Terminator Salvation employs a number of tired and worn out game play mechanisms that take all the entertainment value out of this video game. A couple of nice elements, but for the most part we should probably send a agent back in time to kill the production of this game before it starts.
The Great Parts (2 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation has a post apocalyptic Los Angeles that immerses you in a reality that puts the fear in you as you play this video game. The future of mankind is tied to the machines we have built, and we’re in a battle to see who should be in control, the machines or man.
Terminator Salvation does implement an interesting cover system that has definite potential for the future and it would be interesting to see how it plays in other video games.
The Bad Parts (2 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation’s repetitive combat is too simple to entertain an experienced gamer but casual gamers should have fun for awhile. In addition, the on-rail sequences are no fun at all and provide no sense of drama like similar scenes you have seen in the movies. These elements of this video game are an excellent example for developers to use as a template on how not to make a video game.
The Graphical Picture (3 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation has an average graphical presentation that hampers all the cut scenes they did include in this video game. They often stutter and stop, and start again, which takes away any desire to watch them and the character models are blurry at times. The environments have the diverse visual appeal we saw in the movies, but this doesn’t make for gun game play.
The load times between scenes and screens is far too long, by the time the next scene appeared, any energy and excitement the last scene produced, was gone.
Screenshots
Sounds in the Game (2 out of 5)
The sound track included with Terminator Salvation is well below movie production level, the songs have lots of energy and pace, but they quite often have an inappropriate song for the action occurring on the screen. All the sound effects on the other hand were spectacular and engaging to listen too and added beautifully to the fun of playing this video game, but unfortunately you need more than nice sound effects to make an entertaining and engaging video game.
The Story Line (3 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation the video game is based on the latest Terminator movie and has you fill the shoes of John Connor as he battles the forces of Skynet. The story line chronicles the story of John Connor’s rise from foot soldier to the leader of mankind in its battle against the machines as they attempt to make humans extinct.
Playability (2 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation is a 3rd person shooter that just isn’t any fun to play beyond the first few minutes. Once you get beyond the detailed environments that remind you of the movies, there’s nothing left to do that’s entertaining when playing this video game. You basically jog from boring skirmish to boring skirmish, fighting the same three enemy types all the time, which quickly becomes repetitive.
The Bottom Line (2 out of 5)
Terminator Salvation isn’t a video game production I would recommend even for casual gamers, unless they only have a few minutes and have nothing else to do. This video game is a stripped-down, quick cash-cow that will grab a few shekels by fooling a few gamers before they read this review, but otherwise a waste of time and money.
