Terminator Salvation Xbox 360

Released on 29/05/2009

• Terminator Salvation Review

  They're back

  Little did James Cameron know when Arnie first appeared, in the skuddy buff, in a flash of electro-magnetic energy some 25 years ago, and asserted "hasta la vista, baby", that he was creating a pop-culture monster bigger than anything even Skynet could dream up. This year, the iconic franchise returns to the big screen in one of 2009's most hotly-anticipated movies - Terminator: Salvation - but this time something's different. Now you can join the fight, saving earth and battling the rise of the machines in Terminator: Salvation The Videogame.

  It's in the game

  OK, we know what you're thinking: "games of the movie" have a reputation for being below par. But this is much more than your average retell, recycle, regurgitate movie game. You play as soon-to-be saviour of the human race John Connor as he rises through the ranks of Earth's human resistance, battling Skynet's cyborgs in the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles.

  This much more than your average retell, recycle, regurgitate movie game.

  Set in 2016 - two years before the action of the forthcoming film - Terminator: Salvation tells the back story that links the latest movie with Arnie's last outing, Terminator: Rise Of The Machines, revealing the never-before told origins of the resistance and the development of Arnie's iconic T-600.

  All that sounds impressive, but what does it mean for actual gameplay? Fundamentally, Salvation is a great-looking third-person shooter in a similar vain to developer GRIN's other title, Wanted: Weapons of Fate. Connor fights alongside a small squad of rebels: Blair - who can also be played by a friend in Coop Mode - and two others. With a cover-based combat system, you spend your time ducking, jumping and rolling as you attempt to halt the relentless onslaught of the oncoming tanks, auto-bikes, scout ships and T-600s.

  Exhilarating

  On-foot fighting is interspersed with vehicular battle action reminiscent of the movie series' infamous car chases. Manning the gun turret of an APV as it speeds through a sea of terminators, the adrenalin-pumping destruction has an exhilarating, addictive arcade feel.

  The phenomenal post-nuclear landscape is more colourful and stimulating than the concrete of most post-apocalyptic shooters.

  All this is fought out over a phenomenal post-nuclear landscape, the shocks of grass and undergrowth that pepper the wasteland offering a more colourful, stimulating environment than the concrete of most post-apocalyptic shooters.

  The stars of the show however are, unsurprisingly, the machines, and there's an army of painstakingly-crafted, never-before seen creations out to destroy you, as well the iconic harvesters and hunter-killers from the films. There's even the opportunity to don a Terminator's battle armour and view their clinical, blood-red world.

  Rise of the machines

  Perhaps the only major disappointment with Terminator Salvation is the lack of an online multiplayer mode. You'd expect such an add-on to really come as standard with a game like this, and joining forces with fellow rebels, or alternatively donning the terminator suit yourself, over the net would be mouth-watering prospect, and is a glaring omission. Movie-fans may also be sad not to see Arnie's T-800 in action, though the earlier T-600 retains the haunting, red-eyed exoskeleton.

  The fact remains, though, that Terminator Salvation: The Videogame is an engaging, exciting, shooter - high-praise indeed when its up against contemporary legends like Gears Of War 2. Well worth a look, whether you're a Terminator fan or not - it's time to join the rebellion.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • Never-before told storyline.
  • Striking graphics and environment.
  • New machines designed specially for the game.

  

  • No multiplayer.
  • No T-800.
  • No voice-over from Christian Bale.

  Review by: Simon 'T42' Kirrane
  Version Tested: Xbox 360
  Review Published: 29.05.09

  Published: 29/05/2009

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