A surprise announcement today revealed Transformers: Galactic Trials, an arcade styled hybrid title that mixes action-packed racing and roguelite combat elements to bring the iconic Autobots and their Decepticon rivals to life.
Interestingly, the brief for the game points out that the games combat portions will employ rogue-lite elements, likely to coincide with the narrative that Nemesis Prime (a.k.a Evil Optimus) has stolen THE PRIME RELICS, and retrieving them will bestow their awesome powers unto the holder.
It sounds like a great concept, given that the bots do enjoy a very pointed multi-faceted identity as both bipedal robots and zoomy vehicles, so perhaps this mix and match of gameplay will be just the ticket to fully enjoying both.
It’s a fairly standard plot for the sake of explaining why bots are zoomin’ and bashin’ each other – hardly surprising given that the game is not really targeting an epic narrative adventure vibe:
After the evil NEMESIS PRIME steals the Prime Relics, the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS must set out on a rip-roaring adventure to recover these artefacts and control the incredible powers they bestow. Fans can play as iconic AUTOBOTS or DECEPTICONS, including Bumblebee, Megatron, Elita-1 and Optimus Prime and race across battle-race circuits to collect relics and beat opponents. The gameplay incorporates both traditional arcade racing in vehicle form and dynamic combat in bot-form, as players must defeat enemies and make it to the finish line.
There is also a pretty cool roster of names, with the usual spread of popular toy dudes and dudettes – with the oddly fantastic surprise appearance of one fantastic Flamewar, a cool motorcycle lass whose toy continues to elude me:
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|
|
From developer 3DClouds, Transformers: Galactic Trials seems to be nailing a familiar formula for the studio – with past titles such as Xenon Racer and All-Star Fruit Racing showing some chops in regards to stylish, cartoony racing action.
It might not be the blockbuster, big budget mega AAA-title that people have been hungry for – but considering that nothing is materialising in that space, Transformers: Galactic Trials may just be a welcome surprise. Of course, the one unavoidable bummer from the announcement is the pointed mention that the game lacks online multiplayer – so you better clear room on your couch if you want to throw down with a bot buddy.
Transformers: Galactic Trials will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam on October 11.
What do you think of a hybrid racing and blasting gameplay experience? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
