Terminator Salvation, PC, Xbox 360 Game Review
Taking place two years prior to the upcoming film, Terminator Salvation follows one day in the life of would-be savior of mankind John Connor.
Terminator Salvation is a relaunch of the film franchise featuring Christian Bale’s gravitas, amazing set pieces and slick camera work. The videogame version has none of these things. Christian Bale has been replaced by a non-descript actor, the action is fairly tame throughout and the cutscenes are stunningly ordinary. And yet despite the poor presentation, there are some clever gameplay elements that make Terminator enjoyable. Too bad that joy only lasts a handful of hours before the credits roll.
Terminator Salvation seems, ironically enough, a victim of time. There just wasn’t enough to create a full game. There are a few moments that lack any cinematic punch. For example, early on you battle an HK (big flying ship) from inside the ruins of a building. When you finally shoot it down, you’re told it’s crashing into the building. But there’s no cutscene that shows this awesome moment and nothing visually spectacular happens in-game. It’s a dud, and many more moments like this fall flat throughout the four-hour adventure. This quickly becomes repetitive despite the fact that the environments are diverse and detailed, and the few on-rails sequences fail to inject any substantial excitement into the proceedings. The campaign is only about five hours long, there is no online component, and the only multiplayer option is playing the campaign in split-screen mode.
Though there are definitely some rough elements to Terminator Salvation, the future isn’t completely bleak. The gameplay is smartly crafted and often quite engaging. Salvation is a third-person cover shooter with skirmishes taking place in impromptu arenas throughout the ruins of L.A. Instead of worrying about progressing from cover to cover, moving from the back to the front, fights take place in 360 degrees. The machines are heavily armored and for most, you need to flank them to get at their weak spots.
While the game is fun, especially with a partner on the couch, the lack of boss battles, no online multiplayer matching, and only a handful of hours of content make this game little more than a solid rental.
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