Somehow most of the Transformers games have ignored one of the most essential Autobots. Early Transformers games were based on the original animated series and included most Autobots and Decepticons alike, making the absence of a character so crucial to the franchise's most iconic generation hard to ignore. With Transformers: Reactivate now announced, there's a chance for it to rectify this mistake.
Unfortunately, Hasbro's robot franchise has struggled to make waves in the modern gaming industry due to delays and cancelations, including a canceled Transformers game by Pokémon GO's Niantic. While Transformers has seen its fair share of video game successes with titles like War for Cybertron and its sequel, Fall of Cybertron - as well as mobile title Transformers: Earth Wars and collaborations with multiplayer games like Smite - it has been a long time since the series received a proper AAA effort.
Transformers Games Have Ignored Hot Rod For Too Long
Hot Rod is a staple in the original G1 series, and unfortunately, Transformers games have a habit of ignoring him. The notoriously stubborn and impatient temporary Autobot leader Rodimus Prime has only appeared in two video games despite his importance to the story and iconic character design, which was spotlighted heavily in the original animated Transformers movie. G1 titles were rarely seen after the beloved Transformers: Beast Wars games, and Hot Rod did not appear in a playable installment again until two decades later in the lesser-known, combat-heavy 2003 Japanese PS2 exclusive title The Transformers. Since then, he has not been seen in any games despite his starring role in one of the most iconic Transformers storylines.
It makes sense for Hot Rod or Rodimus Prime to show up exclusively in G1-based Transformers games, but the Autobot is only featured in two out of the seven that have been released. Popular Autobots such as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee alongside Decepticons like Megatron and Soundwave are repeatedly included in Transformers video games - especially those based on the Michael Bay films from 2007-onward. That said, Hot Rod has seen a spike in popularity due to the Last Bot Standing comics, so there is hope fans may see him in a game once again.
Transformers: Reactivate Has The Chance To Bring Hot Rod Back
Since The Game Awards trailer of Transformers: Reactivate, fans had more questions than answers about what the co-op action game will have in store. While not much of the fresh Transformers plot is known, publisher and developer Splash Damage has revealed that players will take on the role of salvaged Autobots to defeat a new enemy known as The Legion. It's easy to assume Optimus Prime and Bumblebee will make an appearance, but hopefully Reactivate will give Hot Rod the recognition he deserves by including the powerful ex-Autobot leader as a playable character.
Hot Rod is still a fan favorite despite his borderline arrogant personality and frequent comparisons to his far more popular counterpart Optimus. While technically Rodimus Prime no longer exists, it would be interesting to see Hot Rod in Transformers: Reactivate. Little is known about the game, or even how much it will pull from G1, but Hot Rod is long overdue a proper Transformers game appearance.
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