DE 
EN 
Series: Universe 2.0
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: Ultra
Year: 2008
If Onslaught enters into direct combat, it's only because something has gone wrong with his battle plan. He prefers to remain on the sidelines of a fight, directing the action and revising his tactics second by second. Nothing gives him joy as much as a well-executed ambush, or the swift, organised destruction of an Autobot base. When he must get involved in a fight himself, he does so with cold fury, advancing meticulously across the battle field with his fire focused on the most danerous opponent. Every variable in a fight is taken into account in his mind, every possibility assessed, and every contingency planned for.
Robot Mode: Let's get the homage stuff out of the way first. Universe Onslaught is, of course, a homage to the original G1 Onslaught (who was later recoloured into RID Mega Octane). Look-wise, though, the two aren't all that similar. The head is the same and both have twin cannon barrels sticking out from their back, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Still, Onslaught is more or less recognisable as the classic character, so no points deduction for that.
Leaving the G1 comparisons aside, Onslaught is a very posable and highly detailed robot. Just about the only thing that bugs me about him is that some of his parts are a little loose. The gun flipping out from his right forearm and the construction of the legs could be a bit sturdier, the joints tighter. Apart from that, though, I can't find much of a fault with Onslaught. He looks good and grim, clearly a Decepticon.
Sadly his armaments here are limited to his arm gun, as he can't flip those back cannons of his forward, but with a little improvisation he can deliver one hell of a shoulder tackle thanks to those mine sweeper spikes he sports there. And of course he carries a S.W.A.T. type shield on his left arm, which looks very good on him.
So overall, a pretty nice robot. He's big, he's posable, he's detailed. And while he's missing that little something extra that would make me call him very good, he's a damn fine robot when it comes down to it.
Alternate Mode: Where the original Onslaught transformed into a kind of artillery truck, Universe Onslaught becomes a S.W.A.T. tank. Built less for all-out warfare but rather urban combat, the tank has wheels instead of threads and looks faster and more lightly armoured than his bigger battlefield cousins. He does have a big double-barelled turret, though, which can be enhanced by putting his shield on top.
The front of the tank features a kind of mine sweeper add-on, spiked shovels which can flip down to remove any dangerous objects from his path. Apart from that there are numerous sculpted details all over the tank, even including individual rivets in the armour plates. If there's any significance to the words and numbers on Onslaught's side it has escaped me so far. Monzo was, of course, Weirdwolf's Headmaster partner, but what that has to do with Onslaught, your guess is as good as mine.
So to sum it up, a very solid, highly detailed, and pretty much flawless vehicle mode. While I don't know the reasoning behind giving Onslaught a very different alt mode compared to his G1 days, it does perform quite well, so no complaints.
Remarks: From his profile you could say that Onslaught is the Decepticon version of Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith of the A-Team. He loves it when a plan comes together. Anyway, the original G1 Onslaught was the leader of the Combaticons, a combiner group, and known for being a military genius. He appeared in quite a few episodes in late Season 2 and in Season 3 of the G1 cartoon as well.
For his Universe reincarnation Onslaught received a significant boost in size, becoming an Ultra-class toy whereas he was just about Deluxe-sized before. He also got a different vehicle mode and the combiner gimmick was dropped. So no Universe Bruticus in the foreseeable future (at least not as a G1 homage). Still, that leaves us with a big, posable, and highly detailed toy that offers quite a bit of play value and has no obvious flaws. At the end of the day Onslaught is a good figure, but missing that little something extra that would make me give him an A. So the final verdict: Good, solid, but not outstanding.
Rating: B+
UPDATE 2008-10-11: Transformers expert Nevermore was kind enough to supply the following info regarding the word MONZO on Onslaught:
The writing "Monzo 12782" on Universe Onslaught refers to a fan with the nickname "Monzo" and his date of birth. The reason for this homage (Universe Acid Storm's personality is also based on the personality of Monzo) is the fact that one of Monzo's hobbies is trademark research. Once a year he sends Hasbro a list of non-trademarked names, which not only saves Hasbro a lot of research, it also gives them the occasional idea.
Thanks to Nevermore for this info.
Picture Gallery:
