If you've got a "giant robots from the 80s"-shaped hole in your heart that only Transformers can fill, like I have, then by Primus, this is the game for you!

While Fall of Cybertron isn't a perfect PC port by any stretch of the imagination (the control and graphics options are mediocre to say the least), it's eons ahead of its predecessor War for Cybertron. Crank it up to the highest graphics setting and you won't care so much about making adjustments, because apart from a couple of slow texture loads here and there this is a beautiful game. Transformers are covered in detail, just like last time, but where WfC was criticised for its muted colours and lacklustre landscapes, here we get eye-popping shines on Optimus' red and blue paintwork, and Megatron is deliciously evil in a murderous black and purple (though on the whole, the Decepticon colour palette is more muted than the Autobots', which is a shame), while they and their armies battle over magnificent Cybertronian vistas.

Combat is a bit finicky here and there but good overall- there's a very meaty (metallic?) feel to FoC, a real weight to your robots, which lends to a real feeling of satisfaction as you storm positions and make use of a combination of guns, melee, abilities and gadgets to wipe out the enemy. Even your inventory is turned into a bit of a meta-game, with energon goodies scattered throughout the game that you can use to upgrade your guns. Upgrade a weapon three times and you unlock a final bonus with ludicous benefits- the Riot Cannon, for instance, ends up doing something like 500% its normal damage on the final shot in a clip (I might be misremembering the details, but that's the gist of it). These bonuses lend the later game a gratifying sense of power, and you can carve your way through the enemy with merry abandon. The only downside is vehicle mode- it's still fun, but, vehicle-specific sections aside, it's hard to see much benefit of transforming when control in robot mode is so much more precise. I still love swooping around as a flyer, transforming in mid-air, falling for a while and then transforming again before zooming away, but it's something you do because you think it's bloody cool, not because there's much gameplay benefit.

Multiplayer consists of various competitive modes (team deathmatch, capture the flag, etc), and has a better Build Your Own Transformer system than the first, though as mentioned the colour palettes still leave a lot to be desired. In-game, you might find yourself running around a bit trying to find people in some of the larger maps, but on the whole the pace is fast and rewarding. Kill the enemy and support your team to level up and unlock more weapons, abilities and Transformer bodies to customise your classes (Scout, Destroyer, Titan and Scientist). Or, if you feel like playing a Horde mode, there's Escalation, where you choose from a selection of named Autobots or Decepticons to fight against wave after wave of enemies. Kills are rewarded with energon points, which you can use to buy weapons, health, upgrades or to open up new areas of the map. It gets punishingly difficult, especially without four players.

In summary, because this has got a bit long: forget the Michael Bay nonsense. There are more loving nods towards what you remember from the original G1 cartoon in FoC than I suspect we will ever see in the entire movie franchise, and the care and attention that has gone into making this is obvious. As a massive Transformers fan, it's this that wins me over more than anything. The fact that it's a really fun game underneath helps, of course!

If you've got a "giant robots from the 80s"-shaped hole in your heart that only Transformers can fill, like I have, then by Primus, this is the game for you! While Fall of Cybertron isn't a perfect PC port by any stretch of the imagination (the control and graphics options are mediocre to say the least), it's eons ahead of its predecessor War for Cybertron. Crank it up to the highest graphics setting and you won't care so much about making adjustments, because apart from a couple of slow texture loads here and there this is a beautiful game. Transformers are covered in detail, just like last time, but where WfC was criticised for its muted colours and lacklustre landscapes, here we get eye-popping shines on Optimus' red and blue paintwork, and Megatron is deliciously evil in a murderous black and purple (though on the whole, the Decepticon colour palette is more muted than the Autobots', which is a shame), while they and their armies battle over magnificent Cybertronian vistas. Combat is a bit finicky here and there but good overall- there's a very meaty (metallic?) feel to FoC, a real weight to your robots, which lends to a real feeling of satisfaction as you storm positions and make use of a combination of guns, melee, abilities and gadgets to wipe out the enemy. Even your inventory is turned into a bit of a meta-game, with energon goodies scattered throughout the game that you can use to upgrade your guns. Upgrade a weapon three times and you unlock a final bonus with ludicous benefits- the Riot Cannon, for instance, ends up doing something like 500% its normal damage on the final shot in a clip (I might be misremembering the details, but that's the gist of it). These bonuses lend the later game a gratifying sense of power, and you can carve your way through the enemy with merry abandon. The only downside is vehicle mode- it's still fun, but, vehicle-specific sections aside, it's hard to see much benefit of transforming when control in robot mode is so much more precise. I still love swooping around as a flyer, transforming in mid-air, falling for a while and then transforming again before zooming away, but it's something you do because you think it's bloody cool, not because there's much gameplay benefit. Multiplayer consists of various competitive modes (team deathmatch, capture the flag, etc), and has a better Build Your Own Transformer system than the first, though as mentioned the colour palettes still leave a lot to be desired. In-game, you might find yourself running around a bit trying to find people in some of the larger maps, but on the whole the pace is fast and rewarding. Kill the enemy and support your team to level up and unlock more weapons, abilities and Transformer bodies to customise your classes (Scout, Destroyer, Titan and Scientist). Or, if you feel like playing a Horde mode, there's Escalation, where you choose from a selection of named Autobots or Decepticons to fight against wave after wave of enemies. Kills are rewarded with energon points, which you can use to buy weapons, health, upgrades or to open up new areas of the map. It gets punishingly difficult, especially without four players. In summary, because this has got a bit long: forget the Michael Bay nonsense. There are more loving nods towards what you remember from the original G1 cartoon in FoC than I suspect we will ever see in the entire movie franchise, and the care and attention that has gone into making this is obvious. As a massive Transformers fan, it's this that wins me over more than anything. The fact that it's a really fun game underneath helps, of course!