The Terminator (DOS)

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Description

This adaptation of the action movie with the same name is a 3D open-world action and driving game. The player takes the role of Kyle Reese and protects Sarah Connor from the cyborg sent back in time to kill her, or becomes the Terminator and attempts to eliminate Sarah and her protector. Either way, the player chases his opponent through Los Angeles buying or stealing weapons and equipment while attempting to eliminate his enemy and avoid the police. There is only one objective for each of the protagonists, but both can engage in side activities that have no influence on the plot, which includes hijacking and driving cars or exploring the large playing area on foot.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Part of the Following Groups

• Genre: Open world / Free-roaming / Sandbox action and driving
• Inspiration: Movies
• Setting: City - Los Angeles
• Terminator licensees

User Reviews

Undiscovered Masterpiece (Precursor to GTA III)	K M (3)
Open world but slightly boring	Daniel Allen (15)
A Real Trailblazer!	Jacob Sans (3)

Critic Reviews

Power Play	Dec, 1991	73 out of 100	73
Play Time	Dec, 1991	55 out of 100	55
PC Joker	Dec, 1991	54 out of 100	54
Just Games Retro	Nov 12, 2006		50
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Oct, 1991	5 out of 12	42
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Nov, 1991	Unscored	Unscored

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Game Mechanics	3	St. Martyne (3653) Jun 17, 2009

Trivia

Development

[Taken from the game's credits screen]:

This game was written in 100% assembly and takes up more than 35000 lines. The game contains approximately 20000 3D objects. It was developed using Turbo Assembler and Turbo Debugger with all debugging being done remotely. It was created on a variety of 286 and 386 computers. All graphics were created on IBMs and Amigas using DPIII and DA. More than 700 frames of animations were created. The delta mode compression yielded a 100 to 1 ratio.

Also used were
LHA 2.11
LHARC Source
PKLite
RasterLink
DigiView Gold
Caligari
Targa Plus
InterChange
Butcher
Brief

Game world

The game takes place a huge (roughly 10 miles by 6 miles) 3-D rendered area of central Los Angeles. The game area runs roughly from Beverly Drive to Central Ave (lengthwise), and from Mulholland Drive to National Blvd (vertically). A game map is included in the box for reference. Though the buildings and their placement within the world is generic, and highways/overpasses have been removed, the streets and their layout are largely accurate. The game also includes some landmarks, such as Dodger Stadium, Griffith Park, and the Silver Lake Reservoir. Not bad for 1991 home technology!

Information also contributed by BurningStickMan.

Related Web Sites

• Crapshoot (A humorous review on PC Gamer)
• IGCD Internet Game Cars Database (Game page on IGCD, a database that tries to archive vehicles found in video games.)