Since their announcement in the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Transformers purists have debated how the Dinobots would fit into the G1 canon storyline for the game. As stated in our previous post which revealed Grimlock in combat and Slug, Snarl and Swoop’s designs, the Dinobots were created on planet earth in the cartoon. Now, High Moon Studios has taken a step in ret-conning Transformers history along with Hasbro by retelling the origin story of the Dinobots in a different way.

As seen below, the game’s director Matt Tieger talks about the process of rewriting history with Hasbro’s blessing and reveals the new origin to the Dinobots for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Original a crack special ops unit, the group falls victim to the experiments of Decepticon mad scientist Shockwave. Using a connection to earth (I won’t spoil the whole video for you), Shockwave creates the new designs for the Dinobots.

Take a look below and make sure to give your thoughts on the Dinobots and their new origin story. Stick to The Flickcast for more on the Dinobots and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron before it launches late August of this year for XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Grimlock. Slag. Snarl. Swoop. Sludge. These are the names of the infamous Dinobots that many of us grew up loving. Having these toys made your Transformers collection the envy of any of your friends. And even though Slag has undergone a slight name change to Slug because of the offensive British slang, the fan favorites continue to make their way to Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

In the most recent set of screen shots from High Moon Studios, we get to see more of Grimlock in action as well as the reveal of three more Dinobots: Slug, Snarl and Swoop. Still missing so far is Sludge, the robotic Apatosaurus. Slug is seen below in both his robot and Triceratops dinosaur mode as is Swoop who appears in both robotic and pterodactyl modes. Snarl can also be seen below but only in his stegosaurus dinosaur mode. What impact these modes will have on gameplay is still up for discussion and debate as it hasn’t been revealed fully which of the Dinobots, aside from Grimlock, will be playable characters or if they will just be NPCs alongside the player.

Check out the full gallery of screens after the jump and stay tuned to the Flickcast for more on the Dinobots and all news Transformers: Fall of Cybertron including the reveal of Sludge and the Combaticons in the near future. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is set to come out in late August for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Ever since Transformers: Fall of Cybertron was announced, there was one thing on the minds of Transformers fans: the Dinobots. With the reveal of Grimlock at New York Comic Con, speculation has run rampant about what this in canon story will reveal about the origins of the Dinobots. As we saw with Transformers: War for Cybertron, ideas only hinted at in the show were explained such as the fall and rise of Starscream. Now, the team at High Moon Studios gets to do the same for the Dinobots.

While in the original series, the Dinobots were said to be made on earth by Wheeljack and Ratchet, the Marvel comics series had the Dinobots being of Cybertronian origin. The Marvel series did leave this fairly ambiguous though and not many details were given about these origins. This seems like the space that High Moon will be responsible for filling in as Fall of Cybertron takes place long before the Autobots head to earth.

When playing as Grimlock, as seen in the trailer below, players get to experience a more hack and slash based gameplay as opposed to the more third person shooter with occasional melee combat seen in the characters of Transformers: War for Cybertron. Having both a sword and shield, Grimlock lends himself to a more in your face combat style which transitions into the much anticipated tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur form.

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Saturday night, Spike TV held its annual Video Game Awards show which, as promised, gave the first looks at some huge trailers for 2012′s gaming landscape.

Naughty Dog gets to step away from their blockbuster Uncharted series to work on a new IP titled The Last of Us. This new title takes a different approach from the recent string of zombie / infected scenarios where it looks like it can be a game of stealth and horror mixed together. It isn’t a world like Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead where the creatures flood the street and makes the possibility of combining the stealth and horror genres pretty intriguing.

This has the possibility of becoming a fantastic PlayStation exclusive franchise. The trailer for The Last of Us is definitely one of the great surprises from the VGAs this year.

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What is the one thing that has been missing from both the recent Transformers game reboot with War for Cybertron and the Michael Bay film franchise? Ponder that for a moment.

Last summer kicked off with Transformers: War for Cybertron, a return to the much heralded Transformers original G1 continuity. And we all know that for purists of a series, continuity is everything. Players got to take on the roles of both the Autobots and Decepticons as their civil war ripped all of Cybertron apart. The rise of Optimus Prime and the decent of Starscream were both key story elements as well as the Autobots being brought down to their weakest moments before the story ended in somewhat of a cliffhanger of the fate of the world.

This summer, High Moon Studios had to step back from the series and put out the Transformers: Dark of the Moon tie-in game, which while good for movie game standards, it was no War for Cybertron. Thankfully, the folks at Activision and High Moon Studios have heard the cry of Transformer fanboys world wide and are continuing with the story we have been hungering for over the past year.

At New York Comic Con, Activision released the first trailer for the game with only this statement:

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Transformers: War for Cybertron has been one of the favorite licensed games in recent memory for us. Especially after seeing what Michael Bay did to the film franchise, it was great to see people who had a true appreciation for the source material get their hands on it and get to play around with the world.

At Comic-Con, we spoke to the game’s director Matt Tieger and he walked us through the now recently released DLC content that was announced at the Con. Make sure to check out the full interview with Tieger for more of his insight into the game.

The first thing you notice when playing the new content is the great variety of additional character models and loadouts for the game’s Multiplayer and Escalation mode. Classic favorites like Jazz, Demolisher and Shockwave make their return to the Transformers universe that were previously only available as pre-order bonuses while never before seen Scattershot and Onslaught make their way to Cybertron.

As expected from the high values of this production team, all the models look beautiful and do a great job of separating themselves from the others already on the battlefield. It is easy to spot these new characters in online play, especially the uniquely shaped head of Shockwave. These new models do a great job of preventing games that feel like the final fight in Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen where Michael Bay’s horde of clone-like Decepticons cannot be told apart during the chaos.

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At Comic-Con, we got the chance to sit down with Matt Tieger , one of the developers for Transformers: War for Cybertron and discuss his work on the game. Also, check out some screens and the trailer for the Transformers: War for Cybertron Map and Character Pack which was released this week for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 which features five new multiplayer character models and four new multiplayer maps.

The Flickcast: Activision just announced that we are going to be getting five new DLC characters and a map pack with four new maps for the game so obviously this is going to be a multiplayer focused DLC pack. Can you talk to us a little bit about why you wanted to do some DLC for this game?

Matt Tieger: What we do is we try and listen. We read the forums. We talk to Transformers fans. We talk to gamers. And we listen to all the things they were really excited about within the game and wanted more of, were hungry for more of and that’s what we put in this pack.

So, five new characters right, several new of those you know were pre-order characters and people were just rabid to get them so we listened and we put those in the pack. Shockwave, Jazz and Demolisher, all available in this DLC pack.

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From the very announcement of the title, Transformers: War for Cybertron had a lot of pressure on it. For the first time in easily over a decade, fans of the original series have been given a chance to experience a new canonical tale of the true Transformers universe. And this story isn’t one that real fans would want taken lightly.

Transformers: War for Cybertron covers what happens before Optimus and his Autobots come to Earth and continue their war against the Decepticons. This game is almost like what the Phantom Menace is to Star Wars… Scratch that since I actually like Transformers: War for Cybertron.

Gameplay

Transformers: War for Cybertron plays out as a third person shooter with the addition of transforming robots. The gameplay comes across as almost brutally simple at times. There is no character advancement throughout levels and most of the characters play very similarly with only a few changes in weapons and special abilities.

With a push of the left analog stick, characters transform into their vehicle form which are basic variations of cars and tanks, except for the two levels of the campaign where players play as the jet fighter Transformers. These play very similarly to all other vehicles except for the ability to stop and hover in mid-air.

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With E3 just a week away, everyone is starting to make some interesting guesses on what is coming to the show floor. One thing we know for sure will be shown in its soon-to-be-released glory will be Transformers: War for Cybertron.

Releasing just a week after E3, June 22nd, War for Cybertron looks to be the biggest and best Transformers game to date.

Take a sneak preview below at the trailer scheduled for the Activision booth on the floor of E3 next week which features a special reveal of one of the game’s new boss battles, Trypticon.

Looking to be the forerunner to the Dynobots, this impressive beast looks like he is ready to put the hurt on Optimus and his Autobot compatriots.

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In our coverage of Transformers: War for Cybertron,  we’ve brought you multiplayer footage, character reveals and developer videos. Today will be no exception as we bring you the first behind the scenes story trailer which reveals two key plot points in not just the game, but the Transformers universe.

The origins of two of the most iconic and pivotal partnerships in Autobot and Decepticon lore will be explored for the first time in addition to the more obvious tales players are expecting to experience, the rise to power of both Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Take a look below if you are as excited as we are to see how the beginnings of each of these campaigns look to play out. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Transformers post without the reveal of more characters being added to the game’s already impressive roster.

SIDESWIPE
Autobot
Class: Soldier
Chassis: Car
Primary Weapon: Neutron Repeater
Abilities: Whirlwind, Dash
Description: Sideswipe is built for speed. Whether that’s in combat or out of it, he moves fast. Very fast. He enjoys the thrill of battle, but more for the sport and competitiveness than the end goal. Being very competitive, Sideswipe will do anything he can to win, cheating notwithstanding. Nothing is out of the question when everything is on the line. Some call him reckless and brash, but he does what it takes to win. Every time.

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June 22nd can’t come fast enough. Still reeling from the Michael Bay Transforminators of last summer, the true Transformers fans are all aching for the return of the G1 story. We have been covering Transformers: War for Cybertron closely and just got two new features from Activision regarding the release of this game.

Two more Transformers join the game’s roster, upping it’s total number (including preorder bonuses) to 26 appearing robots while the developers have released a video describing the customization abilities for multiplayer, allowing players to come up with their very own robotic warriors.

SILVERBOLT
Autobot
Class: Scout
Chassis: Jet
Primary Weapon: Photon Burst Rifle
Abilities: Shockwave, Barrier
Description: SilverBolt is a Grim and brave warrior, who often worries more about his teammates then himself. He is courageous, can fly at break-neck speeds and truly believes in the Autobot cause. He would die in defense of his friends if ever given the opportunity.

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Transformers: War for Cybertron has had a recent outpouring of information lately. New characters, Pre-Order Exclusives and box art reveals.

First, let’s hit on two new playable characters that will be joining the game’s roster. Ironhide is the oldest of the Autobots. While his age makes him the slowest member, he is also the meanest and war hardened of the group. He is the definition of the Soldier class for multiplayer play. Warpath takes a page out of Ironhide’s gameplan and kicks it up with pure muscle with a massive cannon as his primary weapon.

Autobots aren’t the only ones getting reinforcements. Barricade, a scout class Decepticon that transforms in to a car, may be one of the fastest characters in the game, even outrunning many of the jet based characters. Along with Barricade, Decepticon Skywarp has been added to the game. This Scout class jet, much like Starscream, has cloaking abilities to reign down heavy damage on the unknowing Autobot forces.

As we reported before, Gamespot and Amazon will offer exclusive multiplayer characters Demolisher and Shockwave. Best Buy has joined the fray and added their own exclusive preorder bonus, Jazz. Check out the videos of all three of these exclusive characters below.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is set to hit shelves June 22 for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Check out all the screen shots and trailers below.

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