Taking place on the Transformers home planet of Cybertron, Transformers: The War for Cybertron tells the story of the Transformers long before they came in contact with Earth, which had been previously explored in the games based on the 2007 and 2009 movies.

A third-person action game utilizing the Unreal Engine to render the robots and their environments, players can choose to side with either the Autobots or Decepticons in single and online co-op campaigns for up to three players. Each side features its own story and missions in which the player can run, jump, shoot and of course transform. In single player mode the player is accompanied by two fellow Transformers which can be either AI or player controlled. Being a Transformers game, a key element is the ability to transform at will and thus choose between walking robot mode or driving or flying vehicle mode to explore the game's environments. Both modes offer different forms of mobility and weaponry.

Online multiplayer is available and allows players to configure their own Transformers character from one of four classes to duke it out in six different multiplayer modes such as Deathmatch, Code of Power, or Countdown to Extinction.

Reprising his role as Optimus Prime is voice actor Peter Cullen whose involvement with the role goes back to the Transformers' beginning in 1984.