I might be rating this one on a bit of a curve since it’s a licensed game based on a franchise I really love, but this is one of my favorite games of the 7th gen. It’s the kind of Transformers game I’d been dreaming of since I was a kid, putting you into the mechanical shoes of the Autobots and Decepticons during the final days of the civil war that devastated Cybertron.

Fall of Cybertron is the best kind of licensed game, one that is elevated by its license instead of feeling shackled to it. It’s a really solid third-person shooter that shows genuine appreciation for Transformers that takes a bit of a darker approach to its narrative while not going overboard with it. The game does a great job making each character you play as feel different, and any shooter that has dash gets extra kudos from me. With excellent level design, great mission variety, and a fun (now defunct) multiplayer suite, I feel comfortable stating that Fall of Cybertron is the best licensed game ever made.

Behind the scenes, High Moon Studios, this game’s developers, were very resistant to the idea of becoming just another licensed game mill, so perhaps they went so hard on Fall of Cybertron to convince their Activision-Blizzard overlords they were worthy of developing original titles. Unfortunately, High Moon would meet a fate worse than being a licensed game mill: Being forced to become yet another support studio on Call of Duty, joining the likes of Raven Software and Vicarious Visions. Yet another case of Activision-Blizzard being an absolute plague on the gaming industry.