Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

"Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines at it's heart is a mediocre first person shooter."

In Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines you take control of Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator character from the movie T3. You must get yourself back in time and save John Conner from the T-X, a new breed of Terminator sent back in time to kill John and his fellow Generals before they can start the resistance against the machines. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines starts you off in the future helping protect the humans and finishing objectives in order to get your self to the Time Displacement machine and sent back in time. The game is set up in chapters starting in the Future and ending in the present. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines at it's heart is a mediocre first person shooter. While it has everything any other first person shooter has it seems it's just not all there, if you know what I mean. It has great graphics and controls rather well, but it just seems to be lacking in all other areas. At no point is there really any strategy to be had on the players part of even the enemies part for that matter. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines was definitely produced to cash in on the movie and sadly this is apparent through most of the game.

Graphics-6
This is truly were Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines shines. Unlike many other Terminator games, in Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines you can really tell your fighting terminators. The enemies are the best part, from the flying Skynet patrols to the vicious Terminator tanks they are all here and they are all firing full cannons at you. The graphics truly set you up to feel as though in the beginning you are in the future world of the Terminators and nearer the end, the levels are very true to the movie counter parts. What really brings down the rating for graphics is frame rate and pop up. When the action hits heavy sometimes the games speed drops very noticeably and that is just a definite downer when you blasting baddies. Another problem would be things just popping into existence for no reason. You'll clear out a room of enemies, turn around and get shot in the back by something that was not there two seconds ago, or even worse they will just appear out of the blue right in front of you.

Gameplay-4
Sadly this is one of Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines major down falls, not only is this game short, 4-5 hours total, but there is almost no challenge what so ever. In the beginning post apocalyptic world you basically go from point A to point B and shoot everything in between, nothing changes from level to level other then backgrounds. Even the weapons are so mundane you'll find your self not really caring about what you find because you've been using the same gun from the start. The last levels, the ones from the flick are even worse. You'll sometimes complete a mission and have no clue as to how since all you did was step forward. The funniest aspect though has to be the side view fighting that goes on every once in a great while, seems there are boss fights that happen very sporadically for no reason, which basically involve bashing either the kick, punch, or throw button and watching Arny robotic-ly attack his opponent. These segments are more amusing then fun and felt rather pointless in the whole scheme of things.

Sound-3
The sounds of Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines are another shining merit all be it with it's own downfalls too. The voices are all done by the original cast, if not plucked right from the flick, hence it gets points for that. And the explosions and action are all there to, but a gleaming lack of background music and a constant problem of sound volumes changing keep this score quite low. Not to mention the fact that when there are in movie cut scenes it's almost as though your getting the rough cut of the flick and not the final presentation.

Control-4
The controls are pretty spot on for a first person shooter. Meaning basically nothing new, though you can map them in anyway you want so that's a plus. The side by side fight scene really drag the score down due to clunky response and glitchy feel. At no point did I feel as though I was actually fighting and not just mashing the buttons.

Overall-4
What this all boils down to is a pretty average game with one or two redeeming factors. Bad controls, a story line that expects you to have scene the flick, and sub par graphics really make Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines a disappointment for fans and gamers. For fans of the Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines movie there are some good extras to unlock and a few movie features to see. There is really no replay value at all here, which is sad, so definitely rent this if your not a fan of the Terminator series. The truly sad part here is that there is a demo for Terminator 3 Redemption here and it blows away the entire Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines game. Don't play this demo till after you play Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines or you will be sourly displeased if not down right angry. No replay, no story, no good.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/03/04