Terminator: Dawn of Fate (Sony PlayStation 2, 2002)

This game had the potential to be a very good game. For a ps2 game the graphics are good. The story is weaved from the Terminator movies and though I have not seen the Terminator in years it was pretty easy to see where the story was going.

I wasn't expecting great storytelling. Writers are generally boxed in by the confines of a video game and throw the confines of the Terminator Universe into it and you understand why the story is limited and the characters not fully developed. That being said, the story is sufficient. Basically, you are out to kill machines and they are out to kill you.

You alternate between three different characters. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, they all play the same. It's all pretty much the standard video game fare. You collect weapons and ammo, vests, and health packs as you complete mission objectives.

My main gripe with this game is the horrible camera. It seems to pick the worst perspective possible and while you can use your gun sights to see where you want, when you revert back to your standard camera angle it confuses as to which direction you were looking. Sometimes, as you are running, the camera switches angles and as long as you keeping pushing straight your character will keep running in the same direction, but if you turn a little your character will spin off into the opposite direction and you have to regather your bearings which will usually get you killed when under fire.

The games other problems are it only saves at the end of missions. Also, it seems a bit short of ammo, vests and health packs at times. You have the option of using a melee attack, but the auto target seems to miss a lot and while there are energy guns that rebuild their charge, they are near the end of the game.

Complaints aside, I beat the entire game in standard difficulty, although I didn't manage to unlock hard difficulty, as I didn't earn enough medals. Which brings me to the medals.

At the end of levels you are rewarded with medals depending on how many droids you take down using melee, damage taken, speed, shooting accuracy and so on. If you get 4 medals on a mission you get a cheat. I wish I could tell you what they are, but I never managed to get four medals because of the bad camera. And though you have the opportunity to replay levels, the game was not fun enough to make me want to replay any level again.

Basically, this game can be beaten from beginning to end in three days. And while I somewhat enjoyed the game while I played it, the bad camera makes me not to want to play it again. If you are a Terminator fan, can handle the bad camera, enjoy a challenge and can get this for a good price, I think you'll enjoy this game, otherwise you'll be disappointed.

I like the story, the graphics. The game is so hard at times it's completly frustrating. No easy, med. or hard settings boo. No save game points untill the very end of each level boo. These two elements make a otherwise great game such a point of frustration I'm not sure most people would be commited enough to finish the game. I hope the developers continue to make games becuase this was such great gameplay just next time add some save points or difficulty levels. Greg P.

This game could have truly been a great game, however it lacks in many respects. The story is quite good, just underdeveloped, the graphics are pretty amazing, the characters are plain and not fully developed, and the gameplay is horrible. I love the premise of the game, however it seems as though it was put together haphazardly and in a hurry. The camera angles, which are uncontrollable, are horrible. It is strictly third person, first person would have been better. The gameplay and controls are substandard. The story and graphics are about the only thing worth mentioning. Fans of the terminator series may be interested in this game, but even diehard fans are going to be disappointed. This was a great idea, it was just put together in a very bad way.

This review is in my son's words. I enjoy the game because there is a lot of action in it. I like to be able to practice my shooting skills and this game gives me the opportunity to do that. This game is very simular to the movie and this makes it even more realistic to play. I recommend it for kids that like a lot of action.

Bought this game for the PlayStation 2 for my grandson to enjoy. He likes it a lot. Lots of action and imigination. Great game for any boy or older guy, too. Don't recommend it for the girls!