Transformers: The War for Cybertron looks as though it could win back the jilted hearts of those dismayed by the direction Michael Bay's film franchise has taken. Developed by High Moon Studios (Darkwatch, The Bourne Conspiracy) and published by Activision, the PS3/360 and possible PC game is expected in 2010.

There isn't a great deal of concrete information so far, but the game is set prior to the robots' arrival on earth, takes a third person viewpoint, and could be the spiritual successor to the well received 2004 PS2 game. Most interestingly, it appears to be set not just prior to, but completely outside the recent film series' continuity, most evident by the (eye-friendly) design of the robots/vehicles.

As many fans have commented, the visual style, principally the design of the characters' robot forms, resembles the 2002 Dreamwave comic series Transformers: The War Within, which is no bad thing. Whilst not a return to the simple G1 robots of old, avoiding Bay's interpretations will surely please many.

On the other hand, some predict this version of Transformers may retain at least a few elements of the current franchise, such as its depiction of the ‘allspark'. Opening up the umpteenth new or even revised Transformers continuity could easily upset others... I personally, however, am highly anticipating seeing how the Cybertronian war pans out.

The trailer is already up and running variously on the web, and, of course, there is one of those annoying countdown sites on the go right now (for those of you who can read Cybertronian script). Here's hoping that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker get the voice acting gigs!

Here's that trailer, if you haven't caught it yet...