Every so often, a game comes along that you desperately wish to love. You give this game more slack, and more benefit of the doubt than most similar, equally miserable games. Despite your generous "grading curve," however, the game ends up being nothing more than a complete and total train wreck and you are forced to admit to yourself as much. This is the sad, sad case of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,
I don't honestly understand how this one was ruined – you've got one of, if not THE coolest character in movie history, complete with – for the first time ever – Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice and likeness. The Terminator films are also home to some of the best action sequences ever seen on film. So then, how does a game that has the potential to be the best licensed product to ever grace consoles, turn into the biggest disappointment of the year?
It begins with the gameplay – imagine if the "follow the arrow" style that made up over 80 percent of Enter The Matrix – another Atari "classic" – was put into FPS form. That pretty much sums up the shooting sections in Terminator 3, and what's more, the shooting isn't all that compelling.
The reason for the gunplay being so sad is that most of the game takes place pre-T3, during the future war against the machines, and you are stuck fighting mindless robots that just march towards you, waiting to be killed. While it's certainly not a bad concept in the least to design a game as a semi-prequel to one of the year's best action movies, the weapons in Terminator 3 all seem severely weak. In addition to all feeling like glorified pop guns, many of the weapons in the future part of the game are so similar, there is hardly ever need to change. Additionally, in what seems to be one hell of a weird decision, you will often find yourself scarce on basic ballistic ammo, though you never seem to have a problem finding grenades to lob, or rockets to launch. The extraordinarily weak A.I. and overabundance of ammo makes Terminator 3 a game that you will be able to finish in half a night or less.
Once you get to the past portion of the game – the part that actually takes place during the movie – your weapons feel like they are infused with a bit more "oomph," though they don't feel nearly as powerful as they should. There is nothing sadder in a FPS than a weak-sounding, weak-looking shotgun. Unfortunately, this will be your weapon of choice for much of the latter portion of the game, as the pistol and even the SMG do not seem to do anything to stop the enemies in your path – I once emptied an entire SMG clip into a swat member – IN THE HEAD – and he did not even flinch. Topping off the selection of pop-guns is a grenade launcher – which does not launch grenades. That's right – in my copy of the game, at least, the grenade launcher gives out a poof of air, then nothing. This sort of thing is inexcusable.
As bad as the gunplay in T3 is, the fighting sequences are that much worse. Many sequences in the game have you engaging in hand-to-hand combat against an opponent, most often the T-X. While these sequences do offer some decent damage modeling as your Terminator takes blows, the fighting is so mundane and basic that it seems like a waste. Terminator 3 had some of the best fight sequences in recent memory, and the game does very little to recapture that awesomeness.
Graphically, Terminator 3 has very little going for it aside from the inclusion of Ah-nuld's likeness. The graphics are hideously bland and basic, and you never even get the chance to see those cool-looking shotgun imprints on the TX as you shoot at her. Incorporating in-game versions of the battle damage effects in the Terminator series would have gone a long way towards making the title exciting, but I suppose Atari was betting on the likeness and license being enough to carry the visuals through.
Speaking of which, I can't imagine that Arnold could have been paid that much for this performance, and if he was, then someone got ripped off in a big way. While the Terminator movies aren't exactly Shakespeare, and Arnold has about a comic book worth of dialogue in each of them, this game has even fewer lines. Schwarzenegger has about 5-8 phrases, each of which is chosen randomly. For example – once, a character offered her thanks for my help, to which the Terminator replied "I don't think so." Huh?! This one was obviously an easy payday for Mr. Schwarzenegger, and it is painfully obvious that he just phoned this one in.
All in all, the gaming community is sadly forced to wait for a decent Terminator game. The only thing more amazing than how badly this seemingly un-fallible premise fails is the fact that I managed to write this entire review without a single "Governator" remark. Oh…whoops.
-George
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