There’s a very big part of us that wishes we weren’t sat here writing this. It’s not that we have anything better to do, you understand: it’s due entirely to Salvation’s subject matter. You see, the Terminator series is one very close to our hearts. The Connors’ tale of survival against Skynet’s relentless killing machines was one of our favourite memories of the last century – memories we still like to relive from time-to-time thanks to the excellent DVD releases.
But since T2, we’ve grown very dissatisfied with all things Terminator. Perhaps it was the lacklustre and wholly ill-advised third film that did it for us, or the associated web of lies that has been spun so freely in an attempt to keep the franchise going (after all, most of us should have been incinerated, liquidated or killed in action around ten years ago, according to the original Terminator timeline) – but either way, we’re not happy.
Still, it seems our misgivings have yet to put Hollywood off churning out a fourth film – and as is the way with such things, we’ve now got a new Terminator game to look forward to as well. And our grumbles about the franchise as a whole aside, there was a whiff of promise to it when we saw it in action recently. The game kicks off with John Connor still a lowly soldier in a resistance movement, faltering under the pressure of Skynet’s army of mechanised killers, and helps to explore and deepen some of the concepts seen in the film, such as Connor’s fervent belief in the sanctity of life.
And befitting a game that sees man pitted against machine, Terminator: Salvation’s gameplay looks set to fit nicely into the tactical, squad-based third-person shooter mould. With the metal machines proving to be rather more sturdy than their fleshy human counterparts, players and their squad members must use tactics and the environment to even up the odds, as they pick their way through the shattered urban ruins they find themselves in. The tactics that are to be employed depend largely on the enemies facing you: certain machines – such as the smaller, faster ones – can be taken down with a well-placed shotgun blast, with your main concern being to ensure they’re destroyed before they – or their robotic comrades – can return fire.
By contrast, some of the heavier rivals you’ll face require more elaborate approaches. For instance, a particular type of enemy may only be vulnerable from the rear, so you may find yourself needing to draw its fire to allow your squad members to sneak around the back and take out the target. To this end, the level design helps a lot. As with Gears of War – a game which Salvation takes more than a few cues from – there’s no shortage of decimated buildings, mounds of rubble and burnt-out cars to duck behind and move between – indeed, some of the level design is so elaborate that you’ll even be able to move between floors while in battle.
The combat won’t be exclusively on foot though, thanks to the now-obligatory vehicle sections. The sequence we saw showed our squad fighting a moving battle with some of Skynet’s airborne forces. During this battle, our team had to slug it out against both heavy enemies and swarms of lighter, more nimble foes, with deciding what to concentrate fire on being a key element of the gameplay.
With a solid-looking gameplay foundation and (we’ll grudgingly concede) a potentially interesting storyline to work with, Terminator: Salvation has all the makings of a solid enough shooter. Whether it ultimately lives up to this prediction is still in the lap of the gods – but as soon as we’ve played it, we’ll let you know.
