Archived Pages from 20th Century!!

Skynet - Screenshots

Bethesda

By: Chris McMullen

Terminated

Bethesda software managed what can be viewed as a licensing coup several years ago, when they picked up the rights to produce games based upon the Terminator films. A variety of related games were released, some good, some bad, but matters came to a head last year when they released Terminator: Future Shock. Players were invited to take up their plasma rifles, and fight against the machines across a number of 3D arenas, including enemy complexes, gloomy battlefields, taking down all manner of mechanical nasties upon the way. It used Bethesda's X-nGINE system to great effect, and all who bought it were quite chuffed.

Except, there was thing missing. While there were a number of single player missions, there was no multi-play at all. No opportunity to slug it out with another player, which was a shame because some of the pock-marked battlefields would have made excellent deathmatch arenas, with all manner of obstacles and buildings to use for cover.

Nuke-em

Bethesda have tried to rectify the situation with the next game in the Terminator series, named Terminator: Skynet. They've added a spanking new multi-player option, which lets you pick a human or terminator soldier of your choice, and slug it out with other human players. Of course, for those people without access to an expensive network, or free local calls, there's the single player mode; Skynet, the big 'self-aware' computer that leads the war against humankind, has managed to get its cybernetic hands upon a nuclear missile, and is now planning to use it to finish off the human resistance. Something to do with a dodgy Pentium chip, I reckon. You play the hard-boiled freedom fighter sent in to foil its plans. You can kick metal hide when Terminator: Skynet hits the street in December.