I did some terminating. Find out what I thought!
[Updated with official iPhone trailer below]
Gameloft was kind enough to invite iPGN to their San Francisco office to get some alone time with the highly anticipated movie tie-in, Terminator Salvation today. I’ll say right off the bat that this game is looking really good, and will no doubt post a high mark for other 3rd person shooters to reach.
As expected, Terminator Salvation follows the storyline of the movie, which will be released late May. You play as both John Connor and Marcus Wright depending on the mission.
The game engine is based off Hero of Sparta, but looks quite a bit crisper in my opinion. The 3D visuals are fantastic, especially with the many in-game cutscenes throughout each mission. The soundtrack and effects are also great. I noticed some jitteryness in the framerate and audio a few times, but it didn’t take away from actually playing the game.
The game plays as a standard third-person shooter. Using Gameloft’s wonderful on screen “joystick” and the right thumb to aim/look, it was surprisingly easy to take down enemies. This is in part due to slight auto aim that will draw ther reticule to a target when you get close. You still have to aim on your own to get a head shot, or target other parts of the body. I found that the controls allowed for fairly quick manuevering, and it was quite easy to straff and move while shooting a target. There’s also a nice automatic cover system that activates when you get near a wall or barrier.
The gameplay itself varies. As you’ve seen by the screens there is a driving mission (that was sweet, but slightly tough to control), as well as a variety of others. There are only 8 missions total, so the game seems like it may be a bit short. Luckily,when you go back and play at higher difficulties, you can unlock new characters to play through the game with. You can also collect little cells from downed enemies to unlock game artwork as you play. I played one level on the “extreme” difficulty, and couldn’t make it through! So even if the game is too short on lower difficulty levels, it should prove quite a challenge on the higher ones.
There are 6 weapons in the game, including the AR, Surge Cannon, and the classic T1 chain gun. As you progress, you will be able to hold more than one weapon, and switch between them in combat. Smartly, Gameloft chose to go with automatic reload, so you don’t have to worry about extra buttons to press when you’re firing.
All around Terminator Salvation looks to be a very tight and polished package, as one would expect from Gameloft. Since it’s a movie game, you can expect it to be released around the $7.99 – $9.99 price point when it comes out the first week of May. Other than some very minor audio/visual hiccups, this looks to be a real winner when it’s released, and a step forward for more games like it on the iPhone.
