Between the movie and video game, you can’t ever really tell which one is right. Terminator Salvation's developer, Grin, decided to take Terminator Salvation of the same name and set the game 2 years before the events of the movie. A risky move considering the plot ramifications it could have if people play the game before the seeing the movie. Terminator Salvation the movie is more of a new take on the series with an interesting plot twist, although not much is added to the overall plotline. Terminator Salvation tries to take the same witty and explosive content that the movies so well orchestrated and present you with a video game that has you playing as John Connor and helping the Resistance fight through the constant realms of the Terminators. How does the game hold up by itself?

Gameplay

Terminator Salvation is a relatively easy game to follow with the plot being so easily constructed. The game is set in 2016 Los Angeles and the Resistance is continuing its fight against the Terminators. You play as John Connor, the man who has yet to become the infamous commander that is his future ahead of him. After ignoring orders to return to base, he sets out on his own mission to rescue a group of comrades behind enemy lines letting his pride and ego run its own mission. In the process, Connor amasses a large group of friends to help along the way. The plotline ends up being too simple and straightforward bridging nothing in the Terminator plot and with no connection between you and the humanoid terminators.

Taking literally less then 4 hours to complete, you’ll be swinging back to the store asking for your 60 dollars back before the night is over. The game is broken up into chapters like an open book waiting to be read. You have to complete a set number of objectives in the story before moving onto the next chapter. These objectives take about 10 minutes each to complete and doesn’t even give you a chance to really delve into the gameplay. You are constantly interrupted by a poorly animated cinematic or the long drawn out loading screens that have you staring into the eyes of a Terminator.

Fighting off the Terminators is one thing, but with the AI as bad as it is in this game, you’ll find it more frustrating than fulfilling when you finally take down one of them. You have to really work in tandem with your teammates otherwise you’ll be pummeled with gunfire and find yourself starting the objective all over again for the 10th time. This brings me to your teammate AI, which is fairly substandard; they are either way too ahead of you in the map or far enough behind you that you have to scramble back to get them to move along. They’ll scream out comments to you based on enemy positions and congratulating you on good shots, but that’s about it when it comes to conversation aside from the cinematics. The game gets tiring as you keep on seeing the same two or three enemies throughout each level.

Terminator Salvation focuses on third-person action to bring you into the world of John Connor. The action is broken up by vehicle rail sections but those are few and far between. The cover system is nicely done making it fluid and essential throughout the gameplay which is a shame because it’s the only thing that holds the game together. You are limited to two weapons at a time, there are extra weapons scattered around the map if you find yourself running low during the battle. There isn’t much variety to choose from other then the standard shotguns, assault rifles and rocket launchers. What’s weird is that you aren’t allowed to salvage any weapons from the Terminator’s themselves which is quite disappointing. You are also given grenades and pipe bombs to help but the controller mapping for them is not fully utilized. There isn’t any help to guide the grenade in a certain direction and you’ll find yourself blindly throwing them and hoping you get a hit. You’ll have to bring up the weapons menu every time you need one as it stops you from using your main weapons.

The surprising part about the game aside from its 4 hour length is that there are a grand total of 11 achievements in the game based on the Xbox 360 version of which this review is coming from. There is a co-op mode which unfortunately makes the game go by even faster and the only other added challenge is beating the game on the higher difficulties. And if you are looking for a reason to head back to the game, you won’t find anything as there isn’t even an online multiplayer. From the looks of it, developers at Grin looked to only cash in on the movie of the same name as this entry into the Terminator plotline is completely overpriced. You’ll be doing yourself a favor by renting or waiting for a big price drop before even touching Terminator Salvation.

Graphics

Stiff animations, bland graphics and uninspired environments don’t give much credit to Terminator Salvation being a real Terminator game. It’s a shame that the franchise itself has suffered much in its video game adaptations. The Terminators themselves don’t look as though they evoke fear or make you scurry away trying to defend yourself. There are only about 2 to 3 different kinds of enemies aside from the motorcycle Terminators found in the vehicle rail section. Facial expressions don’t give much credit to the voice acting either as it’s either off the mark or just plain awkward. The worse part about the game is it’s drawn out loading screens which is a bit perplexing because the game doesn’t have a lot of action going on-screen anyway that it would need such an event.

Sound

The voice acting in Terminator Salvation is rather bland and it doesn’t keep up much with the facial animations on all of the characters. You don’t feel like you’re actually in that world with them. The music in the game is barely noticeable and while hearing the Terminator theme song every now and again is nice, it gets too tiring after you complete every objective. The game lacks the ability to draw you into the world of the Resistance both by graphics and sound.

Plasma Factor

Is it right to price a game that lacks a considerable amount of content, the full 60 dollar price tag? A game like Terminator Salvation deserves to be priced somewhere around the $39.99 price range but even that’s pushing it. Without a distinct multiplayer mode, or even an interesting co-op mode, the game suffers from fulfilling any Terminator’s fan enjoyment. The game lacks the effort and love for the franchise to make this movie adaptation more worthwhile. Considering it was based on the first film, it was disappointing to see not even an ounce of blood drawn whenever someone was killed. Granted it was a Teen rating, but even Teen rated games at least have some sort of censored blood.

Conclusion

Terminator Salvation is far from being an average game; it’s just a bad game. For lacking content that even the most average third-person shooters have just puts this game on the wrong track. Also, being priced at the retail 60 dollar price tag doesn’t help consumers at all. I don’t think anyone can get over the fact that the game only takes 4 hours to complete and has you capable of earning all achievements in one night, I know I certainly can’t. The verdict on this title? Skip it, you’ll be glad you did unless you’re looking for a quick fix on achievement hunting and have 60 bucks to kill.