Terminator: Salvation Review
The Short Version: Not only is Terminator Salvation below average in every conceivable way, but the experience itself is extremely short (3-4 hours long) and offers no online multiplayer modes. How anyone decided it should be sold at full price ($59.99) baffles me and frankly is an insult to gamers.
The Review Video
Game Ideas: Terminator
The Long Version:
You guys remember when I said back in the Terminator: Salvation Game Preview Video that playing movie-tie in games is like being burned alive in a nuclear explosion?
Well i’m actually surprised at how correctly I predicted what it would be like to play this game, its exactly like that. Jacob and I had to FORCE ourselves finish this one in its entirety so you guys would never have to. You can thank us later. So what did we think?
Unfortunately fans, The Game is Ass. What makes it so bad? Well the Reasons are as follows:
What I Hated:
It’s Criminally Short
It will take you 3 maybe 4 hours to complete the game. And there is NO, I repeat NO multiplayer. 4 hours max and your are done. If that sounds like your kind of game then by all means buy it, but I expect more from a title that was originally sold at $60. Shame on GRIN, Microsoft, or whichever CEO decided on that price point. Its clear they were trying to take advantage of the movie release as most of these tie in games try do to.
Should I go on?
Now I could stop there and that should be enough for you to skip to the Final Verdict. But I had to endure this, the least you could do is continue to read the full article.
No Diversity in Enemies
Wasps, Spiders, Wasps, Spiders, Wasps, Spiders, Spiders, Spiders, Wasps, T-600, Spiders, oh also Wasps. The majority of the time you the same 3 or 4 enemies, not even the cool ones. Some might say well hey joe its terminator there wasn’t ORIGINALLY much variation in the enemies. That may be true but you’d be wrong – a true game designer could easily come up with solutions to this problem. For example just one idea – they could have had variation on the skin jobs for the terminators that had rubber skin- and allow pieces of this skin to blow off as you shoot at it.
Awful Voice Acting
A Short game, with no variation in the enemies? Its possible that we can forgive these if the production quality and story blow us away.
They did.
I’m blown away at how little effort was put into the voice acting, the dialogue itself is BAD and the actors probably know it – so they deliver their lines with ZERO emotion. Its no wonder Christian Bale refused to lend his voice and likeness for the game.
The money that went to pay Common, Moon Bloodgood (still a bad ass name) and Rose McGowan to voice the characters would have better been spent on the game’s Graphics.
Graphics/Cut Scenes/Story are Terrible
The graphics look like something on the PS2. Furthermore the Cut Scenes use the in-game character models. Huge mistake.
At least other failed terminator games had excellent CGI cutscenes to reward you as you play through the crappy missions. Other than the intro cut scene (well-done) You get nothing more.
Instead the “story” moves forward in these really bad puppet shows where they try to force their in-game character models to “interact” with each other realistically. It fails. And it ends up feeling like a really bad machinima.
No Multiplayer
So you blow through the game that has no collectibles, no reason to explore, no means to explore, and is finished in 4 hours tops. At least theres mulitplayer to save the title right? Wrong. No Mulitplayer. Nothing. Nada.
Bad AI
The greatest sin I think this game commits is not the lackluster graphics, its not the uninteresting story, its not the boring missions, but rather the unforgivably retarded AI.
Your teammates are useless and enemies stand in place allowing you to flank them easily, never changing tactics the whole game.
What I Liked:
Local Couch Co-op
The game has a split-screen 2 player co-op mode through the entire single player campaign. Player one takes John Conner, Player Two gets Blair Williams. As I said before your AI teammates are worthless so at least here your buddy can correctly flank the enemies and actually take part in the battle.
In one level you play as an HK Tank
This was the only fun level we played. In one of the cut-scenes John says hes going into sky net territory to rescue some soldiers – someone tells him hes crazy – he replies with something like “I’ve got a plan”. The next moment we see him roll out on a mechanics chair from him underneath a f*cking HK Tank apparently having just reprogrammed it! WHAT??!! When the Hell did that Happen?!? Where the HELL did he Find it, since I havent seen one in the game up until now? How the frak did he get close enough to even turn it off? Wait, turn it off? HUH?
I think the developers at this point said “F*ck it”, we don’t care anymore, just let them play in an HK tank. Well it was fun for 15 minutes, mainly because we were so powerful the level was easy as hell and it was the only one we didnt have to restart on the hard setting.
Final Verdict
This game makes me ANGRY, I’m stuck playing this while you smart people out there are playing Prototype, Red Faction, and Ghostbusters. I HATE ALL OF YOU.
The game was a chore, and absolute chore to play through, it should never be that way. Never. Everything is below average or worse here and the game itself is a disservice to the franchise.
2/10
DESTROY IT!
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44 thoughts on “Terminator: Salvation Review”
Bought it and finished it 10 easy times before returning it. shame cuz i am a HUGE fan. A Terminator game WOULD be freakin awesome with the FROSTBITE 2 engine……….OMG BATTLEFIELD TERMINATOR ?!!
Fighting as Resistanse vs Terminator? wow idea idea
I don’t know much Terminator, but T3 antagonist… amorphous shapeshifter, HELLO!!!!
*shudders* you really have to show that stuff near the beginning? Gonna have nightmares, almost threw up x.x
The arcade game is much better than this shit( arcade is much harder though, but still fun as hell!)
okay, how and when did joe get electric sith powers?
Do I hear FF VI in the beginning? Acoustic guitar remix of Terra’s theme of sort?
BTT, Figured the game would suck balls, decided not to get it in the first place.
If you are talking about the music that is playing when Joe is checking his mail. I am more then sure that is just an acoustic version of the Terminator theme? song. (I put a question mark because I dont know if its ACTUALLY the theme…)
If thats NOT what you are talking about then I dont know.
What an epic fail.
I’m gonna try out the ‘Moron Meter’.
JOE YOU’RE A GENIUS!!!!!
Ouch I didnt buy the game i just wanted to hear what you were gonna SAY T_T
me and my friend bought this for 5 dollars and we an okay time playing but shortly after we returnt to other coop games
What if they made a Terminator game that plays like Prototype. Playing as a tricked out T-16, playing in a “what if” universe as skynet’s ultimate terminator to finally obliterate the humans, that eventually turns against Skynet to either become the new Robotic over-mind or become the savior of the humans. in other words, Star Wars: the Force Unleashed with a better and more epic story. You could even set up a sort of talent point system to make your terminator more artillery based or make him stronger in melee combat, or (now this is a big stretch) being able to summon and control other terminator units.
P.S. this is coming from someone who knows little to nothing about the terminator universe, so feel free to poke holes in the continuity of this concept, but thats what I think would make an interesting game with what little i know from the Terminator story.
I would put more gameplay in the game like as you said like a evil side of the story where you play as skynet and a alternate ending of what would happen if skynet took over the world?
Hey, I hope you have a good day! Very good article, well written and very thought out. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts in the future.
Publisher: Evolved Games
not very fitting.
i can’t name a single terminator game that gets over a 5 and that includes the really old terminator games from the 80′s and 90′s the only good terminator game is the arcade the home arcade port and that’s about it
not even the terminator 3 games are worth buying unless they’re 5 bucks or less
Where can I find that clip of the nuke from the beginning?
ok, i got to ask, where do you get your props. they look like REAL M16s, MP5s, and real shotguns. tell me where you get them! please!
kinda like one splinter cell game i tryed… i played on EASY DIFICULTY!!!! and it still whas impossible to complete the first mission… IMPOSSIBLE
If Grin can see this I’ve got 6 ideas. Number 1. More weapons for both the humans and the Terminators, 2. combat in the air that would be intrusting, 3. Three words RPG, 4. more freaken vehicles, 5. more locations than just LA come on there’s war everywhere! And finally Number 6. A Flippen online multiplayer mode!
Grin get this into your HEAD!
When will Grin make a ”good game!” Terminator salvation would’ve been a great game if only a certain company put more effort to it! Till now I’m sticking with T3: Rise of the Machines and Redemption.
Top 5 Methods to fix up Terminator: Salvation: Make it an RPG or Open worlded. DAMNED unlockables and a FUGGIN Online mode! Instead, we get this shit. FUCK YOU, GRIN!
5 words. (The first two don’t count.) The game sucks balls easily!
Were those airsoft guns? Or what are they and were did you get them?
they could have prototype units as bosses and supplus robots from befor judgment day reactivated even human slaves some thing
Sean those five stars you have that’s by acident my stupid cusin did that. yeah he’s an A.
ya its only 17$ now but u can the the chronicles of riddick assult on dark athena for 17$ and its fucking amazing too full campains with trophies/achements
then can just add varation by add damger to some of of the siper like fire ice and the wast can have a sting thats pinonis
I’m sorry but WHAT the HELL are you saying!?!?
I tried this game at a friends. I played for 10 minutes, then I laughed at him for buying it. ITS A PIECE OF TRASH! BURN ALL COPIES YOU FIND!
Wich is sad, I remember another obscure Terminator game-title. I dont remember the name though. But think a Battlefield style game where you played as the Resistance Vs Skynet. You could play as alot of different Machines with different weapons and vehicles. As the Resistance you’d play as different classes, from medic to engineer, sniper to soldier and such. And you’d use wrecked vehicles for transportation or in some fights something a bit more armored.
It was awesome, its a shame no-one ever knew about it. I just ran into it by accident.
That battlefield game sounds awsome if only they put that in this game then it would suck less.
Kenko forgete that other reply I just F**KED up.
Oh CRAP! Joe don’t think Kenko is an idiot for putting five stars. I did that one by acident. Sorry.
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I got this game for 10 when it first came out, even then I thought I was being jipped. The graphics werent bad, but the controls were awful, no multiplayer, no diverse weapons. It was just boring. I finished it in a game, and the hard mode is completely unfair. I cant believe i paid money for it. Joe, I am happy you slapped me in the face (for the 4th time watching this review). Please make more reviews on more games cause you are the most serious reviewer and you respect the 360. Great job.
Joe you can rest.
GRIN R.I.P 1998-2009
I fell bad.
GRIN is from sweden but only this make me sad from GRIN.
What could have made this freakin badass is if it had first person but still had the cover system i thought that was only good thing about the game. Anyway the second thing that the game was open world that would give you the feeling of being out in the open with no cover at all when like seven freakin T-600s come all around you and there was no hope. Finally is when the game is over U STILL GET TO PLAY THE F*CKIN GAME continue the war have fun killin fucking robots hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Tell me if im wrong but mabye it would be alot better if you were a terminator instead of a human. That way you have more enemy divercity, more kick-ass weapons and their isnt a need for friendly AIs. A four player co-op mode could have four terminators unleashing almighty destuction on an endless wave of enemies or have your couch buddies help you on a realy pain in the ass level
Terminator 3: The Redemption is the only decent terminator game. Have you ever played it Joe? You play as terminator model 101 from 3rd person view. You fight with humans agains terminators for a while least the beginning of this game is bad ass cant really remember much from it i only rented it for a while and never got to play it to its end. there is like driving in the future you can jump from car to car like in pursuit force and your guy like hacks those terminator vehicles and drive whit it. Damage system is SWEET more your guy gets damaged more badass he looks like in the end his skill is almost all off and you can see the metal exoskeleton and his leg is broken so he walks bit slower. it had great graphics for old xbox game. overall its great game. Writing about it makes me want to play it…
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There WAS a Terminator ‘battlefront’ game essentially (I cant remember the name) it was ‘ok’ at best though and Id love to see them try again with more modern technology. And less suck
Frankly the only really damn good terminator game I can recall is Future Shock but that was over a decade ago….
It was ‘War of the Machines’ (PC game) (finally remembered!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_3:_War_of_the_Machines
It was to be fair, not the worst pile of ass ever made but it could have been sooo much better
ya T3 war of the machines was an ok game. my ex gf got it for me thinking i would like it, i didnt at first, but when there isnt anything else to play it grows on you. i have played worse games baced on movies, and this one was one of the rare few that you could play. this, however, is my opinion. the best terminator game that i have played, and again, my opinion is T3: The Redemption. i love how it kinda goes with the movie then it pulls away from the story line of the movie to give the experence of playing a game that is in the univerce, not an adaptation of a movie. Joe you should do a review on The Redemption, i think this one will suprise you. i will say it isnt the greatest game out there, its one of the better movie baced games. oh and btw Joe, im a fan of your show and your reviews. please keep them comming and dont hold back on the rage when you have to play through a crappy game, it makes the review that much funnier, lol i have watched your review of Sonic Free Riders like 3 times because i think its funny how bad that game is and your reaction to it lol. keep up the great work.