Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

"Come with me if you want to play a below average game !"

Ok, I am a huge fan as anybody of the terminator, from books,comics to films. So i had high hopes some what of this latest installment to the video game saga.

When I first heard of this release I thought cool maybe it's going to be like T2 the Arcade game, that was a fun shooter. Boy was I wrong! T3 is a first person shooter based on events that happened before the film, as well as hitting most of T3 high points. I know what your thinking sounds cool well let my review explain the good and the oh so bad.

Gameplay/Control 4/10
The gameplay is very tragic, it's quite laughable when your allies are running in place up against walls/hills. especially when they are supposed to follow you or vice versa to a certain objective point. Also it's hard to tell when you are hitting certain enemies there is really no indication of you hitting them. The enemies move okay and shoot with about the right accuracy one would expect. On the control front I don't understand if I am a terminator then why don't I at the very least have a lock on button? it would help with the pesky flying enemies. Also the aiming is not what it could be it's hard to aim at flying enemies as well as enemies that are aren't even far away? Also the few times the fps levels are broken up by mundane button mashing fights. The models in the fight scene however are a lot better quality then in the rest of the game. However the controls in these scenes are very jerky and require no skill just luck.

Graphics 6/10
the models aren't overall very good especially the endo skeletons, they don't look like the film or the comics at all. Where the graphics shine is in the games cgs which are done very well with a high amount of detail. The environments are actually really good with nice details, but all the in game models could have used more time.

Plot/Story 4/10
Truthfully I am not the biggest fan of T3, but I did expect a some what comprehensible plot. In this area of the game it really does seem like the game was rushed to match it's DVD release. From some reason The cgs stop telling the story and they decide to splice movie clips in instead which from me pulls me out of being the terminator. It just dosen't make sense to me, why they would opt to do this. So it's kind of hard to tell what is going on if you haven't seen the film that and the end is a joke?

Sound/Music 8/10 While the sound effects are only passable at very best, the music is what shines here great level scores and familiar movie themes are used very well through out the game. However good music does not make a good game.

Aprox Length/Difficulty Easy one night - a few days
I literally rented the game put it in and played it straight through on normal in about 6 hours max. However their are some bonuses that fans will love but not enough to play this game over and over.

Overallfun 5/10 especially the first time through, however the fun just seems to collapse under it's own weight. For example the last hand full of levels are nothing short of pathetic, in design and in length. Which was in a way very anticlimactic since the best levels are half way through the game and a few beyond that. If your a hardcore fan I would suggest a rental that will give you your terminator fill without the disappointment of spending 50 bones. So in short despite it's many flaws it is fun but only for a very limited amount of time. It's a shame i was really expecting more out of this title oh well, maybe next time.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/03