Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Mission presentation has that disjointed feel of a rushed product. The onscreen characters (John Connor looks nothing like Christain Bale – star of the movie) look dated and have lip syncing lifted straight from the latest Britney Spears live concert.
Generally the message is got across, and most missions consist of bounding through the ruins in search of the next fire-fight.
Well we would “bound”, if we could, the game controls don’t include a Jump, Crouch or even Run button. There is a handy “vault” option at selective points along the way, but it not consistent enough to rely upon.
Each encounter consists mostly of shooting galleries, with a total of four opponents utilised throughout the game. Five if you include some short staged moments against a flying Hunter Killer (HK) and an argument can be made for the couple of on-rails sections that feature some gun emplacements, or other fast moving machine enemies.
There is an element of forced strategy, most enemies are tough, but all have a ‘weak spot’ that will make their destruction easier. The Spider bots, that constantly plague the resistance in particular must be out-flanked and shot from behind.
In order to achieve this, the player has two options. Option one, is to look at how your accompanying squad (which you have no influence on) fans out to the available cover. Connor can then take the opposite flank, waiting until the bots are focussed on your un-dying cohorts, and blast them from behind.
Option 2 consists of sitting back, having a cigarette and waiting for your squad to take care of the foes. Not the most engaging of game-play, and pretty boring, so not the option of choice.
The enemy AI for the most part is woeful, given these cyborgs and robotic warriors were spawned from a super computer that became self aware, I believe Sky-Net might still be admiring itself in the mirror as it churns out these mindless drones. Sure they are unrelenting; in the same way a boulder is unrelenting.
Cues for when one fire-fight is over and it is time to move on are; your AI buddies bugger off, and the pulsing background music dies away. Most likely at this point you will be treated to yet another “Loading” screen.
There are some great moments in the game – the Eagle Rock rescue mission springs to mind – but 90 percent of this [very] short single player adventure is mediocre and uninspired. One that fans of the Terminator franchise should steer clear of, it is one of those experiences that leaves a greater sense of disappointment than a game not linked to a favourite film or book (Haze I am looking at you).
Basically after playing through the single player and co-op (a sort of Westernised version of Resident Evil 5’s co-op, there is no online or multiplayer here) I am no longer looking forward to the movie. This may be an isolated feeling, but if not, it should be a lesson learned by publisher Warner Bros who are beginning to set the standards for movie-to-game tie ins.
Unfortunately, the only thing that could save Terminator Salvation would be if the development team could travel back in time and start the project again.
David Bass
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