The Transformers: War for Cybertron multiplayer demo hit XBL this week. I sort of wish it hadn’t. It didn’t present any sort of impressive gameplay that elevated my interest in the game from “optimistically curious” to “sold and eagerly anticipating”. While there’s still a good chance that the single player (with co-op) campaign will still be fun and worth the purchase price, it’s hard to shrug off the “meh” experience that the multiplayer demo left me with.

On the flip side of that coin, a recent brief beta period for All Points Bulletin has solidified my interest in the game. The pre-release version I played was a little rough around the edges, and I expect some of that to persist through the launch. However at its core it was still a hell of a fun game of cops and robbers.

Since the game relies almost completely on player skill, the advanced weaponry that higher ranked people had access to did throw things a little out of whack… it was not uncommon in my limited play time to see three or four lower level players dispatched against a high level opponent, and still have trouble taking him down, especially if we got singled out. From what I’ve read, they’re toning this down a little bit for release.

I still question the longevity of the game… I had a blast playing, but it’s not too hard to look down the line an imagine it getting a bit stale unless RTW keeps pushing out some new content to keep things interesting.

Either way, I plan to get in there at the end of the month. The hourly price plan they’re offering sounds like a fantastic option for some guilt-free gaming should you decide to just play a little here and there, and not feel like you’re wasting a subscription fee.