Transformers: Devastation a balance of old and new

We met with producer Robert Conkey from Activision and game director Kenji Saito from Platinum Games to discuss the inspiration, game mechanics, playable characters and possible soundtrack options of Transformers: Devastation.

"[We] are definitely basing a lot of this on the classic look of the characters, at the same time [we] have seen them in motion a lot and by referencing all the different places we've seen them in motion," said Saito. "[We] were able to put it together and [we] did a lot of experimenting with speed and figuring out how to strike a good balance between 'this looks and feels like the character I know' as well as actually being really fun and responsive gameplay."

On the character decision process:
"Bumblebee and Optimus were kind of no-brainers, they're just such a classic part of the Autobots, explains Saito. "The other three was like; [we] had a lot of potential selections and [we] looked at the unique... what was interesting about them and [we] thought that those three would be the most fun and they would have the most interesting aspects to them which is Wheeljack, Sideswipe and Grimlock. [We] felt they had enough differentiation between them, that [we] could really have a lot of fun bringing them to life."

Whether any Decepticons will be playable:
"No playable Decepticons, only the five Autobots. We've actually been getting a lot of requests for that and it's definitely something to think about for the future," said producer Robert Conkey.

Transformers: Devastation is due out next week on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.