Terminator Salvation (video game)

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Terminator Salvation
Developer(s)	GRIN
Publisher(s)	Equity Games Evolved Games Sony Computer Entertainment
Writer(s)	Corey May, Dooma Wendschuh
Series	The Terminator
Engine	Diesel engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS
Release	May 19, 2009 iOS May 7, 2009
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Local Co-op

Terminator Salvation is a third-person shooter action video game, released on May 19, 2009 to coincide with the release of the film of the same name on the same week. It is developed by the Halcyon Company's gaming subsidiary, Halcyon Games, along with GRIN and published by Equity Games and Evolved Games. The game was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, mobile, and iOS. The game takes approximately four hours to complete and has no extra features other than the ability to change the difficulty levels. The "cutscenes" are in-game renders. All of the main information is presented through the musings of the protagonist's squad and the radio calls they periodically make.

Set in 2016 in Los Angeles, it is an interquel that takes place between the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation and follows John Connor (Gideon Emery), and his team, consisting of Angie Salter (Rose McGowan), Barnes (Common) and Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood). However, Christian Bale refused to lend his voice and likeness for the game. Rose McGowan is in the game as well, voicing the game-exclusive character Angie Salter, who is an ex-high school teacher. On the other hand, Common and Moon Bloodgood are voicing their own characters from the film (Barnes and Blair, respectively).

Gameplay

Terminator Salvation is a third person shooter where the player needs to "constantly move, flank, cover and utilize their squad to progress." The player must battle Skynet enemies from the film of the same name as well as new enemies specifically designed for the game.

The game features a campaign that can be played alone or cooperatively with one other local player via split-screen. The co-op version of the game enables players to play as both John Connor and his teammate Blair Williams.

The game employs a cover and movement system not unlike those featured in Gears of War and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, wherein the player can quickly choose to dodge between different forms of cover, coming out only to fire shots at enemies. Staying in cover is advantageous, as the player only regenerates health when they have not received damage for a certain amount of time (as in the Halo and Call of Duty games). Although players initially are only equipped with an M4 carbine, other weapons such as the RPG-7 and M79 grenade launcher, Remington 870 shotgun, and M249 SAW as well as various types of grenades (Flash and fragmentation) are acquired throughout the game. Enemy A.I. is relatively strong, both keeping track of the player's location realistically (that is, not omniscient but using sight and sound to locate the player) as well as actively pursing and flanking them when cover is sought by the player.

Plot

The game begins with the war between humans and machines. John Connor reflects on the old days of preparing for the future battle, but is beginning to lose hope by the massive number of human losses.

The three continue to go to Skynet while defending themselves. They decide to go to a tower so they can observe Skynet patrols so as to plan a route to rescue Weston. They encounter T-600s with rubber skin, which the trio destroy. Connor warns the other two about the T-850, which has real, vat-grown skin. They reach the tower, where they encounter a Hunter-Killer, but Connor, Williams and Angie manage to destroy it. There are too many machines on a nearby street that they planned to go down, so the three decide to go to Union Station at the subway, following all tracks to Skynet.

They traverse their way to a hidden survivalist camp. The survivalists seem to, at first, not trust them (because of the T-600s with skin), but they manage to gain their trust. They say they have not encountered Skynet for a long time. They go their separate ways, but Warren says they can visit them anytime. Warren still has doubts of their plan, saying that they could not communicate as long as a Skynet communications tower still stands. Barnes joins the three, saying he's tired of running and wishes to join the Resistance.

Battling numerous machines to infiltrate the Skynet compound, an alarm is accidentally triggered when Connor steals important documents, Angie sacrifices herself so that Connor and the others can return to the surface.

Connor is fixing what appears to be a vehicle. He calls his base, saying he needs airpower to rescue Weston's team. Linda says it is going to be a problem, because of a harvester. "That won't be a problem," Connor says, because Connor reprogrammed a Hunter-Killer tank, and programmed it to go straight to Skynet. He does not have control of the guns, though.

They destroy four areas of turrets and machines. Connor, Williams and Barnes are joined by three men to deactivate the turrets and to find Weston's men. Warren and the others cover Connor by destroying as many machines as possible.

They traverse Skynet and destroy all machines that they encounter, until they find Weston and his men. Warren's men agree to escort them to the vehicles.

The four try to make it to the control room. Connor shuts down the machines for a few minutes, enough time to get them out of Skynet. The four attempt to escape Skynet before they destroy the base. With the four of them safe, they all return to their Resistance camp. Connor narrates, saying that he has gained faith by what he is about to create in the future, instead of the past.

Development

The game was first announced on November 15, 2007, when the Halcyon Company also announced the formation of Halcyon Games, the video game arm of the studio. It had already been in development for several months at GRIN and Halcyon Games, long before filming took place. Peter Levin, a former Disney executive, will head up Halcyon Games as acting CEO. The CEO revealed that Halcyon decided to develop the game internally rather than contract another studio to create the game.

Although a multiplayer mode was originally planned it was decidedly dropped to allow the game to be released on schedule. With Halcyon developments' VP Cos Lazouras stating "It is my opinion to do less better, than more but mediocre. We did get local co-op in which is incredibly cool."

Voice actors

The complete cast is featured in the official site:

• Gideon Emery as John Connor - a soldier and future Resistance leader who was foretold of the war from his mother and previous encounters of Skynet's Terminators since childhood.
• Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams - Connor's ally and fellow soldier.
• Rose McGowan as Angie Salter - A troubled soldier. She tends to not fight at first, but she will be a loyal teammate as the story progresses.
• Common as Barnes - an underground survivalist who joins Connor's team.
• Sean Cory Cooper as David Weston - a Resistance soldier who Connor and Williams try to rescue from Skynet.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	51%(based on 18 reviews)
Metacritic	48% (based on 23 reviews)

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	D+
GameSpot	5/10
iPhone Reviews 2.0	9/10

Terminator Salvation received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Game rankings gave the Xbox 360 version a 55.67%, the PS3 version a 51%, and the pc version a 50%. GameSpot reviewer Chris Watters rated it a 5 out of 10 citing the repetitive combat, mediocre visuals, short length, and that the lead actor of the movie, Christian Bale, did not do the voice acting for the game's John Connor. Hilary Goldstein of IGN gave it a 6.3 out 10 for its passable visuals, good ally A.I., and complete lack of replay value. He also criticized it because Bale's voice was missing. In the video review, IGN didn't like Bale not voicing or the short game, but liked the enemy A.I. and the cover system. Justin Haywald, a reviewer for 1up.com, rated it a D+ noting the lackluster visuals, the repetitive combat, and bland plot. Will Herring, a reviewer for Gamepro, awarded the game 2 out of 5 stars for its "repetitive levels, incredibly frustrating health system, and mundane gameplay." X-play gave it a 2 out of 5. It ended up getting very high rental revenue from its infamously easy 'trophies' and 'achievements' for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

Angry Joe of That Guy with the Glasses and Blistered Thumbs gave the game a score of 2/10, blasting the game for its short length, severe lack of variety in enemies (wasps, spiders, and an occasional T-600; there are only four enemies throughout the entire game), and poor AI for both enemies and allies. He declared the game to be boring. During his review he showed footage from the game that demonstrates that enemies will stand in one single spot and shoot at walls rather than track the player as they flank around the enemy, and Joe described the player's AI allies as "useless." Joe also criticized the game's poor dialogue, voice acting, story, and cut-scenes.

External links

• Official website
• Terminator Salvation at IGN
• Terminator Salvation: The Video Game at IMDb