Transformers Devastation is finally upon us and there’s a lot to discuss about the new video game. It’s the first Generation 1 Transformers title in a long time, and with Bayonetta developer, Platinum Games behind the project, it’s generating a lot of buzz in the gaming community. While making your way through the game is fairly straightforward, there are definitely some tips that can make the experience a bit easier, especially on higher difficulty levels.
Energon Cubes and Credits
Energon Cubes and Credits can be found all over the place. After you take out enemies or complete certain objectives, you’re likely to find a bevy of Cubes and Credits waiting for you. However, you can also find these valuable items by picking up and breaking the vehicles that are scattered about many of the levels. This helps you maximize your Energon Cube and Credit consumption.
Aiming
There are plenty of times throughout Devastation in which your melee weapons just won’t do it. Whether the enemy is flying high above you, or off in the distance, ranged weapons are a necessity. While the game has an auto-aim option you can toggle on and off, even if you opt to have it on, you may notice that your aiming reticule doesn’t seem to target the enemy. In addition, depending on your ranged weapon of choice, it may have recoil effects.
The best way to use a ranged weapon is to either manually aim, or continue to re-center your reticule if you’re using the auto-aim feature. By pressing L1 or LB you’ll pull up the aiming reticule so you can precisely aim your ranged weapon. Pressing this auto-aims your weapon initially, but the reticule can and will move. Simply press L1 or LB repeatedly as you fire your ranged weapon to keep it focused on your target. This works especially well when using weapons with a lot of recoil.
Hidden Items
Always look around to find hovering circular switches. These switches can be hit to reveal an item cache or a series of additional switches that eventually lead to an item cache. The switches do not remain active forever once you hit them, so you need to look around quickly for the items cache or other switches and attack them immediately. If you take too long you’ll have to attack the main switch again to reveal the next target.
Keep in mind, you c an attack these switches with your ranged weapon. In some cases the switch will only remain active for an extremely short period of time. In this instances you usually need to attack with a ranged weapon when you’re close to the next target. This gives you enough time activate the switch and collect the items from the cache.
Combos
You can look up a list of combos in the pause menu. Some of these combos know the target into the air, while others end with a vehicle attack. It’s important to know all of your combo options because they can be useful in a variety of situations. As you attack an enemy, watch for the flash that indicates they’re about to attack you. If you’re in the midst of a combo that leads into a vehicle attack, it’s generally best to change to a different combo that doesn’t have a vehicle attack.
Combos that include a vehicle attack have a short delay once you execute the vehicle attack. As soon as you press R1 or RB to initiate the vehicle attack, you won’t be able to dodge until the attack animation is complete. This can cause you to get hit by enemies and in some cases even cause you to lose a life. It’s important to read the situation, determine if the enemies are attacking and how you can avoid that attack. You’ll survive much longer than if you simply mash out your combos with no regard for you enemies.
Repair Kits
When your health is low you c an use a Repair Kit to replenish your life. These are very important, especially when playing on higher difficulty levels. However, there is a small catch to using them. If you want too long to use a Repair Kit, you may end up wasting it. Once your character’s health bar runs out, there’s a death animation. During this time, your character cannot be healed with a Repair Kit, but you can still consume a Repair Kit. Essentially, you’ll be burning through a Repair Kit, but your character will still die. Keep a close eye on your health, and don’t use a Repair Kit if you’re health runs out.
Weapon Synthesis
Combining two weapons into one is a great way to create extremely powerful weapons. However, there are a few things you should know about the synthesis process before you begin. The rank of a weapon determines the maximum damage the weapon inflicts. In most cases, you want to synthesize two weapons so you can increase the damage output. However, the rank of a weapon is determined when it’s created and cannot be increased, even through synthesis. With that said, if a base weapon and the secondary weapon have the same ability level, that level may increase by synthesizing. So while you can’t increase the damage output of the weapon, you can increase the ability level.
Weapons also have a limited number of ability slots. If you synthesize two weapons in hopes that the primary weapon will gain the abilities of the secondary weapon, make sure the primary weapon has open ability slots. If there are no ability slots available, the primary weapon will not receive any new abilities.
Playable Characters
When you first begin the game you cannot select a playable character. You start a Optimus Prime, then switch to Bumblebee and so forth. However, once you get far enough into the game (don’t worry, you don’t have to get very far) you’re free to select the Autobot of your choosing for the current stage. Each of the Autobots fights a little bit different, and they each have a unique ability that we’ll discuss in another article focusing exclusively on the different characters. For now, just rest assured that you do not have to play the pre-selected Autobot throughout the entire game.
Stay tuned to Prima Games as we have more Transformers Devastation planned over the next few days. We’ll have a breakdown of how each Autobot plays, as well as information on the best tech and weapons to use.
