The Transistor has four base slots available, into which you place Functions which can be activated at any time by pressing the corresponding gamepad button or keyboard shortcut. Battlefields are seamlessly integrated with your exploration, but they do impose limits/barriers to prevent you exploiting the map to trivally dodge fights. And of course, periodically, you’ll face The Process, in a series of escalating battles which will test your use of the Transistor throughout. As you explore, the plot will unfold, either through voiceover by the Transistor, or through vid-terminals where you can view the news and take part in surveys. So, how does it work? You move around an isometric playing field to explore Cloudbank, collect “Trace”, which are the electronic ghosts of people murdered by The Process, and incorporate those as Functions to enhance the Transistor’s capabilities. Oddly enough, the game allows you to cut some of the exposition short, but I heartily recommend allowing the game to play out in full - there are some great scenes that I missed first time around in Transistor because I was in a hurry to get to the next fight!

The voice style between the two is very different, so I was convinced that separate actors had been used. I was gobsmacked to learn that Logan Cunningham voiced both the Bastion narrator and the Transistor. True to form, the voice acting in Transistor is also first-class, and like Bastion, fully integrated into the game itself, only rarely using a cut-scene to further the plot. In addition to their more recent and third release, Pyre, Supergiant Games are possibly best known for their first release, the isometric action game, Bastion, which featured arguably some of the best voice acting to appear in any game. The team is now 12 strong including those original co-founders. Supergiant was created in 2009 by co-founders Amir Rao and Gavin Simpson. You play as Red, Cloudbank’s most famous singer, but whose voice is stolen by the evil Camerata, a clan consisting of four powerful individuals: Grant and Asher Kendrell, Sybil Reisz, and Royce Bracket.Īs for the Transistor itself, in the confusion caused by the Camerata stealing Red’s voice, Red escapes with it, complete with her boyfriend’s consciousness embedded within, and so sets off a chain reaction of events which lead to the opening scene in the game and your first glimpse at what the Transistor is capable of in your hands. This stylish game is a unique mix of action, RPG and tactics, set in the future during the outbreak and subsequent onslaught of a man-made enemy known as The Process.

This time we’re taking a look at Supergiant Games’ second title, Transistor. Welcome to another review in the PIN (Play It NOW) series.

Transistor keyboard or controller