abilities which increase the distance of his offensive capabilities.
The majority of the abilities which can be purchased have both strengths and negatives. However one type of ability is purely negatives, Battleground’s version of the Overwatch ability, which replaces the standard ranged attack. The first negative is the restricted to using either the secondary or ultimate to attack during their turn and if they use the Overwatch ability, they must forgo the option to attack during their in the hope that the AI will move a Decepticon into the Overwatch enabled Autobot’s line of sight, even if this occurs Overwatch does so little damage that it makes the ability basically useless while also removing the option to use their standard range attack. While I did play around with some of the abilities on offer, I mostly stuck to the original abilities for each Autobot as they seemed to be the most effective and versatile.
The four chapters are each set in different environments: city, desert, forest and Cybertron. While on paper, the different environments should provide different challenges, the city and forest levels play remarkable similarly. Thanks to the levels providing an abundance of cover to use when traversing the levels and in combat. The desert levels do shake up combat a little as there are more wide open spaces without cover or only temporary cover available.
This is where the dust cloud come into play as it encourages the player to aggressive in their strategy. By attacking damaged rocks in the environment creates a dust cloud which stops Decepticons from attack the Autobots and vice versa. A further shake up in the level design occurs during the Cybertron levels. In these levels, there is the introduction of Energon Storms, an environmental hazard which moves around the map between turns, which takes out any Autobots or Decepticons which are stood within its area of effect. This leads to combat becoming more mobile as there is the need to be continually on move to avoid the Energon Storms while also dealing with any nearby Decepticons.
Despite the levels providing some new gameplay mechanics and the introduction of new enemy types and abilities. Until about half way through the game, there is a lack of variety in the objectives Battlegrounds tasks the player with completing. As these first few levels repeat the following objective, get across the map to a designated point while defeating any Decepticons in your path and then into a boss fight.
Thankfully the latter half of the game does shake it up a little, as several levels require the player to survive a number of turns or a timer appearing in the level requiring the player to prioritise stopping the Deception completing an action which triggers mission failure. Even with the introduction of these new objectives, these levels still included a boss fight for the second half of the level. While this adds some much needed variety after a game initially being incredibly repetitive in what you’re tasked to do, the constant boss fights doesn’t allow the game to really try something new for a level or two. Even a badly thought out and implemented stealth level would have been appreciated, such is the repetitive nature of the game design.
The story mode might be repetitive; thankfully there is some much needed variation in the Arcade mode. The Arcade mode can be played by either one or two players and offers a variety of transformer themed takes on a number of standard multiplayer game modes including Capture The Flag, Survival and so on. The freshest part of Arcade Mode is Decepticon Grudge Match. This flips the game on its head as the player has access to a number of Decepticons, of which you choose four to use in battle against AI controlled Autobots. Not a game changing mode but a nice little addition to the overall package.
With stripped down gameplay and repetitive objectives, Battlegrounds does not stand out within the XCOM like strategy market. However, the game’s short length and relative ease does allow it do one thing strategy games suffer from, being quick and easy to pick up and play for short sessions. This makes Battlegrounds perfect to play when you have a spare half an hour so or want something to play alongside longer more time consuming games. Battleground’s negatives become positives when played in short half hour sessions than when played for longer periods. Despite Transformers Battlegrounds not really being worth your time, if you have some time which needs wasting, Transformers Battlegrounds is not the worst option you could choose.