GameCube owners were overlooked with the last Terminator game, Rise of the Machines,inspired by the third movie outing, but if the X-Box and PS2 reviews are anything togo by we aren't actually missing out on much. It wasn't a big surprise though as theobvious problem here is that, unlike the latest Hollywood pulp, Terminator has anestablished fan base who, because of the lengthy gaps in releasing sequels, represent a fairly wide agerange. What this means is that the fans are much more critical than say, someonewho's purchased the latest Disney game on the strength of seeing the film. This being the case lastyear's awkward Rise of the Machines was never going to please gamers, but whyexactly was it so unplayable? You have a killer license but as with most of the Star Wars games,little idea what to do with it. One aspect the film's critics did pick up on thoughis that the whole movie felt like one big chase sequence, which made it an irritating movie experiencebut perhaps perfect to transfer to a console game.

 

The coding responsibility fell to Paradigm Entertainment this time. In our initialpreview the game showed a lot of promise but experience has also shown us thatdespite this many of the finer details can get overlooked before the product actually hits theshelves. The question is do we have something the current Governor of California canbe proud of then or a disc that may as well be... well, Terminated? Read on and see...

Graphics:

Visually The Redemption is practically flawless and the graphics engineemployed has to be working flat out just to support the complicated on screenvisuals. In fact this is just about as close to the movie as you could conceivably achieve at the moment,which you'll notice as actual T3 footage is cleverly interwoven with some impressivecomputer generated FMV. From this you'll be drawn into one of the many levels where thedevelopers here have done an admirable job of cutting down loading times so thewhole process feels smooth and uninterrupted.

 

The actual levels themselves look wonderful whether they represent present day LA orsome futuristic Cyber hell and there's also very little evidence of slow downregardless of how much is happening on a screen that can occasionally become very crowded. Add to themix some impressive lighting effects and explosions and you'll quickly notice thetype of production values that put you in the middle of a Hollywood blockbuster. Overall TheRedemption is likely to be something of a benchmark as to what we should expect frommovie tie-in titles and trust us, that's no bad thing. In addition much of the scenery canbe destroyed which is always a plus especially if you find your intended targetescaping into the distance.

Sound:

Aiding the visuals is an impressive soundtrack which is clearly heavily basedon the movie's own score. It's also another game where the main star has lent theirvoice talent to the game. It's hard to see future high profile titles avoiding this now and givensome of the wooden performances we've had to endure over the years this isdefinitely a welcome move.

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Gameplay:

Whilst the majority of The Redemption is played out in a third personperspective it's not all on foot and during the games 14 levels you'll get theopportunity to control a number of different vehicles. You starts out playing as a lone Terminator battlingit out with a never ending supply of enemy robots that you have to dispose of inorder to aid the human race and ensure the survival of John Conner and Kate Brewster (yes, we forgother name too). It's here that you'll not only familiarize yourself with your ratherpowerful weapons and control system, but also improve your hand-to-hand combat skills. To behonest these are simple to say the least and unless you're in really tight spotyou'll hardly ever need or indeed want to use them.

 

After slaying a considerable number of these chrome-covered pests it's onto somestraight shooting that takes place on the back of a Tech-Com Truck. It's importantto note here that you're not only in charge of shooting everything that stands in your path butalso controlling the truck too. This is not as complicated as it sounds as much ofthe targeting is automated and the driving takes place around a reasonably linear track althoughfiguring out the shortcuts will greatly improve your chances of survival. On thesubject of survival if you do happen to fall foul of one too many enemy missiles then you can easilycommandeer one of several vehicles in the vicinity or even enemy robots that havemiraculously become rather docile, probably from all that shooting. This adds another strand tothe gaming as, while you may lose some ground on your intended target, the levelisn't over simply because your avoidance skills aren't up to scratch.

Outside of combat there are also some straight chase sections and while these seemimpossible at first the trick is to discover the short cuts, which quickly becomeobvious when you discover just how the level designer thinks. The level of expertise the gamerequires of you may seem occasionally unfair and you'll find that some sectionsrequire several replays before you realize that a simple button press at the correct moment willhave you quickly advancing to the next section. Finally there are the on-the-railsections. While these are generally not as challenging as the other areas of the game they'recertainly better than we expected. In one you are chased in your vehicle by ahelicopter although pushing left and right does allow you to avoid other cars which have been remotelycar jacked by the enemy. Others are straight shooting affairs and because your inputis minimum it does allow you to marvel at the rather lush visuals. One gaming aspect that wedid find completely useless is the rather lame attempt at upgrades that concern yourvision and targeting abilities but to be honest even when you are fully charged this makeslittle difference to your overall ability. Better is the cheat's section, which isunlocked as you collect points from completed missions. We won't tell you what they are but some are wellworth waiting for.

 

Final Say:

If you're a fan of the Terminator It's not all good though and the game does suffer from some minor problems, mostnotably the replay value. As with many games in this genre there's little to bringyou back for a repeat performance. This is primarily down to the linear nature of the levels aswhile the actual missions appear free roaming there's always a fixed entry and exitpoint. There's also a multiplayer section which you'll tire of very quickly but which could easily havebeen rectified with a few more gaming modes. The main game though remains a solidarcade experience and for T-800 fanatics this really is the closest you're likely to comeat the moment of actually experiencing the excitement of being in a Terminator Movie.