Part of what we loved most about the High Moon Studios entry into the Transformers world is that it was the original G1 canon most of us had fallen in love with during our childhood. Wanted to know what happened before Optimus and the crew made it to earth, you got the story finally from Transformers: War for Cybertron and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. But Activision has gone and done something that is not only unexpected but for some of the most hardcore of Transformers G1 fans… unwelcomed.

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be a part of the G1 Universe but it will also be a part of the Michael Bay movieverse as well, with events taking place before Transformers Age of Extinction. That means that they are doing what could be the absolute worst offense when it comes to G1 territory by combining it with whatever Michael Bay is throwing at the wall this time.

A lot of people say I am too harsh when it comes to the Michael Bay films but after the first one, it just kept getting farther and farther away from the franchise I grew up on into a poorly put together film with sophomoric level comedy forced into it. In Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, we got Grimlock and the rest of his dinobot compatriots but now that could all be washed away because of the new Michael Bayified Grimlock that we were introduced to during the Super Bowl trailer.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron has been one of those games that true fans of the franchise can’t get away from. Between its great story and improved gameplay, it has a tight knit grasp on their attention until the big holiday releases start pouring out. And one of the reasons for that is the Dinobots.

In the game, the players take on the role of Grimlock as he makes his way to save Slag, Swoop and Snarl, though sadly Sludge doesn’t get the full attention the others do. Unfortunately, the Dinobots didn’t make their way into the game’s multiplayer at launch. The problem was trying to figure out how the characters would play considering how differently Grimlock controlled than other characters. But when the development team said they figured it out, the Dinobots DLC was created.

There are three total DLC packs shown in the trailer below. The first focuses on some of the game’s classic characters who make appearances. The second, most likely to be the most popular, shows the Dinobots in action. Finally, the third pack crams in G1 skins as well as the Insecticons. Each pack sells for $8.00 for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Check out the full trailer and more detailed list of the included Transformers after the jump.

Two years ago, gamers were greeted with the first true Transformers game. It wasn’t tied into a movie or one of the relaunched tv series. Transformers: War for Cybertron brought players into a third person shooter that is treated as actual G1 Transformers cartoon continuity. Transformers: War for Cybertron captured what nostalgic fans of the series loved about the original 1980’s toy line and show by giving a backstory to the tale that people had already become familiar with. Now, after being interrupted by a Michael Bay movie tie-in, the team over at High Moon Studios is able to continue their piece of the Transformers saga with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

Gameplay

As mentioned, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a third person shooter. Maybe it is the Activision pedigree or the experience that High Moon Studios has had with the franchise but the shooting is much tighter than it felt in the previous Transformers: War for Cybertron, which was already fairly good. There are subtle assists when taking aim but the control scheme, damage system and hit boxes around enemies all feel reasonable.

At Comic Con, The Flickcast got to get hands-on with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron’s multiplayer. Sadly we didn’t have the opportunity to bring you video from the event and show you what the latest version of Transformers multiplayer was bringing to the table. Someone at High Moon Studios must have seen our enthusiasm for the game because the new multiplayer trailer has been made available to the public for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

In the last Transformers: War for Cybertron, players were able to customize their character for multiplayer. Now, they are given tons more options to help give their own personality to one of four player classes including the Medic or the Titan. Everything from weapon choices to color schemes to tons of different armor pieces or heads to give a wider variety of bots on screen at once.

At launch, there will be 10 multiplayer maps (including one seen in the trailer after the jump which features a destroyed Metroplex-sized bot).

Players will also be able to receive a G1 Retro pack with a preorder from Gamestop.

Take a look below at a plethora of screen shots of the multiplayer as well as the full trailer. Stick to the Flickcast for more news and an upcoming review on Transformers: Fall of Cybertron due out for XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 on August 21st.