Unable to wait for its nebulous spring release in the United States, I went undercover as a Canadian to get my hands on the massive robot battles of Transformers: Forged to Fight. It was worth it.
This piece originally appeared 3/28/17. We’ve bumped it up because Transformers: Forged to Fight is now available.
Transformers: Forged to Fight is a cross-generational fighting game from mobile game developer Kabam, creators of the popular Marvel Comics fighting game Contest of Champions. Forged to Fight is basically an evolution of the Contest of Champions fighting engine, adding an element of 3D motion via a sidestepping mechanic.
Transformers: Forged to Fight is due out in the U.S. later this spring, which is far too long. In order to facilitate early play, I downloaded it via my Canadian iTunes account and used a VPN to tell the game I was in Canada, maybe eating some poutine or getting some free medical care.
Transformers from all across franchise history are being drawn to into battle by a mysterious, many-faced enemy. Characters from the first generation, Beast Wars, the Michael Bayverse and more are pitted against each other in one-on-one battles.
The story unfolds through a series of single-player chapters, in which fan-favorite G1 human Marissa Faireborn acts as battle commander for a force made up of Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals and (eventually) Predacons.
Each stage is a map with branching paths, allowing players to veer off the path of least resistance in order to battle powerful foes for more substantial rewards.
On the multiplayer side, each player gets a base where they can harvest resources, assigning unused bots to guard against invasion by others. Players can also form alliances, participating in alliance battles for even bigger rewards. It’s pretty standard free-to-play fare.
The main draw of Forged to Fight is collecting as many characters as you possibly can and watching them beat each other up. New bots arrive via crystals either gained through play or purchased with real-world money. It’s pretty random. Getting a character you love is a great feeling. Getting stupid Michael Bay Bumblebee is not.
I suppose the exciting fighting system counts as a draw as well. Can’t have giant robots just standing around eating tea and biscuits.
Transformers: Forged to Fight will be out in the U.S. soon [Update 4/6/17, 5:19pm—It’s available now on iTunes and Google Play.] Until then, eh?
