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[Decepticon Army]

Okay, here is my rainy Sunday afternoon overview of War for Cybertron: Siege.

LIKES:

- The backgrounds are beautiful. The various depictions of the sky and the rain scenes were very well done.

- I liked the overall atmosphere of Cybertron’s surface. The city streets looked dilapidated and unpleasant, ravaged by the ongoing civil war.

- “Revolution not a genocide.” - Excellent line!

- LOVE the first shot we see of The Ark, and the score that is played when it first takes to the sky.

- The Seekers chasing down Jetfire was a great scene.

- I really liked how Elita was portrayed throughout the series. Openly questioning Prime, and how she chose to stay behind at the end is a cool twist to the G1 story.

- Megatron’s various portraits of himself were a great touch. Very Beast Machines.

- I liked how Ratchet was portrayed.

- Although I would have preferred a voice more reminiscent to his G1 self, I liked Shockwave enough. He reminded me of Tarantulas.

- Seeing Buzzsaw with Soundblaster made me smile.

- I really liked Jason Marnocha and Frank Todaro as Megatron and Starscream, respectively. Both do a great job.


DISLIKES:

- I disliked Bumblebee from the moment he told Wheeljack to shush. Shouldn’t that have been reversed? I know it’s not G1 anymore, but Bumblebee’s characterization really bothered me. If you want to go with a more brooding bot with attitude, why not pick someone else who is known for it? It should have been Cliffjumper and Wheeljack scavenging.

- Not enough variety in the voice cast. Most of the Autobots sound exactly the same.

- As he orders the Seekers to kill Wheeljack and Bumblebee, Megatron casually walks out the door. Then six seconds later Prime arrives and Megatron casually walks back through the door. Okaaayyyy... that was pretty pointless.

- Jake Foushee as Prime was ... okay. Not as bad as I thought he’d be, but he takes too many dramatic pauses mid-sentence. I’ll start referring to him as Shatnermus Prime.

- Sometimes the actions don’t match the dialogue. In Ep1 when they say they need to get out Decepticon territory ASAP, maybe they should be moving a little faster than a brisk walk?

- Magnus’ surrender cape, I’m sorry but how could they NOT tell who it is? If the surrender cape covered more of his body, that would have been fine, but the way it was, he should have just done without it.

- Magnus’ surrender: I had the same reaction as the Autobots especially Cog.

- I really disliked Mirage’s holographic disguise. I would have MUCH rather he became disillusioned with the Autobots and turned traitor.

- Maybe I missed something, but when he discovers The Ark, Jetfire’s turn against the Decepticons comes out of nowhere.

- So, you have dozens of generics in your forces who won’t be missed, but decide to kill Skywarp?

- Although I liked the Guardians, their voices should have been more imposing, and Omega’s voice is just wrong.

- Where the hell did Arcee come from so late in the game?

- Really? That’s all the Energon they needed to steal from Soundblaster? REALLY?!


MISC:

- The animation was decent enough, I guess. I thought it was very Fall of Cybertron meets Transformers: Cybertron. Some of it was nice. Some of it was painfully janky.

- Starscream’s speech about diluting their heritage, and not being true Decepticons. Hmmm, how very topical.

- How hilarious would it have been if instead of an Energon Cube, Cog opens up the trap panel and a gun barrel comes out instead.

- Would have been a neat touch if Impactor had an English accent. Oh well.

- During his speeches, what’s up with Megatron’s lip sync?


RANDOM COMMENTARY:

OPTIMUS PRIME: “It chose you?”
ME: “Of course it did! It’s flipping Bumblebee! He’s been the franchise’s go-to character since 2007! Why wouldn’t it chose him?”

JETFIRE: “That’s not what I signed up for.”
ELITA: “Then what did you sign up for?”
ME: “YEAH!”

Prime assigns Hound, Prowl, and Moonracer to accompany him and Jetfire.
ME: “Oh boy! Time to play Guess the Redshirt!”

Overall, I thought it was good, but not great. I’m not going to go out and hunt down the toys, but it was a harmless way to kill a few hours. 6/10.