| Beast Wars: Transformers | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Hasbro Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Hasbro Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Sony PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation
|
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multi-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults) |
| Media/distribution | CD-ROM |
| System requirements
Windows: |
|
Beast Wars: Transformers is a third-person shooter released by Hasbro Interactive on December 5, 1997 for PlayStation and May 31, 1998 for PC. It is based on the popular Beast Wars animated series, specifically the first season, after the introduction of Airazor and Inferno.
The game allows you to play as either the Maximals or the Predacons in a series of missions to sabotage the other side's attempts at gaining a tactical advantage in the Beast Wars. There are five playable characters on each side, one unlockable by finding a stasis pod in a specific level, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and they all have both a health meter and an Energon tolerance meter that slowly goes down while in Robot mode (staying in Beast Mode slowly refills this meter); once this meter is empty, the player takes damage from the ambient Energon radiation in the air. If the player fails in a mission and gets the character killed, the character can be 'revived' by finding a mini game icon in that same level. The mini game allows the player to take control of Airazor or Terrorsaur to recover the fallen ally.
The game was universally panned by both critics and fans alike, given a mediocre to bad rating by most online reviewers for the game's blocky and textureless graphics, clipping problems, somewhat slippery controls, and horrendous voice acting. However, the PC version of the game rates a bit higher than its PlayStation counterpart for one specific reason: the support of 8-player LAN or online play (the PlayStation version took out this multi-player function, reducing its playability severely); in fact, for a while, the MSN Gaming Zone had a series of rooms open specifically for multiplayer Beast Wars matches.