Shockwave's alternate mode is, well... it's a flying gun just like his G1 form, appropriately enough, but it gets rid of all the silliness of being a literal giant flying gun. It has wings and there's no trigger or handhold to speak of, but there is a big blaster that takes up the front half of the figure, along with some jet boosters on the back end. So, yeah... flying gun. And unlike many Cybertronian modes, this alt mode doesn't look like a mere "robot in a weird pose", i.e. a bit of excuse for a lazy alt mode. No, this looks like something that could legitimately exist-- particularly if you take the rather eye-catching shade of transparent purplish pink sticking up behind the "barrel" part of this mode as the window of a cockpit. The wings could stand to be a bit larger, but otherwise the proportions on Shockwave here are quite pleasing, even if there's nothing like it in the real world to compare it to. There are a few minor robot extras visible, though, such as the robot feet on the front end and a bit of the arms on the back end. There's also some slight gaps in the barrel of the flying cannon if you look at them from the right (wrong?) angles, but I'm being rather nitpicky on that last one. Shockwave's signature color scheme of deep purple, black, and silver works very well here, with the silver serving as the more prevalent lighter accent color against the darker purple and black. The purplish pink plastic/paint used on the "cockpit" and the front barrel of the gun complements and contrasts against the purple and black quite brilliantly, as well. That said, although the really major stuff-- like the front of the barrel-- is painted, along with a few extra bits like the middle of the barrel and the wing tips, in general Shockwave could've used a few more paint apps in this mode (particularly of the purplish-pink variety).
    As good as Shockwave's vehicle mode is, his robot mode design is even better-- and the transformation isn't too obvious either, which impresses me all the more. This mode looks SPOT-ON compared to his video game model, with one exception-- his legs are a bit two-dimensional if looked at from a front angle. Other than that, it's all good proportionally, and I love love LOVE how those forward-swept wings frame his shoulders in this mode. It definitely helps to add to his "evil presence", if you will. His already nice mold detailing in vehicle mode gets even more impressive here, with pieces like his chest and head intricately detailed-- his head sculpt is another thing that is absolutely spot-on with this toy (though I wish his eye was yellow), and it even has little "wires" molded into the neck piece underneath! There's no vehicle mode extras whatsoever, and his articulation is quite good as well-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), inwards at the wrists, and at the hips and knees (at two points). Most of the places that only have one point of articulation are on ball joints, too. His feet are a bit small, and his head can't look up, so that SLIGHTLY limits the number of poses you can get him into, but neither of those are huge deals. Because of his transformation, however, you can definitely tell how small he is compared to deluxes from the previous few years, but unfortunately this the norm going forward due to increased manufacturing costs. If you have Shockwave's fists flipped out, the inside of his lower arms is hollow, but this is a minor issue. It doesn't become an issue at all if you fold that fist back in and plug his gun onto either of his lower arms, creating his signature cannon-arm (albeit this version doesn't have any kid of hose connecting it to his backpack, but that's often annoying anyways). The three-pronged shape of his cannon barrel makes the cannon look larger and more menacing, and I love it. If you don't want it connected to either of his hands, however, you can store it on his back in this mode as well.
    Fall of Cybertron Shockwave is a remarkable feat of engineering, not only giving him a pretty good-looking Cybertronian alt mode that keeps the best parts of his G1 alt mode while discarding the weird parts, but has a fantastic, well-proportioned, and well-articulated robot mode that's brimming with personality and has a cool accessory. His transformation is also intuitive, fun, and unexpected without being complex. Highly recommended-- this is my favorite toy from the FoC part of the Generations line, definitely, and that's not just my love of the character speaking there. It's also my favorite Shockwave toy as of this writing (12/14).

Review by Beastbot

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