Terminator 3: The Redemption

To Kill one You Must Become One

NA release: 9th September 2004
EU release: 24th September 2004
JP release: 20th January 2005
Developer: Paradigm Entertainment
Publisher: Atari
NGC Magazine Score: 76%
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

I was quite surprised when I started playing this game. I was aware of a terrible Terminator 3 game, which is a really broken and horrible feeling first person shooter developed by Black Ops. It turned out that Atari got two different developers to make games for Terminator 3. As The Redemption looked more promising, Atari even let Paradigm delay the game beyond the DVD release to give them extra time to develop it. Some people even say that “The Redemption” title was given as an apology for the first (although it’s probably just a coincidence).

The Redemption definitely knows what it is, and doesn’t try to be more than an action packed film tie-in. The shooting and movement is a bit wonk and the graphics aren’t that great, but the game never lets up for a second. Every single moment is an action set-piece with a ton happening on screen. There’s a ton of turret sections, but they’re so busy that they’re actually quite enjoyable.

A large chunk of the game is spent on vehicles – either some modern day ones or some future Skynet-based vehicles. The routes you take are pretty much on-rails, but the controls are smooth. When you approach other vehicles, you get the chance to jump over and commandeer their vehicles. Just like the rest of the game, these sections are high-octane with a ton of explosions happening.

The story loosely follows the film, starting with Arnie getting reprogrammed and fighting his way to the Skynet time machine. Near the end of the game, the TX Terminator sends Arnie back to the future where he has to fight Skynet again to get to John Connor in the present day. It makes no sense that humans had already had a time machine, but it’s a good excuse to have more insane future action. It doesn’t really matter anyway as The Sarah Connor Chronicles erased T3 and its unfortunate cancellation was the end of the Terminator franchise.

Fun

In most levels you’ll probably die a few times before you realise what you’re meant to be doing. But it’s good fun and, until they get the same development team working on a proper all-killing, all-evil Terminator 1 game, it’ll remain the only excuse for Arnie to be allowed near a console.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #100

Remake or remaster?

A re-release would be fun.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Terminator 3: The Redemption.