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Terminator 3: The Redemption E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

The Governator is back, in a new action game based on Terminator 3.

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In spite of the setbacks caused by last year's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator 3: War of the Machines, Atari continues to have faith in the strength of the Terminator license. The publisher is currently banking on a new action game based on the popular Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Terminator 3: The Redemption. To its credit, Redemption is showing signs of promise as this year's E3 approaches. While attending a pre-E3 press event, we had the opportunity to see an early version of the game demonstrated on the PlayStation 2.

Redemption is an action game that includes roughly equal parts of on-foot combat, vehicle driving, and rail shooting. Throughout the game, you'll play as a terminator that resembles actor and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The acts that take place in the present day follow the plot of the film closely; you'll be going back in time in order to save John Connor and Kate Brewster from the T-X assassin terminator (modeled after actress Kristianna Loken). Other missions will place you in the post-apocalyptic future dominated by the machines, and you'll be using a variety of weapons in your fight against them.

While fighting on foot, you'll always have an assault rifle or similar weapon in your right hand. With your left hand you're free to swap out weapons, which could include anything from another assault rifle, to a rocket launcher, or even a traffic sign. Using the latter, you'll be able to whack enemy endoskeletons and then impale them with the pole. But if you don't finish the job, the stabbed endoskeleton can pull that traffic sign right out of its own body and turn the tables on you.

Aside from weapons, you'll have an array of hand-to-hand fighting moves that will allow you to destroy enemy terminators or even rip out their power cells for use as grenades. More advanced moves will allow you to disarm endoskeletons or even tear off torsos for use as a shield. Aside from these benefits, you'll gain more "terabytes" for destroying enemies in hand-to-hand combat as opposed to just shooting them. These terabytes are like experience points that can be spent to upgrade your health, targeting, or "termivision" mode, which is used to help you find items and secrets throughout the levels.

The driving levels are particularly interesting. Not only can you control your vehicle and fire weapons, but you also have the ability to jump from your current ride and hijack another. Since different vehicles have different strengths and weapon loadouts, changing vehicles can serve as a tactical purpose as well as a survival purpose (when you must bail a vehicle that's near death). Some of the vehicles at your disposal include trucks and jeeps armed with gun turrets, and "future killer" tanks armed with twin lasers.

Visually, the game offers some nice detail in the environments as well as in the character models and vehicles. The "Arnold" character model that you play as is a great example of this attention to detail. As you take damage, it reflects in your clothing and skin, which both become progressively tattered and torn, revealing the metal endoskeleton underneath.

Redemption will offer a total of 14 missions, spread out over four different acts. Three stand-alone cooperative missions are also available, but these will need to be unlocked by playing through the single-player campaign first. The cooperative missions are all rail shooters, with two players competing to see who can rack up the most kills.

Terminator 3: The Redemption, in its current state already appears to be a more interesting game than last year's Terminator 3 games. The developers at Paradigm Entertainment hope that Redemption's varied gameplay, detailed graphics, and bonus co-op mode will entice Terminator fans to give the game franchise another shot. The game is currently scheduled to release for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube in September.

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