Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines for Game Boy Adv Reviews & Ratings by IGN

Atari's "T3: Rise of the Machines" from developer Taniko (of He-Man GBA fame) puts you in the role of California's governor for the first time in this able, although consistently flawed shooter.

Features:

• 2 difficulty levels
• Password save
• Multiplayer modes

It's the year 2032 and in the midst of a massive Skynet attack, you, a lone T-800 robot must escape your surroundings and travel back in time once again to prevent the death of John Connor, as well as several of his lackeys. What this more or less boils down to is running around your little isometric world, blasting at everything you see while keeping a constant eye out for the next exit. The game features ten worlds to shotgun your way through, using a nice variety of firearms, projectiles and melee attack.

One of the first things you'll notice when you start this game up (aside from the lack of battery save - ugh) is how much effort was poured into making this world believable. Backgrounds are detailed and imaginative, with wreckage and machinery strewn about each level with a complete lack or repetition. Likewise, character sprites (rendered from 3D models) are detailed, moody and effective. The entire palette of the game oozes with the colors of futuristic doom, highlighted by the fact that as you take damage, your robot will lose his skin, ultimately becoming that iconic, metal harbinger of doom we all know and love.

It's just a shame you look so goofy when running about. While a huge amount of effort has been placed on making this game look gorgeous, the animation is awful. Characters move like a hyperactive kid on Christmas morning -- frantic, awkward and clumsily. This is no way ruins the beauty of the visuals, but it does knock the experience down a few notches. The flow of the game in general just seems to be off, which is a shame because if everything played as well as it looks, this game would be golden.

Presentation in this game is incredibly strong. Menus, interaction with other characters and cinema shots are above par for the system -- it's very clear that the developers set out to make a game that did not look cheap, and here they've certainly succeeded. Sound effects are a mixed bag (spacey sound bytes are cheapened by annoying cartoony 'boing's every time you bust open a drum). But the music is effective and inventive, a solid blend of techno melodies that compliment the big-action gameplay.

So how is the gameplay? Well, it's not particularly good or bad. While there is some variation in objectives, most of the game comes down to shooting, running for an exit, shooting, running and so on. This wouldn't be too bad if the shooting aspects of this title were a little more impressive. You are supplied with a nice, ever-changing arsenal that you can switch between with your R-button. However both you and the enemies jerk around and feel very disconnected to each level. A nice little health meters appears above the head (or dome) of each foe during your attack, but attacks feel clumsy and uninspired. It's often difficult to find enough distance between yourself and your enemies for an effective attack, which is essential because getting too close means you'll be welcomed with a never-ending barrage of bullets.

To spice things up a bit, the developers implemented a few interesting options. Pressing the select button will give you that classic infrared display, which aides in identifying objects and people. And tapping the L button with cycle you between three movement styles - the walk (which is too slow), the run (which is too fast) and the strafe (which doesn't do much at all). Actually, having the option to strafe in a shooter like this is a welcome idea, except that you're limited to facing whichever direction you were at the time you entered strafe mode. With some sort of enemy lock-on system this feature could have turned the game into the next Smash TV. But as it stands now, it's a fairly useless gimmick.

A compass hovers at the top corner of the screen, giving ever-available directions to your next objective. I suppose this might help some players, particularly young fans of the film but in some ways it cheapens the gameplay experience. Using the compass, you can effectively run from goal to goal without the need to ever explore or pay attention to the story. Objectives aren't particularly interesting (and can be quite annoying -- this game isn't above fetch quests), but thankfully they aren't incredibly long, either. The difficulty is a bit on the light side, however -- even boss battles come down to just sitting off to one side and blasting until the robots disappear.

But lastly, there is one fantastic thing this game has going for it, and that is multiplayer. Hooking up several GBAs (with a cart each) allows up to 4 players to take part in a bout of capture the flag, or 2 players to battle the machines together in co-op mode. Even flawed games take a leap in quality when you're fighting alongside a friend.

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