Terminator Salvation

Pelit (Finland)

Terminator Salvation has an interesting setting, but boils it down to a little bit too simple rail shooter. The saving grace of the game is co-op multiplayer, which is good fun compared to somewhat dull single player experience. [June 2009]

Deeko

Terminator Salvation is a clear movie cash-in title. It still manages to be an enjoyable game, just one that grows tiresome pretty quickly.

GamesNation

Terminator Salvation could have been much, much more than this. Far from being a mere spin-off, it offers a satisfying technical level, a nice atmosphere and all the robots previously seen in the movies. But it’s way too short to be worth the ticket. It would have probably been a hit had, it been on XBLA or PSN.

Da Gameboyz

At the end of the day I was somewhat let down by the overall experience of Terminator Salvation for the Xbox 360. Like many summer blockbusters it was over too quick, and the hype was too much.

GameFocus

The game is certainly a rental for action fans and fans of the movie, but do not buy this unless you have been banned from your local rental place and can find it cheap.

Team Xbox

A less-than-premium price would have nearly made everything better. This is a fun movie game that simply doesn’t have the legs that it ought to for 60 dollars.

IGN

While Terminator Salvation has some good ideas and is fun at times, it lacks any replayability. And more importantly, it lacks the star of the film, which is a rather curious omission.

Games Master UK

Lacks the intensity, variety and action the Terminator license deserves. [June 2009, p.76]

Cheat Code Central

While the game is fun, especially with a partner on the couch, the lack of boss battles, no online multiplayer matching, and only a handful of hours of content make this game little more than a solid rental.

Vandal Online

We can't ignore it feels like a yet to be finished game, with some good ideas but not fully exploited. In fact, perhaps it has been hurried up to be ready for the cinema premiere, and this would have harmed the development. What a shame. Maybe next time.

SpazioGames

Terminator Salvation - The Videogame can actually be fun at times, but the repetitive gameplay, some technical issues and the lack of a multiplayer mode make this game the usual tie-in, good only for the fan of the brand.

Cynamite

Terminator: Salvation is a run-of-the-mill game adaption of a successful movie brand. Overall okay, but way too short and without any highlights or variety.

GameZone

Uninspiring and strictly by the numbers, Terminator Salvation offers very little in terms or originality or fun.

ZTGameDomain

Terminator Salvation is not a terrible game; in fact the cover mechanic alone makes playing through it quite enjoyable at times. However, there simply is no denying that the entire package feels unfinished. From under a three hour playtime to some truly peculiar omissions, Salvation displays all the symptoms of a rushed movie tie-in.

Giant Bomb

Terminator Salvation ultimately just feels too small for a $60 game. Even the environments, which consist mostly of war-torn streets and boxy, brownish interiors, give you little sense that there's a world outside of the path that you're on. It's not a bad experience, but what it offers is so simple that it would feel repetitive if it were any longer.

Game Chronicles

The game is much better when played with a human partner but there is no online option, so you are forced to play in split-screen.

Planet Xbox 360

Terminator Salvation is only worth a weekend rental if you have a few friends coming over to play cooperative with.

Multiplayer.it

Grin's game doesn't succeed in bringing back to life all of the thrills and epic Cameron's saga has been able to deliver in the movies, and fans will find few elements of the ones which made Terminator such a big blockbuster. Single player campaign is short and samey, co op play is offline only. The only ones who'll really like Salvation, are Achievements/Trophies' hunters, who'll be able to unlock them all in about 5 hours of average gameplay.

Absolute Games

Flat and boring. Terminator: Salvation fails to earn other, more favorable adjectives. The only bright spot is the soundtrack incorporating Brad Fiedel’s signature theme.

Meristation

Fun and with interesting moments, Terminator Salvation is a really short game, just four hours, that lacks depth. Very few types of enemies, not many weapons, repetitive gameplay and not so impressive visually. It could have been much better, but it's far from what the franchise deserved.

Game Informer

If robots ever do take over, I hope the human race doesn’t succumb to a force this stupid.

Gamervision

The repetitive missions and lack of any replayability can make the few short hours spent in 2016 barely tolerable, and don't justify any more than a rental from anyone. While it's far from the worst movie tie-in this generation, it does little to change the stigma, and is best left untouched on store shelves.

GameSpot

This bare-bones movie tie-in is like a machine with synthetic rubber skin: it's not fooling anyone and you should stay away from it.

XGN

Terminator Salvation is a good action game if you are looking for a game with an offline co-op feature. But that's the only fun factor in Salvation. The storyline is far too short, you can complete it within a few hours, and therefore it's not worth the money.

MEGamers

Too short of an experience, most XBLA titles last longer than this one.

Level7.nu

Terminator Salvation is a typical run-of-the-mill action game with no unique or innovative qualities. The game is built on a reasonably solid foundation but the lack of any gameplay innovations makes it a very repetitive game, and when you only get circa five hours of playtime there are few reasons for you to purchase this game. The only redeeming quality in this package is the co-op mode, making the game at least worth renting with a friend. Charging full price for this game is nothing short of a ripoff.

Gameplayer Sweden

A game based on a movie could go the safe way, like the recent release of Ravensoft's Wolverine. Or it could try to be something more than just being a license. Terminator: Salvation tries to be something more and has a great system for healing, but in the end games like Wolverine are a better catch. Especially considering this games short campaign.

Worth Playing

Once you finish the game in about four hours, that's all there is to it. It's a budget experience at full price, and one that I can't suggest anyone pick up.

NZGamer

Visually Terminator: Salvation matches the gameplay and is an equally dull affair.

Game Over Online

In the end, Terminator: Salvation won't have you screaming for salvation, but rather wishing you were terminated from playing this game. Wait for the next reboot if you're hoping for that perfect, all around Terminator game.

3DJuegos

Terminator Salvation is too short to justify its cost, and its gameplay is unsatisfying too. A new disappointment in the genre of the movie-related games.

Xbox360Achievements

Unless you're aiming for a quick gamerscore boost or are just a die-hard Terminator fan that has to indulge in every aspect of the franchise, there is really nothing here for you.

InsideGamer.nl

I've never played such a boring game as Terminator Salvation: The Videogame. The game is repetitive and the storytelling very shallow. It's a big plus that finishing the game will only take you about three to four hours. Even the very reasonable cover system can't let you enjoy this simple and boring movie game.

GameShark

As gamers, we are well accustomed to the fate of movie-related games, which is why Salvation is such a disappointment. It has some solid combat, perhaps the best cover-system to date, and the foundation for a captivating plot, but the game lacks any sort of scope.

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Do yourself a favour and pick up a decent shooting game, or a head injury, anything's better than this - because otherwise you'll only encourage the creators to churn out another similarly disappointing movie license in six months time.

GamePro

While there are some cheap thrills to be found in the title's rail-shooter segments and hardcore Terminator fans will no doubt want to rent the title just for the chance to go toe-to-toe with a T-600, I can't recommend Salvation as anything more than exactly that: a rental.

MS Xbox World

Terminator Salvation copies tried and trusted formulas that work in other games, and regurgitates the ideas into something so basic and uneventful that the homage paid to the games it copies is totally lost.

X360 Magazine UK

A game this short and shallow should really be ignored. There is nothing original, compelling or even that new and it will join the ever-growing pile of rubbish movie tie-ins.

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

A shooter with all the usual pieces but none of the smarts needed to entertain.

1UP

After finishing the disappointingly anticlimactic game, I felt like I just read through a graphic novel side-story, but one that doesn't reveal anything new or interesting. From a technical standpoint, the game is passing, but its narrative, structure, and inattention to detail reveal this game for what it is: Yet another lazy cash-in on a "blockbuster" film.

HellBored

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. It’s an insult to anyone who plays games for more than an hour or two a year. Grin should be tarred and feathered in public for this, for failing in so many basic areas, and making some of the most feared machines in the world as impotent as cross-eyed rabbits. Avoid at all costs, and because it lacks any form of incentive to replay, I will, most definitely not, be back.

Gaming Age

As a movie game goes, it could have been pretty decent if there was a larger variety of enemies and of course the game was about 4 times the length. As is, we have another movie licensed game that fails to deliver the goods.

ActionTrip

It's short. Shorter than any other game we've played this year or indeed the previous year. It's over before you can say: "endoskeleton." Not only that, but it lacks replayability and anything that would drag you back for another round. There's a co-op option, but it suffers the same, degrading facets that can be experienced in solo play.

GameSpy

The long and short of this one: Salvation is headed -- like so many hastily churned-out movie tie-ins before it -- to the dustbin of gaming history. Stay away.

Teletext GameCentral

Bad film tie-ins are nothing new, but this seems more of a waste than usual given the subject matter.

Gamestyle

Simply put there just isn’t enough game here to justify paying full price.

Gamer.nl

Terminator Salvation, in this form, should have never been shown to the public. The game is extremely short, linear and misses the action that made the films so much fun to watch. The gameplay feels stiff, limited and repeats itself. This game is one of the worst movie tie-ins we've ever seen. Not even the biggest Terminator-fan should buy this title.

games(TM)

Salvation is too derivative, too short, and too repetitive to be a worthy recommendation. It feels the very definition of an easy movie cash-in. [July 2009, p.124]

GameCritics

Terminator Salvation is abject in its failures. I almost wish there was something I could give it credit for, but as it's impossibly short and incompetently made, there's just no reason to ever play Terminator Salvation.

Eurogamer

Were your movements less plodding, the weapons a bit meatier, the enemies even basically tactical, the story and dialogue more than perfunctory, the environments remotely imaginative, or the co-operative mode online-enabled, Terminator Salvation would still be far too rough around the edges, far too short, and far too cynical to withstand much critical inspection, but as it is, it's rubbish on virtually every count.