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Wait?? Why did they pull the TRANSFORMERS team.. from Transformers, and put them on a SUPERHERO game... and put the new team, that has done a superhero game BEFORE...... onto Transformers???? answer me Activision??? please/????????
"Marvel is giving us money with deadpool. Highmoon just made us money, put them on it so it can make money. Put someone else on Transformers, it will make money cause we already got those fans."
Normal Studios: “We May have had a flop but we can come back! We’ve had 2 hits and one miss!” Activision Studios: “You made a game that didn’t give us all the money in the world? *D I E*
They killed off WFC, DOTM, and FOC, and we all know how those games turned out, so clearly, Activision can just pick and choose what games they wanna shut down for the fun of it
You were given another studio’s ip, a shoddily bashed together design plan and barely enough time, resources, money or experience to hit AAA profit margins? Death for you.
I'm still devastated by this game. If Activision was gonna tie the Cybertron gameverse with anything why not do it with TF Prime? Although they're technically in the same continuity the show runners didn't really care if they contradicted pre-established elements. So this would've been the perfect opportunity to fix some of those errors.
They didn't want to spend the time or money making another movie game that they were obligated to make when the Cybertron games were more popular, so they tied the Cybertron games into the movies trying to have their cake and eat it too. Unfortunately all this did was make a shit cake nobody wanted because they were too tone deaf to realize people who liked the Cybertron games largely hated the movies.
Good call. Makes perfect sense from a fan’s perspective. I think Matt gave the answer though, there was a contract with Paramount as well as Hasbro. They just had to release something, anything, to tie in with the 4th Bayverse film. It was just faster and easier for Activision bosses to slap together the Cybertron and Bayverse into one game, story and continuity be damned... And so they did.
I don't think a single person on the planet, Transformers fan or otherwise, wanted to see the universe of the High Moon TF games crossover with the Micheal Bay TF movies
@@DinoDave150 Yeah the Michael Bay films were some dumb popcorn action flicks with nothing to really make them special, heck the first one actually holds up the most out of all of them, which each entry seemed to decline in quality with each entry, with the more recent one Bumblebee, the Spin Off prequel, ended up being the Transformers film that a lot of people wanted, but it was too little too late, with Michael Bay not being given license or his pals anytime soon. I do think Michael Bay's TMNT is not bad, especially the second one with Krang in my opinion, just take it or leave it kinda thing.
This one always hurts, especially since you cant get them digitally anymore. The fact 3rd party companies are still makeing toys of the Cybertron designs show how much it was loved by fans.
The man said what was on the paper in deep voice no shits were given about him knowing anything if you watch the movies his performance is monotone but his voice is velvet so they got away with it i would bet like 1000000 bucks that he has no idea what the story of the bay - formers movies actually is
Koticron: I will give you a smaller studio, and new CoDs to work support on. High Moon: And? Koticron: AND NOTHING. You belong to me, now. HM: I BELONG TO NOBODY!
Also fun fact: I was the one who discovered the "We made this game in 6 months" texture within the game. I did not know it was being circulated around and found it's way to some corners of the internet. Color me surprised, and still shocks me that it was made in that length. I fee bad for the developers for this mess.
Fun fact about how rushed this game is, movie Grimlock carries a mace, while FOC Grimlock has a sword. Despite this Movie Grimlock still uses all of FOC Grimlock's stabbing and decapitation animations from FOC.
@@someonewhocommentsonyoutub3779 it was honestly kinda disorienting, that same sense of uncanniness you get when you put the wrong model in a cutscene.
Yeah that was super weird to see! But another thing I noticed is that the transformations got worse and that you would see someone jump to transform and then 1 frame later they were already their alt form and we didn’t get to see the parts moving and shifting in place, very distracting.
highmoon was also dumped on destiny for a bit, real shame that theey couldn't hang onto their baby, esspecially considering it was by far one of the best takes on the transformers
It was High Moon that did Warmind with Bungie! Thank you for reminding me. Gosh I remember seeing High Moon attached to that expansion and getting pretty optimistic about it. Sadly they had the task of shoving one of the biggest pieces of Destiny lore, a freaking Worm God, into a 4 hour expansion... Utter madness.
@@Nikelaos_Khristianos They also helped with Forsaken, they at least made the Tangled Shore, and I bet they helped make the Scorn too. I mean, some of them use guns that shoot chainsaws, straight out of FoC.
@@Nikelaos_Khristianos Vicarious Visions did Warmind. High Moon did the PC port of Destiny 2 and helped out with Forsaken and Black Armoury. Now that Bungie is going it alone with Destiny 2, who knows what's in store for High Moon next.
Imagine if Activision actually cared about the games it published and wasn't a greedy short-sighted fuckdump of a publisher run by greedy short-sighted fuckdumps of humanoid Decepticons
It really is a bummer. I attribute War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron as what got me back into Transformers as an adult and started my TF collecting habit.
@@serina3872 Much as I liked Prime, I still feel they could of done a proper sequel without being a part of the Aligned Continuity It gives you more freedom to go crazy with your game rather than having to be bound to an excising property
Cybertron universe might have been successful enough to become its own continuity separate from Aligned universe instead of the inconsistent mishmash we have now
When you succeed on dire straights, and then STILL get put through the ringer, only to get shut down, it could only be one of the big publishers like Activision.
Hilariously Hasbro made this huge info bible on the Fall of Cybertron/War For Cybertron universe to be used as the prime continuity from then on out that was pretty much totally forgotten about by everyone within a few years.
yeah the aligned universe was a mess continuity wise, 2 different grimlocks, 2 sideswipes, the drastic change in designs for some characters like soundwave and the writers clearly not paying to much attention to anyone else's work, heck I remember trying to read one of the novels they published that was meant to setup war for cybertron game and half way through the book it starts blatantly contradicting the games
@@xtroguyver Don't forget Megatron's obsession with Dark Energon in the games, only to act like it was a totally new thing he just discovered in the first episode of TF Prime
yeah as much as i liked Transformers Prime, that show completely fucked the Aligned Continuity as soon as episoe 1 came out, and the continuity got so much worse as the show went on.
Dammit Matt, was it necessary to show “that scene” from the G1 Transformers Movie at the end? I was just starting to cope with it after 30 years of absolute heartbreak.
There is actually a sequel: The Transformers Prime animated series is technically in the same universe, things don't line up exactly but it's as close we're gonna get
Well, that "technically" needs some air quotes, because the current "official" state is that they're separate universes but still related to each other in a "part of the same bigger overarching universe" sort of way. Transformers canon and continuity is *weird.* But yeah, at the time of its creation, Prime was supposed to be a sequel.
The fact that they digitally delisted the Transformers games was just the final kick in the nads. Here's hoping both Hollywood and the games industry takes a que from Bumblebee and gives Transformers the chance it deserves.
@@petergianakopoulos4926 From the perspective of preserving games digitally for the sake of posterity? And the fact that War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron are both genuine PS3/360 era classics? Plus the fact that Transformers is one of the biggest and most recogniseable brand names that spans nearly two generations? Then YES. It's a no-brainer in my opinion, put the franchise on ice for a bit, don't kill it off and relegate it to "It was ALL terrible." It's genuinely about as daft as EA dropping the Lord of the Rings licence which left the BFME games stranded. I'm a genuine advocate for preserving games for posterity and the potential of cult-classic status. And delisting games so nobody can preserve them in their digital collections forever really does rub me the wrong way. Both examples I've given would make tremendous remasters.
Was the Bumblebee movie the bastard child of the Prime and Bayformers universes being unceremoniously thrown together in Rise of the Dark Spark? Did something _good_ come out of this in the end?
@@Nikelaos_Khristianos fair enough then why dont offer to pay for the license then ? It's always easy to tell other people what to do with their money.
I love how everytime Activision closes down a studio they say it's a "cost saving measure" to "adjust costs with revenue" after doing things that prevent said revenue from coming in, management 101 right there write that down kids
Activision: *takes transformers away from high moon and gives them deadpool* *dark spark fails* Activision: but the last transformers games were a success. How could this have failed?
Nino Chaosdrache oh yeah, UBisoft is one of those companies with studios in places you'd never expect. lots of mobile games you've never heard of. truly ass-blasting their talents in every direction
Loved War for Cybertron. Loved Fall of Cybertron. Had no, freaking, IDEA that Dark Spark was a thing, and I’m kind of glad. The 2nd game was a good ending.
It was around this time that Hasbro was attempting to create an 'aligned continuity', that is having all their major then in production Transformers media occuring in a single consistent universe. It was a terrible idea and lasted exactly long enough to fuck up a couple novels and the games.
@@zuttoaragi8349 Also Rescue Bots, which gave us an Optimus Prime toy calling back to Beast Wars with the name Optimus Primal and BW Megatron's T-Rex to robot with T-Rex head and T-Rex tail for arms transformation.
it seems to me like they wanted the Cybertron trilogy to be the new G1 continuity where all these stories would branch off from this trilogy of games, kind of like how G1 has a hundred sub-continuities that are all vaguley connected to the original cartoon but are all ultimatly their own thing. the problem is that the Aligned Continuity was built on a swamp, the original trilogy wasn't even done yet by the time other stories were being written in this continuity and shows like Transformers Prime blatantly did not give a single fuck about the Cybertron games continuity. Star Wars Legends for as batshit insane as it could get was being written around the idea that you cannot ignore the original trilogy and later on the prequel trilogy, this meant that no matter how crazy and self-contradictory the Legends stories got you could always count on the fact that the movies where an iron-clad foundation that can be built upon.
I disagree with you on that it was a terrible idea. Never understood why everyone decided to go along with their own versions of the characters (looking at you, Prime).
@@absolutelypitiful.600 because not everyone is on board with their project being part of some bigger universe? Not everyone is on board with the cinematic universe idea. Rescue bots wasn't even meant to be part of the aligned continuity, it was forced to be part of it. There's a difference between having a team that's willingly to do this cinematic universe thing and a team that doesn't wanna do that, do their own thing but you force them into your group project anyway
@@Kaiju-bm4ts Fair enough, but I've just never liked how disjointed everything is. I still like the idea of the aligned continuity, I would rather have one unified continuity of everything rather than multiple versions. But if you dislike the idea of it, that's also fine.
@@sphingxx Hey hey, now. Sseth is a handsome devil at least. Bobby Kotick is just a wretch of a man that gets mad about people doodling demon horns on him. He's his own caricature.
As a heads up, High Moon actually did take a break from CoD and helped to make the Destiny 2 PC port and it’s first DLC/Raid along with the Tangled Shore destination and the Season of the Forge DLC before Bungie split with activision.
@@vellinghem2187 Loved wfc, escalation in that game was so fun. foc, and devastation were great too, I also really liked the revenge of the fallen games multiplayer, and the ps2 armada game's fun too.
As someone who worked on this flop at EoR... this is pritty much the story. For the curious though, here's the answer to why were there two disconnected stories in one game: The original pitch for the game by EoR was that there would be a generation spanning story where Unicron is attempting to cross dimensions into the Cinematic universe. The Gen 1 Universe transformers (G1 cartoon), who beat their Unicron in The Transformers Movie, would actually be the first autobots to get word of this plan. Cell shaded G1 Transformers, including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Grimlock, would follow Unicron to the Cybertron universe. After a bit of fun on Cybertron where the G1 team get split up and meet with the local Autobots, the reunited teams would then break through to the Earth of the cinematic universe. There they'd recruit the transformers from the movies (well the movie game made by High Moon using the same game engine). Then they'd all fight to stop, who else but Unicron's herald, a new Galvatron created from the Cybertron universe's megatron. The final battle concludes with the team stopping Galvatron from opening a portal in the Cinematic universe to allow Unicron to cross over and devour the earth. (To be clear, while there would be respect for cannon from each universe, this could not be cannon for any universe) In short the pitch was: Cell shaded cartoon Transformers with their silly characterizations, fighting beside the sci-fi war veterans of the Cybertron games, fighting beside the (im)mature bayformers. A massive crossover event to celebrate the anniversary! Then a month or so into development EoR get's the word that we're scrapping that whole storyline. Among other notes, there will be no G1 universe characters allowed in the game. Well, that was a big part of the story, so the team then has to rewrite everything into a new story that doesn't need the Gen 1 characters. Which we do. Fast forward a few months further on and EoR gets word again that the story needs to change. EoR's game also can't have any interactions between the worlds, and we can't use Unicron or Galvatron, among other notes. (I don't know who made these demands but they weren't driven by EoR) At this point development has been underway for a while, levels have already been built for the second pitched story. In order to get a game out in time the game must now be Re-re-written into two stories, one about (Cinematic) Earth's Transformers and one about (War for) Cybertron's Transformers. The only linking element being the macguffin of the "Dark Spark". And since development can't just start over, as much of the already developed levels as possible get cut into pieces, reshuffled, recontextualized, and glued back together to create the final storyline. All of this, from pitch, to story rewrite, to second story rewrite, to the final form of the single player game that's shipped, happened in a little over 6 months, and the second rewrite happened in the third month.
I think (im)mature bayformers is the best way to describe the autobots. I really love the movies but I think that's the charm that makes them stand out a bit.
Chris Moos what angers me the most is the stupid, boneheaded decisions they (Activision) make and then blame the studio and close them down, despite it being solely Activisions own fault!
The "greedy pig" himself...just the way i love it...(that was sarcasm).😉😂 As a side note: this is what happened when you combine a movie tie in & original idea...doesn't make a good mix...😞😔 And a "company killer"... They make a few good games in the past & present (most of the time) here & there...but still...
I would love it if somebody investigated Bobby's little fraudulent claims that makes an excuse for him to make his staggering salary in the first place, cause again almost everyone including people within the company are actually concerned of it, that if you were too get your detective mode on you could find a lot of red flags that could get the pig removed from his troff.
Playing as a scientist in the WoCT MP was some of the coolest experiences I've ever had in an MP game. - Played as a Scientist, which for some context...was the transformer class who turn into a jets. They were generally geared and meant for tactical uses like debuffing, support, and reconnaissance rather than attack, BUT...there were ways to make one a literal dive-assassin and it was hard because you had to use double barreled shotgun they could alternatively get, at point blank range, and from behind the head, and do it fast because Scientists were made of paper. - It took so much practice and patience, but once you got it you could get experiences like flying in, transforming, one shotting even Soldier or Titan classes if the shot is successful, laying down a turret to disrupt or even kill their team mates around them, then transform again and fly off in seconds before a team has enough time to know what happened. It was just so sick. - Reciting that whole story just to emphasize how hard this video hits me since I loved the first two games. The Cybertron games were just assassinated in the same way, and it's such a damn shame.
Man just yesterday I searched for these games on steam as I loved the first one. When I saw them delisted I was left thinking what the hell happened. Your video came just on time lol.
It's criminal that so many people will pretty much never get to experience the greatness that was War For Cybertron and Fall Of Cybertron, and infuriating that Activision screwed High Moon Studios over like they did. Also, I'm sad Luxoflux is no longer around. I loved Vigilante 8.
One of the worst things was just how it was supposed to unite the continuity of the movies and the cybertron games but didnt actually fit into the continuity of either so ended up being pointless . This means it just sits on its own which i guess that part is good.
13:05 "actvision consistenly works to align its costs with its revenues...we are taking a reduction in staff at high moon studios" says the company with one of the most overpaid CEOs ever. Seriously, Bobby Kotick salary is so insanely huge that even shareholders think he earns too much. The absolute nerve that those AAA companies have saying "we need microtransaction because games are expensive" or "we need to cut content and staff" like they are some indie dev that had to sell his only car to buy a better computer.
Fun fact the war for and fall of cybertron series was connected to the Aligned continuity a prequel to TF Prime, Rescue bots, and RID 2015, the right of the dark spark is considered not cannon to the story
I love the little bit of James Rolfe love thrown in this episode. With his review of the transformer games on The Angry Video Game Nerd series on Cinemassacre.
I feel like ‘Rise of the Dark Spark’ is like ‘Metroid: Other M’, the games are there but the fans agree that it either doesn’t count or just straight up ignored.
@@robertcastanpn288 While it sold good, doesn't mean he could look behind the scenes of what the fuck were they thinking. Also even if a game sold well at launch, the publisher would care if the DLCs sold well for returning players. Hence why nobody cares about black ops 4 after the launch
Somehow, I'm upset you forgot the name of the second movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, But considering what the movie was, well....I'm also kind of glad you forgot Revenge of the Fallen.
@@keyboardking777 considering who wrote RotF, it's not hated enough. Alex Kurtzman went on to write Star Trek Into Darkness, The Amazing Spider Man 2 and The Mummy (2017) while also becoming showrunner of Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Lower Decks. All of these terrible products.
@@luizfelipevbf5567 At least you're sensible and realize that the writers are to blame instead of jumping on the bandwagon and shifting all the hate on Michael Bay as if he directed, wrote, produced, and even ANIMATED the entire movie himself.
I played the high moon Cybertron games so much in their "Prime". It's legitimately depressing to get a post mortem and knowing that the servers are down now. I needed the closure though so thank you.
If its any consolation, acording to TFWIKI the Cannon of the Cybertron Games was more or less continued in the Award Winning Series Transformers:Prime, which ended fantastically! With Rise of The Dark Spark looked at as a Non Cannon Spin Off.Tho we may not have gotten the 3rd game we wanted, at least these versions of the Characters had a good book ending on paper.
Oh man, don't forget that not only did they cram the Cybertron into the Bay movies, they were also crammed into both Transformers Prime and Rescue Bots continuity. Leaving some very confusing plotholes. Example: Megatron in War for Cybertron knew what Dark Energon was and went to where the Autobots were hiding it. While in the first episode of Prime, Megatron flies into the Decepticon base with Dark Energon and literally goes: "Check this shit out! I've only heard rumors that it exists and never seen it before!!!!" Like wut?
I loved highmoon's work on the first two Cybertron games so much. Those games where my immediate go to's after frustrating days at school and I would spend so many hours playing Multiplayer and Escalation with my friends. hearing how Activision tore Highmoon apart actually made me really sad. 😕
As a some obsessed transformers fan with no life, I feel you represented our love-hate relationship with hasbro well, and truly spoke from the heart of a fan, good job.
You forgot one thing, the cybertron games are a part of the aligned continuity, so it had transformers prime as a tv show as well as rescue bots as a spinoff.
Much of my early teens were spent playing WFC and FoC, so seeing Activision ruthlessly crush the series is.. while a bit dramatic-soul shattering. Watching something I grew up playing, and formed many friendships through, even indirectly leading me through a rabbit hole that eventually led to my current relationship.. seeing it just crumble away, is just so depressing. It’s a part of me in a way that I can’t fully explain, but I think many people who played the games will get what I mean.
Ehh, doubt it. It's reviewing well, it's selling well and anyone with legitimate complaints have been branded as bigots or trolls by the community. By all accounts it's a hit.
Hearing the original Transformers transition sound effect thing that played like 2 minutes into the video was so nostalgic, I loved that show as a kid.
I just finished my second run of the trilogy. The third, while no where near the quality of 1 and 2 certainly still has a lot of fun moments. The controls are still tight.
Just to let you know, War and Fall of cybertron both take place in the Aligned continuity. The story continues in the Transforms Prime and RiD series .
Y'know, I genuinely liked this game. This was a really fun game to me. I used to wake up to play this game every day, playing the story over and over again because i didn't have the internet connection cable thingy. So yeah, this game holds a special place in my heart.
0:39 I said it once and I’ll say it again CURSE you ACTIVISION!!!!!!!!! 2:12 all that stuff on the screen is why I hate Activision. Activision butchering franchises since the 1980s but here is the thing they did a few good things for the video game industry but the rest is shit.
Working with Activision is like being the band while the Titanic is sinking. You know eventually you're going down with it, but the hope is that at the very least you'll get to make some art and be remembered by somebody.
