Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: The Terminator: Dawn of Fate

Written by John Scalzo on October 15, 2002

Full Review: You still don't get it, do you? It'll suck. That's what it does. THAT'S ALL IT DOES!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of my favorite movies of all time. The Terminator is great fun as well. It's safe to say that both have a proud place of honor among my DVD collection. Then there's the original T2 arcade game. The arcade I used to play it at may be gone, but I'm sure someone somewhere is discovering the great game in that cabinet as you read this. All of these memories and biases flooding together created my very high expectations for this new Terminator game, the first in a very long time. But the game itself created the giant feelings of disappointment I have after playing it.

The Terminator: Dawn of Fate is a prequel to the movie franchise detailing the final missions the humans undertook to be able to send Kyle Reese to the past to protect Sarah Connor from The Terminator. The game even includes a fantastic CG opening that sets the story in motion. It pays tribute to the openings of the movies perfectly, even going so far as to feature a tank rolling over a human skull, the grotesque and fitting symbol of The Terminator's future.

While the movies were an obvious style inspiration, the game takes most of it's gameplay cues from the Resident Evil series. And those would be none of the good ones. Like Resident Evil, Terminator: Dawn of Fate uses a static camera angle to get that cinematic look. That would be great if I were watching a movie, but in the course of the game the camera will be the cause of countless problems. It's horrible, the camera is constantly facing your character instead of the streams of Terminators coming at you. You never know where shots are coming from and sometimes the radar in the left corner is the only way to know which direction to face your self to blindly shoot at whatever is trying to kill you. Most insulting of all is the instruction book's proclamation that you can pan the camera with the right analog stick. Which is complete bullshit. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not move, ever, until you are dead.

Since the Resident Evil camera doesn't go anywhere without it's evil twin, the Resident Evil control scheme, that's here too. I will never understand why anyone would want to copy the Resident Evil control scheme. I remember a story the developers of the original Resident Evil told to an interviewer once. The control scheme was just supposed to be a stopgap until something better could be created. It was never meant to pass on to three sequels. It was never meant to be used by other developers. But at least before it was tolerable. In Dawn of Fate, all of it's worst qualities come out. Holding up moves you forward, but as soon as the camera angle changes what's forward on screen is flipped. All of a sudden holding up will move your character right or left or back the way you came. Any way but the way you want to go.

This control scheme also doesn't win any points during the heavy firefights that make up the majority of gameplay. Thankfully, unlike Resident Evil, The Terminator: Dawn of Fate is not built around obscure puzzles that only make sense in the context of a strategy guide. No, instead Dawn of Fate is a straight action game that requires quick movements that the camera and the controls work together to make sure you can never pull off. It's just like Resident Evil but the zombies can shoot back. And they move a lot quicker. And there's more of them.

If all that weren't enough the one thing the control does give you, a lock-on targeting system, doesn't work the way it's supposed to. The targeting system never locks on to The Terminator that is closest to you. Never. And when it does work correctly it becomes painfully obvious there is not a lot of depth to the fighting: just lock on and shoot, lock on and shoot. This changes somewhat in the later levels when more of The Terminators are carrying guns, but the idea is the same. Another of the game's features is an adrenalin button that slows everything down to Matrix-style bullet time. A nice idea, it's more or less a gimmick that you won't get any miles out of.

Some variety is tried to be brought into the gameplay by having three playable characters: Kyle Reese and two new characters Perry and Luna. All of them roughly play the same, but it was a nice touch including Perry who is actually mentioned in the first movie. Occasionally missions will involve the use of a second computer controlled character (often John Connor himself), but the AI on these computer controlled players is so terrible it's frustrating. They move when you move and stand still when you stand still, that's it.

If Dawn of Fate gets anything right it's through it's quality use of the Terminator license. The dirty, burned out look of the future that the movies portrayed is recreated here. While the dark and burned out backgrounds don't have a whole lot of detail by nature, everything just looks right. The various Terminator models and human soldiers come across very good as well. The sound also gets it just right. Using the original Terminator movie soundtrack goes a long way in making a solid foundation. If nothing else, the music to Dawn of Fate at least holds up to the movies. Of course because it was ripped straight from the movies that's rather besides the point. The voice acting is also very good and while you won' hear Michael Biehn reprising his role as Kyle Reese (or even allowing the use of his likeness) each character comes off well.

Dawn of Fate is thankfully not all gloom and doom. Some of the weapons, while not original, are fun as hell to use. Mowing down row after row after Terminators with a turret gun is just a blast and using the hand to hand Plasma Baton to fry the cyborgs gets the adrenalin flowing in real life just as it does in the game. But all in all, the game skates by completely on the Terminator license. Without it I can't imagine how Dawn of Fate would have turned out. Just another mindless actioner that wouldn't sell a fraction of the copies. The only times I enjoyed the game was when I was fighting Terminators or playing as taking in the world of The Terminator. Only serious Terminator fans should give this one a rent. With someone else's money.