Let's get the facts straight. Terminator Salvation is not a “movie game”. It is a “prequel game”. Set two years before the film of the same name, the game is related to the “movie game” stereotype, but not subject to the same levels of predictable horror which have forever plagued video game movie tie-ins. This doesn't mean that it is a good game, as it still suffers many of the problems associated with “movie games”, but to a lesser extent than expected.

In Terminator Salvation, you're placed into the much storied shoes of John Connor, future leader of the resistance and try-to-be-strong tough guy in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The character model in the game looks nothing like Christian Bale (who stars as John Connor in the Terminator Salvation film) and is voiced by someone else.

Connor is surrounded by a fairly unremarkable band of character models who follow him around spraying bullets in the general direction of machines all the while spouting unimaginative, (and poorly voiced) one-liners throughout the length of the game. The fact that the voice acting in the game is poor is disturbing, given the fact that many of the supporting characters are voiced by the same actors as those starring in the film, with the exception, of course, of Christian Bale.


In spite of all this, the game starts off in a promising manner. You're treated to a shiny cinematic that looks great as a first impression and introduction to the game. Sadly, these first impressions are dashed when the ugly claws of Terminator Salvation's real time engine are first given the chance to scratch at your eyes with painfully low resolution textures, a woefully short draw distance, and a chronic case of the jaggies. The game would benefit greatly from even a single pass of anti-aliasing, though sitting further away from the screen would make the jagged edges of almost everything in the game world at the very least, bearable.

The first game play portions of Terminator Salvation sees Connor placed in the middle of a skirmish with a few “wasps”, which can be considered the recon force of Skynet. Around him, his fellow squad members (who are relatively few in number) run from location to location together in a fairly tame, mostly linear sequence of game play environments scarcely populated by enemies, giving you the ability to slowly become acquainted with the control scheme of Terminator Salvation.

The game's cover mechanic is functional, and allows you to jump from cover to cover complete with stylish (but generally repetitive) animations that show our soon to be super soldier diving from bombed out car husk to broken concrete wall to conveniently placed park bench to conveniently placed series of steel plates, and that is about where the innovation offered by Terminator Salvation ends.

Flanking the enemies is usually a simple affair, with Connor easily able to leap, roll, and slide from cover to cover, but never the cover you'd really like to see him jump into. This is usually achieved by waiting for your lifeless AI companions to distract the enemy, giving you a chance to move to higher ground. These flanking opportunities are as about as non-linear as Terminator Salvation gets, as you don't really need to use them to destroy the enemy, given a healthy collection of grenades that seem to always be at your disposal.


The game is essentially a third person cover shooter, and plays very much like Gears of War, only without the epic action scenes, narrative prowess, enemy variety, climactic vehicle chases and general awesomeness that many other, better third person cover shooters manage to execute with such awe-inspiring grace.

Basically, the game is lacking the originality and depth that makes the Gears of War-inspired game play cavalcades popping up everywhere far more compelling than Terminator Salvation, which just feels like an unpolished and shallow game play experience.

As you progress through Terminator Salvation, you are gradually introduced to more enemies, but in total, the mechanical ranks of Skynet aren't all that varied. You'll face flying wasps, “spiders” which die very quickly, thanks to a weak point on their back, “Skin jobs”, which are T-600s with flesh, T-600s which march around toting their formidable Gatling guns, HKs (Hunter Killers, giant Skynet gunships) which crash into unspectacular fireballs after a few rockets, and various others that are encountered during vehicle sequences.

While the game does have many vehicle chases, they are not all that exciting. It is fun using big mounted machine guns (and at one point, controlling a Skynet mech), but unfortunately, it feels as if the vehicle sequences are just present to pad out the game play time, which is still woefully short, clocking in at around 5-8 hours, depending on how many times you die.

Yes, the loading screens are really that long. The loading screen is cool, however, as you're presented with a 3D model of a machine of death (a T-600 to be exact), and you're able to rotate the camera around it, amusing yourself while the game loads.


The plot of Terminator Salvation is about as unexciting as it gets, but it does help to establish John Connor as a leader of the resistance. He's brave, determined, and values the life of his fellow soldier.

After things go wrong towards the beginning of the game, Connor receives a plea for help from someone stuck behind enemy lines. Things get further complicated after his team get pinned down, and decide to retreat back to base camp. Everyone thinks Connor is crazy, and he, along with Blair (the in-game token female companion), sets out in search of the man trapped behind enemy lines.

Along the way, you will fight wave after wave of unvaried enemies, using a grand total of five weapons – an assault rifle, a light machine gun, a shotgun, a rocket launcher, and grenade launcher. There is also the ability to use grenades and pipe bombs to quickly dispatch enemies in an explosive manner, but sadly, there is little in the way of controlling their trajectory, and more often than not, you'll need to rely on luck more than skill to get the death bringing projectile where you actually want it to go.

Audio is adequate, with positional audio and support for 5.1 Dolby Digital, as expected of any PlayStation 3 title. For a future world ravaged by war and machines, a lack of ambience and “punch” to the weapons is notably lacking. The music is, unfortunately, dominated by one track, which just happens to be the same track used in almost every single trailer released for the game before launch.


The other features of Terminator Salvation are scarce. Co-op play is a welcome addition, but it is disappointing once you find out it is only two player, and it only works locally. This means there is no online features to speak of, bar trophies and achievements, which are less than plentiful.

There is a grand total of 12 trophies for the PlayStation 3 version of the game, one for finishing each mission, one for finishing the game on “Medium”, one for finishing the game on “Hard”, and of course, the Platinum.

The game can be easily completed in an evening, and there is absolutely no replay value. Thankfully, the game is relatively free of any game-breaking bugs, with the only major gameplay issues repetition, unimaginative level design and an at-times dodgy camera.

If you're a diehard Terminator fan, rent the game, get a friend over and play through it in less than an afternoon. It is definitely not worth the price of a full title, given the game's incredibly short length and repetitive “me too!” design philosophy which brings absolutely nothing groundbreaking to the table.