Toy Review: Transformers Reactivate Soundwave (Deluxe)

Review:  #831

Name:  Soundwave

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Reactivate

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Deluxe

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Based upon his appearance in the (now cancelled) Reactivate mobile game, this iteration of  Soundwave transforms into an armored vehicle.

Apart from the random piece on top of the roof at the back, this isn't a bad vehicle mode, although the clear blue hood is somewhat odd (it's the robot mode's chest so there was no choice).

He's okay size as a Deluxe, he's quite compact in vehicle mode to be fair.

He has two robot weapons, both on top of the roof, one at the front, and one at the front (sideways, so it kind of looks like a communication device).

There's no other play value here.  It's not a perfect vehicle as the hinges on the doors are super obvious, and there's a lot of things poking underneath the car, almost touching the surface and preventing him from rolling properly.

Soundwave comes in a two-pack with Optimus Prime, and it's admirable that both them are different takes on the classic designs, rather than taking a much lazier route of replicating everything.

An okay vehicle mode.  It's a little bit messy overall and the hood looks out of place.

TRANSFORMATION:

Soundwave is almost a shellformer.  The hood forms the robot chest, and everything else just unfolds from underneath the vehicle.  The rest of the shell of the vehicle becomes a backpack.  The legs unfold from the back, while the arms from the front.  To be fair, the way the vehicle shell comes together into the backpack is quite satisfying, just purely from the way things fit together.

ROBOT MODE:

Soundwave's robot mode... is not great.  He's passable but there are so many issues with him.  He's recognizable as Soundwave, with all the iconic elements you'd expect of the character.

He carries a big backpack but it's mostly hollow so doesn't affect his balance too much.

The head sculpt is a bit busy, with a few too many details, and looks a bit small.

Size-wise he is quite tall compared to a normal Deluxe, but this comes at a price.

A shot with the other Reactivate figures, and despite Soundwave's flaws, they do look great as a set.

Soundwave comes with his two iconic weapons.  Obviously one will be his shoulder cannon.

While the other is a handheld weapon.

In terms of storage, they can store either on the side of his legs, or on his backpack.

Speaking of his backpack, it juts out like crazy, and just in general, Soundwave has proportion issues.  He feels like he is stretched, in order to be taller but this came at the cost of making him look lanky, and his limbs are hollow, so he feels insubstantial in hand as well.

He has good articulation at least, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

Given he was packaged with a Voyager sized Optimus, it does feel like they tried to stretch him a bit so that he's a bit more in scale with it.

The hips are also ones where they rotate along when moving his legs, so the hip guards rotate out of view, which can look weird.

A heavily flawed robot mode.

OVERALL:

The Optimus / Soundwave Reactivate two-pack is definitely the weaker set to get.  Soundwave has a passable vehicle mode, but the robot mode is not great.  He looks worse in pictures than in hand, but even so, he's just very flawed in terms of his proportions.

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Valiant Hearts: The Great War (PS4)

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a puzzle adventure game. Looking at the smaller scale with pretty graphics and a unique aesthetic, you’ll think that this was an indie game. However, it is developed and published by Ubisoft. Anyway, the game is set in World War I and tells the story of a several characters that in some way or another, is involved with a young German soldier.

The game’s story is told via some exposition dialogue with a high-level overview of the events of World War I. Surprisingly, despite how it sounds, it works really well, and it captures the gravity and seriousness of several of the developments of the war. It’s helped by the charming graphics, which are 2D and has a cartoon hand drawn aesthetic to it. The characters don’t speak intelligibly (although you can tell what words they’re speaking if you listen hard enough), and there are massive lore dumps, which are admittedly optional.

The gameplay also shines. It’s a sidescroller where the characters can only move and interact with objects. It’s a simple control scheme and this highlights the imagination of the puzzle designs. The puzzles are mostly intuitive, where usually you just interact with everything you need to and then you can piece together what you need to do. These can involve trying to get the handle down from the roof of a building so that you can use the lever. Or you have a dog companion which you can command to bring you things from afar.

There are opportunities for new mechanics that is completely different from the puzzle aspect. There’s a chapter where there is forced stealth, but it doesn’t frustrate or annoy you. Another chapter will have you controlling a vehicle trying to dodge bullets and bombs. The game manages to add action to something that doesn’t require that much frantic action, despite how it might feel otherwise. Dying resets you to the previous checkpoint which is usually right before you die.

Despite the positives, there are still some minor annoyances. If you ever get stuck, there are hints available, but they will only reveal themselves after a set time limit, so it may get on your nerves if you’re impatient. Some puzzles require a tiny bit of timing, although when the game isn’t designed for faster paced reflexes to determine the angle and distance of the object you want to throw, this isn’t too great. Controls for certain vehicles can also be clunkier than they should.

The story often has time skips and moves at a brisk pace. It has most of the characters chasing down an enemy general, who constantly gets away. It can be thematically clashing when it is trying to tell a serious story showcasing the horrors of war, and then have exaggerated cartoony character reactions when they have a bomb thrown towards them. Later levels are bigger, but then that just means you’ll constantly have to turn forwards and backwards for those fetch quests and it’s at these points that you feel the characters aren’t running fast enough.

Towards the end, the game does start to overstay its welcome due to the instant death sections, if only slightly. The ending also feels a bit rushed, considering the build up, the characters all quickly unite, and the game then ends. It has a bittersweet ending. The game is not designed to be long, taking only around five hours to complete. You can then replay any chapter to find the rest of the collectables that you may have missed.

Overall, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a fantastic and surprising hit. The game instantly captures your attention with its fantastic art style, and then wins you over with its gameplay, attention to detail and the way it tells its story that’s set in World War I. The characters are fleshed out and you care about their fates, leading to an emotional rollercoaster of a game.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy United Nucleous (Deluxe)

Review:  #830

Name:  Nucleous

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - Legacy: United

Year of Release:  2024

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  retool of Legacy United Magneous

VEHICLE MODE:

Nucelous transforms into a white rocky car with thrusters on the back.

There are some gold highlights, and thanks to the gigantic thrusters as well as the predominantly white color scheme, it feels like he is related to space vehicles.

This is a decently sized Deluxe, and he is pretty solid too with no hollow gaps within vehicle mode.

He has four concealed wheels that'll allow him to roll on a flat surface.

Despite being a retool of another figure, the vast majority of him is new sculpting, so he looks very different.  If you like the rocky aesthetic, then this is a great vehicle.

TRANSFORMATION:

He is an Armorizer, meaning he can split into parts to add weaponry and armor to other figures.  However, unless previous similar efforts, he doesn't need to partsform at all.  He transforms like normal, on the caveat that sometimes you might pull something off as the parts are only attached via 5mm pegs.  Anyway, the back unfolds to become the legs.  The sides fold out for the arms, and you fold the front wheels in to form the torso.

ROBOT MODE:

Nueclous has a little bit of a knight theme going on, and his robot mode is equally as rocky and unique as his vehicle mode.

The back has the vehicle roof as a backpack, although you can remove this if you you want.  That's about the only piece of unwanted kibble here.

The head sculpt is nice, and the head is surprisingly big.  The two front wheels folding into his torso is a unique design element that you don't see much of.

Size-wise, he is approximately the height of a standard Deluxe, although maybe it's the plastic used, or the chunkier nature of him, but he feels more solid and substantial.

Articulation is great, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.  He has the works.

The two thrusters in vehicle mode can now combine into a club for him to hold.

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the vehicle's roof can be removed from his back and held in his hand as a type of shield.  Although he doesn't hold it like a normal shield, so it doesn't look too good there.

This is highlighted in the instructions, but the winglets on either side of the vehicle mode can either stay where they are (and end up behind the forearms) or you can attach them behind the shins, to kind of fill them up?  It feels a bit pointless to be honest.

The combination of white, grey, silver and a splash of gold might not excite you, but it actually works really well here.

An awesome robot mode, and his articulation is something to be impressed about.

ARMORIZER MODE:

Nucleous can split into several pieces that you can use to attach to other figures.

Per the official instructions, not everything is used, only the smaller pieces which is really old.  Most of the body / torso is not used at all.

OVERALL:

Nucleous doesn't get the benefit of being a well known character (in fact, he's completely new), so he has to rely on being a good figure to compensate.  Thankfully, if you are a fan of the rocky aesthetics, then he is a great figure and a lot of fun to play with.

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