Transformers: Dark of the Moon Game Details Unveiled

War for Cybertron developer High Moon behind the wheel. 

Despite the less than kind reception for the last Transformers film, the most recent Transformers game, War for Cybertron, was pretty well liked around the office. With that in mind, I was excited to hear from Activision this week that Transformers: War for Cybertron developers High Moon will bring the official game for Transformers: Dark of the Moon to Xbox 360 and PS3 this summer.  

We had a chance to speak briefly with High Moon about the upcoming game. Game Director Sean Miller explained why War for Cybertron fans will be comfortable with Dark of the Moon."In terms of similarities, we think people will be excited to know that we're sticking with a similar control and gameplay scheme from War for Cybertron," Miller said. "We want you to be able to play in whichever (transformation) mode you want - you're never without your weapons, but you've got choices."

Transformers: Dark of the Moon leads in to the events of the movie and takes players through High Moon's versions of Earth-based locations like Siberia and Detroit. Dark of the Moon also introduces a new transformation mode called Stealth Force, though the jury's out on how sneaky you can be with it - it looks a little heavy on the force, if you know what I mean.

 

Online multiplayer is also making a return, though High Moon is being cagey about announcing particular modes outside of War for Cybertron's slick competitive component. There was no mention of the Escalation mode, which is similar to Gears of War's Horde mode, or online co-operative play, but Activision mentioned that more details will be available in the coming months. Fans will be excited to hear that online play will feature actual named Transformers this time around, rather than palette swapped look-alikes.  

When asked about the apparently short turnaround time between the release of War for Cybertron and Dark of the Moon, Miller assured me that the latter began development before War for Cybertron's ship date last June (just after E3 2010). Also, since the game plays the part of prologue to the film, it's given High Moon the ability to design around the game's needs rather than rigidly adhering to a movie script.

After the poorly reviewed previous film adaptations, Miller said that Activision chose High Moon for the Dark of the Moon game "because of our love of Transformers - we have a great relationship with Hasbro and really love the universe." 

We'll have more details on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon game in the coming months. The teaser trailer for Dark of the Moon will debut at tomorrow's Toy Fare, but check back at IGN Saturday afternoon for the exclusive online reveal of the teaser.