Faithful to the REAL Terminator franchise (Terminator - Future Shock (PS))

Member Name: cheffrey

Product:	Terminator - Future Shock (PS)
Date:	15/06/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks, feels and play like post-fallout LA

Disadvantages: A bit dated, and way too hard towards the end

Of course you like the Terminator franchise - what's not to like? A post-apocalyptic landscape populated with ragged pockets of human survivors hunted down by robotic Titanium skeletons with only one programme - to eradicate all human beings. Now, if like me, you were severely disappointed by the pathetic excuse of an addition to the Terminator canon that was the recent cinema release, "Salvation" ('Salivation' would a title that more accurately portrays the dribbling script), you may be left wondering where one may find a fix of the original, terrifying vision of the Terminator future, with all its aesthetics intact. If retro-gaming doesn't bother you, look no further...

Originally released in 1995/6 on different platforms, the version I remembered more fondly was the PC release. Placing you in the role of a resistance fighter, this game is fun yet simultaneously eerie. It loads you up with guns n' ammo in the same way that Doom 2 does, and likewise launches swathes of different robots and Terminators at you, which does take the edge off any element of fear you may have garnered of them from watching Arnie in the original movie. Yet despite its arcade-y approach, it does lovingly recreate the nuked-out wasteland of future LA, which is only shown in snippets in the first two movies. Kitting you out with a cool arsenal of guns from homemade pipe bombs to advanced laser weapons (with functioning night vision), there is plenty to blow up which is good fun, for the most part...

It also boasts some impressive (for the time) features, such as cars which you can drive, sporting cannons and guns in a way which Valve clearly utilised when creating the vehicles for Half-Life 2, and also fully 3D mouse-look with no stretching of walls or HUD.

The single player campaign is by far the most rewarding, giving you objectives and missions to complete, rather than the typical "kill the baddies, find the end-level switch" formula that contemporary FPS's used, making it so much more than just another "Doom clone" (remember that term?!). Taking you through missions such as bombing bridges, shutting down HK factories and destroying human-parts processing plants (represented so much better than in Terminator: Salvation), it takes you all the way to the Time Displacement Field Generators which are integral to the whole Terminator story, yet only hinted at. This does lead to annoying stages where super-hard Terminators are teleported in right next to you in their dozen, particularly later on in the game.

Of course it looks dated now against the likes of Call of Duty and similarly slick modern games, but this certainly does not make in unworthy. It's an overlooked rough gem in the FPS genre and has a place in the history of its development. Well worth a look if you like the Terminator story and like to play Duke Nukem 3D now and again. Go on, pretend it's 1997 again and the date August 29th scares you...

Summary: Highly recommended for gamers who like Termintors