Transformers: Reactivate was officially axed by developer Splash Damage this week, as the studio announced its decision to halt development on the online shooter after years of work and a prolonged period of radio silence. Despite never having witnessed actual gameplay from the troubled project, a tantalizing first glimpse suddenly emerged online, eerily foreshadowing what was to come.
Reactivated, which had transitioned to Unreal Engine 5 during its enhancement process, appears to have recorded this footage subsequent to the switch.
Footage courtesy of DpzLuna on Twitter, a dedicated account highlighting the sparse recreation details that are available.
This six-minute gameplay clip showcases impressive solo combat skills from a single Transformers character.
In this reboot of the Transformers franchise, “Reactivate” took the form of a thrilling shooter, where players balanced action-packed combat with moments of precision-crafted capture mechanics, punctuated by strategic reworkings to stay ahead of the enemy. Turning right into an automotive was the primary mode of traversing this extensive map, indicating that navigation required a significant amount of spatial awareness and situational understanding.
Additionally, you could possibly capture more cinematic moments by shooting in automotive mode, with animations looking fairly good overall. The capturing mechanism delivers a satisfyingly robust performance, its chunky sounds and substantial recoil evoking a sense of visceral connection. The battle proves to be futile, as it’s waged against ambiguous AI opponents rather than the legendary Decepticons.
At first glance, Reactivate seems to have featured a wide-open world design, allowing players to explore freely and set their own objectives to tackle. Some of these elements exemplify commonplace actions such as eliminating enemy forces from a given area.
While the raw footage is incomplete and lacks essential elements, it still hints at a promising project in development. Following a string of reside service debacles in 2024, including the calamitous launch and swift demise of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as well as the underwhelming debut and subsequent unrelease of Sony’s Harmony, one can’t help but wonder if the decision-makers overlooked Reactivate, potentially dooming it to struggle in today’s market.
It’s disheartening to witness the output of a studio as accomplished as Splash Harm being underutilized. With talent this close to clicking into place, it’s frustratingly near-miss perfection – just one spark of inspiration shy of realizing its full potential.
