No Salvation Here
Salvation opens with the war between humans and machines. John Connor reflects on the old days, and the wavering belief that he is humanitys saviour. The massive death tolls mean he is beginning to lose hope. What follows is a journey to restore that faith, by rescuing members of the Resistance and striking at the heart of SkyNet. Information and plot developments are presented through the ramblings of Connor's squad, and radio calls they intercept. 'Cut scenes' are all rendered, which highlight the mediocre in-game visuals. Glitches are everywhere. In addition, the lack of Christian Bale, who refused to lend his name and likeness, doesn't help authenticity.
Connor does battle with SkyNet enemies from the film, as well as Terminators specifically designed for the game. Yet the final amount is still underwhelming. Harvesters feature, but otherwise there isn't much variety, making combat a repetitive slog. A frustrating health system, which recharges at the end of each battle, can only aggravate matters. The entire campaign takes approximately 4 hours to complete. There are no extra features other than the ability to change difficulty settings, so replay value is non-existent. Although a multiplayer mode was originally planned, it was eventually dropped, presumably to release the game on schedule. However, local co-op has still made the cut.
An easy platinum, and similar quality to the accompanying film.
But overall, Terminator Salvation is a lazy, under-developed shooter, which does nothing to buck the trend of disappointing movie licenses.