I dunno about "good". They were fine.
But you could tell they were hired because they could do a reasonable impression of G1 characters on a budget.

lol, this I can agree with.
It had a very "Oh hi Mark" feel to it.

Like when Moonracer dies. They react to her death telling us they're sad, but without the emotion to back it up.

 

3 episodes down and I’m completely loving it! I figured it would be a mediocre toy commercial of a show at best but the writing is really good! The designs are cool but the animation is, idk, stiff? But the writing has me totally hooked. Solid 8/10 so far for me. Also dig the music and over all vibe it sets. Can’t wait to watch more.

 

Uninspiring and under-developed character writing, tired, downbeat Cybertron-centric storytelling, nowhere near enough actually entertaining or kickass moments. It's not horrendous but it's criminally boring and I just sat there thinking 'why the hell aren't we getting something MORE by now?'. To those who really like it; when you sit and imagine just how cool TF stuff could be, do you really imagine something similar to this...?

The habit of making the characters all doom and gloom drags the experience down every time, for me. IMO one of the greatest strengths of TF (if not its greatest) has been a lively, and diverse cast of personalities to draw on. I'm waiting for more TF stuff where the characters are both fleshed out, and written in a way that makes them really fun and engaging :V

I'm not interested in superficially dark, grim, serious, or 'epic' TF stories. I don't care about the window-dressing. I can't get invested if I don't care about the characters. Their personalities and their motivations are poorly conceived in this outing, much like some other TF media I could mention. Their interactions mostly fail to keep my attention too, when they could have at least put some effort into that element if not the characters' core ideas.

It may have been saved a bit more for me if the action scenes were more dynamic and cool, or were directed better. And if there were just some more plain cool shots and moments. But there just wasn't even a fraction of enough of that to make it actually worth watching

Bonus round! Unintentionally hilarious moments: Megatron poking Wheeljack's Autobot symbol, TWICE, Prime calling Magnus' Decepticon visit 'An unfortunate development', Megatron looming comically over one of his men and growling as he waits for an explanation, (legit can't tell how funny Shockwave's hammy 'YESSS, LORD MEGATRON' was supposed to be), AUTOBOT BRAND TABLET, Prime mowing down zombots in vehicle mode, Megatron getting swatted off the Space Bridge platform, and edgy Bumblebee in general

 

Pretty decent overall.

Some good characters, decent dialogue and some of the action scenes had some real impact to them.

There was some weight to the stakes here and against my own expectations this was highly enjoyable.

 

Just finished writing up my review, but to summarise here, it was okay but not outstanding. As others on here have stated, the writing left a lot to be desired. There wasn't much personality on display, but I admit I was amused by Elita-1 constantly negging Optimus like a nagging fishwife, no wonder the poor bastard looked so deflated. The guy needs to set up a bachelor pad on Earth and find his mojo again.

The music was so bland I can't recall any of it, I couldn't tell you what separates the personalities of Hound, Prowl, Mirage or Sideswipe, they kill off named characters you might have picked up toys for, meanwhile their endless clones are running around so it doesn't really matter, especially when nobody seems to mourn the dead in this show. Moonracer's death was almost comical in how nonchalant the cast were about it, and only Arcee seemed to be having a good time, which I found unintentionally hilarious.

What the show really needed was the sort of banter between characters the '86 movie had in spades, giving the show some energy, as well as an incentive to pick up the toys.

It wasn't all bad, and I might have given it more leeway were it not for IDW's Transformers '84 covering the same period in a far more interesting way. As it is, it is now watched and ultimately will be forgotten until part 2 comes around and I tune in again hoping to be impressed.

 

I cannot find the credits for XCOM's soundtrack, but after listening to the soundtrack during WFC's credits I am pretty sure both were done by the same composer, at least I detect a lot of similar themes.

I don't think a ground alt mode is required to lead ground troops. Shockwave used to be Military Operations Commander in Marvel G1, for example.

Maybe, but after 35 years of NOBODY using said tech specs powers for Mirage, this ability just goes against the norm.
And even Hound could not create hardlight holograms - they were just illusions, not like on a Star Trek holodeck where you can interact with them. As you said, they were rather overpowered. And Hound in return had... grenades and an attitude? Kinda like what Ironhide was supposed to have. As I said, I feel they totally confused some characters.

I half expected her to say at the end "Prime, this has been fun, but... I want a divorce".  

Also, anyone else thinks Alpha Trion - or rather, his recording or magic memory not-Underbase data-thingie - sounded totally like Morpheus from the Matrix? I half expected him to offer pills to Bee.

That's ALL he did. For 35 years. In ALL media. All did was invisibility. No duplicates, no hardlight holograms, no recoloring himself to look like a con.
Please just stop arguing that this makes any sense because a tech spec mentioned this in 1984, something nobody used ever since. As said, this has always been Hound's power. I am not arguing with you that it is WRONG they gave it to Mirage, just that it is NOT his USUAL power he is known for. Okay? Let's leave it at that.

The name DeSanto sounds familiar. Wasn't there a producer by the same name working on Bayformers movies?

 

Oof, edgy Bumblebee. There's a sentence I never thought I'd utter.

Even Michael Bay made him the cute kid-appeal character.

 

It reminded me of Beast Machines. Anyone that knows me will know that that's not a compliment.

But I will continue to watch and hope that it picks up in Earthrise and (especially) Kingdom.

 

After watching all 6 episodes I can say that I definitely liked it. That being said, there are some issues. The voice acting could have been a lot better. Some plot holes here and there. Overall it's a good start. I really expected it to completely suck so this is a pleasant surprise.

 

Having read through this thread im starting to think what with people asking about plot points and bit that dont make sense........did you actually watch it? Pretty much everything that happens is explained and or tied in if you just pay attention.

 

It really does feel like I watched a completely different show than most people here

 

I liked it a lot.

The waists while waking was weird and Soundwave and Shockwaves voice was...... jarring. Screamer, Megs & Prime were great.

I’m in for more!

 

About the characters being “mixed up”...yeah, thats how I felt too.

For example, Wheeljack should be the one repairing the Space Bridge and not Ratchet.

 

I really did not like how they used the same generic models over and over again. I know the show's made on a budget and animation models are expensive, but it feels like this universe's version of Cybertron is populated entirely by Sideswipes, Hounds, Ironhides, Impactors, Reflectors and Seekers.

 

Thats the feeling I am getting as well....WTH are (some) people actually watching? The opinions in here are so radically different its confusing....

 

Thank you in the name of Alpha Trion for the series. This is the viewpoint and storylines I have been waiting for in a Transformer series. The characters, the designs, everything. Yes! War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, everything, even a Devastation. Even though it’s not directly related to the video games stories but this is still “in the style of” that I have been waiting for. Thank you to the Transformer gods. I will be enjoying every minute of this series.

 

Just watched the series now and after browsing through the comments section it\'s clear that every fan has made pretty much every valid and invalid point there is to make about this series so I\'ll (try to) keep my opinion brief. This series was better than I expected but not as good and as fleshed out as I would have liked it. (Can\'t really be helped with 6 episodes) Even my 12 year brother could tell some of the story telling and voice acting were not quite hitting the mark. After watching this show I did a quick rewatch of some clips from Prime and Beast Wars I couldn\'t help but feel that pleasant tinge of nostalgia knowing all the care and thought that had been put into the writing, and the voices (the two things I enjoy the most in any media) I\'m not convinced this series has done or will do that for me. Generally I have two reactions when I look back on a previously made transformers cartoon.
1. I pleanstly remember the journey the series took me on and despite its ups and downs it still left me with a feel good impression  because I knew that I had just watched something that was overall well made and well thought out. 
2. I watch the series and completely forget about it and basically never watch it again because the lasting impact that a well made series would have just simply wasn\'t there.
It is difficult for me to discribe this sort of thing personally but basically some series leave me with a feel good feeling and some don\'t and of course it\'s never without reason it is like a subconscious decision you make that determines even if it is not something you may personally be into you know that what you\'ve watched was well made and well thought out. (Maybe someone will understand the mentality behind that). What I\'m trying to say is War for Cybertron hasn\'t done either yet. What I\'m hoping is that it has what happened to Cyberverse where I figured it would be another mediocre series like Robots in Disguise (2015) but as it happens the series actually improved spectacularly over time and I was never so happy to have been proven wrong. Hopefully this series does the same for me. Especially since their some how gonna incorporate Beast Wars into the final chapter not gonna lie I can\'t help but be intrigued by that. Well that wasn\'t exactly a brief opinion but I find it\'s therapeutic to get all your thoughts out and written down like this even if there not explained as well as they could be.

 

I had low, low expectations, but they didn't even clear that.

First of all, it really felt like if they had slowed down the series, like it was running at 85 or 90% speed, every one talked very slowly like they had to make the dialogue last to save the animation budget.

On top of that, most of the voice acting was very bad, with Prime being the worst. He sounded more like Judge Dredd or Batman trying to sound like Optimus Prime than anything else. Too many characters sounded the same for no reason. Why go to the lengths of imitating the G1 cast if you're not just going to hire the original voice actors? Do something new, let new voices do their own thing! I don't think I need to say anything about Soundwaves voice.

Second, this is yet another series that's G1 with something like the first 9 chapters of Exodus starts the series.

• Exodus, Exiles, etc.
• War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron
• Prime
• Cyberverse
• I'll bet you anything that upcoming animated film with Megatron and Optimus Prime

Which in and of itself is based on IDW Miner turned Gladiator Megatron and the comics. Animated was the last time they actually changed the formula, since then it's been variations on a theme when they had the chance to actually do something new and totally different. They didn't have to follow the storybeats of old, they didn't need to feature a kid friendly yellow little guy, they didn't need to do what a 30 year old cartoon did just because they did it. But nope, can't do something too different, might rock the boat. Maybe people may actually like it!

Then the animation, the actual animation seemed fine and to be honest, I don't really care that they just used the CAD toy files, but what bothered me was how desaturated everything was. I felt like there was a filter on or something, the colors were so muted on everything; heck I couldn't tell the difference between Skywarp and Bitstream, or both of them and the many others that looked like them. Which leads to the other issue, is all the model re-usage. I get why and Transformers is a franchise especially rich with character model with different colors being other characters, but they could've at least done some minor part swapping, mirages head on a Sideswipe, Cogs head on a Sideswipe, etc. It felt like Cybertron is 30% Seeker, 25% Sideswipe-type, 15% Reflector, 15% Prowl/Barricade, 5% Chromia-type, 5% impactor-type, with the last 5% being Soundwave, cassettes, and then everyone else.

I never felt any rising and falling action. Nor did I feel like I was living in a consistent universe. So the universe they built was an inconsistent mess. At no point was there every any tension because the plot was so thin and the characters so bland, the plot moved along because it had a run time, not because of anything that any of the characters did. The Seekers are supposed to be a threat, but then every one of them (except Starscream in the start) die after taking one hit from any weapon. Even Skywarp. On the other hand, Cog gets shot and half his torso is melted away and he's fine a few episodes later.

For a series about shape changing robots, they didn't really do that. Far more characters never transformed at all then did. A few, such as Megatron did so once. If they didn't fly, or go to the sea of Rust, they didn't. If they did fly, they moved like a boat in water. So, as far as the plot was concerned, Flywheels (Skytread) wasn't at all special or different.

The Autobots weren't the good guys. They may be the protagonists in the story, but they didn't do anything "good". We start with the fact that Megatron has a peace treaty on the table to end the war and Optimus isn't even willing to talk about it or enter negotiations. They threaten multiple times to kill a neutral that they directly hired because the job went sour. Ultra Magnus surrenders claiming he wants to end the war, but then immediately transmits faulty intelligence to ensure the war continues with a new desperation; in fact it isn't until after Megatrons hand had mostly been forced that he even considers taking the action that the Autobots are certain he's doing. Elita-one tries to snipe the enemy leader. Optimus Prime is willing to bet that the legends are wrong and Cybertron won't die if the Allspark is removed because that's the way he feels, so he's willing to risk his home planet on his own feelings because. They try to press-gang neutrals to their cause. They outright rob from neutrals and murder them because they need their assets more. They go to another neutral, violating the one individuals promise to leave his facility secret and after being told that violence won't be tolerated, start a fight, then complain that they're not being heard. When someone wants to protect said neutral, they won't have anything to do with him despite the oaths he had taken and later want him maimed to prove that he won't be a threat to them. Optimus goes to a dedicated neutral party whose entire job it to keep Cybertron safe from external threats and tries to bully them into taking his side without a single bit of evidence, then gets upset that they're not convinced. They refuse to trust a Decepticon (That's not bad) until they put a remote control brain bomb in his head (That is).

It's hard not to think of Megatron as the good guy at the end, as he was literally trying to save Cybertron from Optimus Primes direct actions. It was literally common knowledge that if Cybertron didn't have the Allspark, the planet would die, and there was Optimus throwing away the Allspark based on personal belief and faulty intelligence. It was Optimus Prime who hunted down the Allspark. It was Optimus Prime who fought and won against its defense mechanisms. It was Optimus Prime who had a space bridge repaired and wanted to toss it into space just because.

If this was a universe of consequences and weight, rather then plot driven convenience, I'd be far more interested in knowing what happens with the guardian robots and the non-aligned people after the Allspark and been stolen leaving their planet to die, Soundblasters report of the Autobot assault, and Omega Supremes violation of neutrality then I would about anything that Optimus Prime could ever do from here on out.

This series was lazy and did things just because that's how G1 did things. They didn't earn anything, they didn't develop anything. There wasn't even a single good action sequence. The funny thing was that with all the recycled character models, they could've done almost anything cool and exciting; Megatron could've been the "Slag-maker", being like a thunderstorm of death firing fatal shot after fatal shot melting Autobots. The Seekers could've been a true threat from the air, devastating Autobots on the ground. Instead, some very basic pew-pew and nothing important coming from it. Even the ambush early on was dull. Elita-one could've led a terrifying hit and run on the Decepticons, but nope. Just bland pew-pewing.

 

I liked it!



only complaint...it was too short

 

Didn't realize he was Optimus. His Shockwave and Soundwave WERE spot on. Gave me chills.

Are you mad, man? Leave the Ark? That's where they keep all their stuff!

Hot Rod may have been a better choice.