When I was in the voting booth a few months ago for the California Recall Election, only one thing ran through my mind.  Do I trust placing the burdens of my state in the hands of a futuristic killing machine?  This isn’t political ideology we are talking about, oh no.  This actually gives you a good idea on what to think about when you are taking a glace at Atari’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on the game shelf.  How could you possibly shove the unstoppable Arnold Schwarzenegger and the licenses for one of the highest growing franchises in Hollywood into the Game Boy Advance with limited capabilities?  Well, as this game shows…you can’t.  Though I had some concerns about Governor Schwarzenegger, all my doubts about T3 came into fruition just like I expected.

In the game, you take on the role of the Terminator.  It’s essentially the same leftover plot of the movie (and if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s pretty much pointless to play the game).  John Connor must be saved from a new female-machine assassin, and the human resistance from the future decides to send an obsolete model, 101 T-800 series, to rescue their leader’s young-self.  Now, maybe if it was me in charge of the rescue operation, I would have used a more updated Terminator, but that’s another subject. 

The GBA version is a 3^rd person shooter, offering a one-view camera position that just feels a bit awkward.  There are two ways to fight the enemy, with handheld weapons or explosives.  I was a bit surprised that the game didn’t offer a better hand-to-hand fighting scheme, especially considering that a good portion of the Terminator Vs Terminator action in the movie involves a combination of fist throwing and wrestling.  Don’t get me wrong, the number of weapons available in the game isn’t going to leave you feeling unsatisfied.  However, if the developers added an easier targeting system (which no Terminator can be without), the game play would be much better. Moving Arnold consists of running, walking, and strafing which also can be difficult in handling.  The enemies vary in difficulty, but you can take out most of them only using a few bullets.  They also don’t put up much of a fight.

There are 12 missions in the game, and there is a great variety in terms of time length for each one.  The thing you will find yourself doing most is “terminating” everything in sight, sometimes protecting allies or holding off approaching enemies.  Other than that and the occasional “switch-flipping”, that is the extent on what to expect gameplay-wise.

In addition to the solo mode which wont take you too long to complete, there is a multiplayer mode (with co-op and capture the flag) so you can link to your friends for a little more game value.  I wasn’t very impressed with either, co-op was more than redundant and capture the flag was confusing in concept and design.  I say concept because Terminator 3 has nothing to do with capture the flag and Atari could have figured out a better alternative such as deathmatch.

The graphics are pretty bad.  I know this is GBA we are talking about, but the game couldn’t even meet its standards.  After several enemy hits, your model (which I didn’t realize was Arnold until an ally recognized me as the Terminator) does seem to look like it is damaged and the explosions of C4 and grenades are ok, but the environments and the rest of the game could have been developed a lot better.  Maybe they were trying to get this out as soon as the DVD was released or maybe they realized it was a lost cause but were too far into production to stop.  I don’t know, but I do know that few will be impressed with the quality of the graphics.  If I were to say that the sound was better, I wouldn’t be lying.  Unfortunately, it’s still not good enough.  The theme song (which could easily have been redone with a synthesizer) is noticeably absent so Atari accommodated for this by offering a few tracks that do bring the game to life.  The sound effects are all decent, but there is nothing really notable.

When I first heard of T3 “coming to a game platform near you”, I expected exactly what I was given, a subpar title obviously rushed threw development.  Because I haven’t played the other versions of this game, I won’t tell you that the entire collection of T3 games is weak.  However, I wouldn’t recommend the GBA version to anyone.  Well, maybe Gray Davis…but that’s for all the wrong reasons.

Gameplay: 5.1
Unimpressive with uncomfortable control/camera positioning throughout the game.

Graphics: 5.0
Even with the few graphic effects that wont burn the eyes, its not enough to save T3’s flaws in modeling and environmental design.

Sound: 6
The best thing in the game though the theme song is M.I.A.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The enemy attack sequences are fairly predictable but if you don’t stay on your feet, you will feel the sting of machine weaponry.

Concept: 5.4
Conceptually, this game wouldn’t have been huge, even with more time spent on development.  The thought of controlling Arnold may sound promising, but doing so on the GBA doesn't.

Multiplayer: 5.2

With only two options, co-op (redundant in action) and capture the flag (pointless in concept), don’t go buying a link cable for the sole purpose of playing this game with a friend.

Overall: 5
Out of the 5 T3 versions, skipping this option may be your best bet.  You won’t be hard-pressed to find a better shooter on the GBA and not buying it may send a message to developers everywhere that slapping a “name-brand” title like Terminator 3 on a game doesn’t justify underdevelopment.