The Terminator: Rampage

The Terminator: Rampage
Cover art by Simon Bisley
Developer(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Publisher(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Producer(s)	Christopher Weaver
Designer(s)	Vijay Lakshman
Programmer(s)	Craig Walton
Artist(s)	Rick Kauzlarich
Composer(s)	Eric Heberling
Series	Terminator
Platform(s)	DOS
Release	December 1993[1]
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Terminator: Rampage is a first-person shooter video game released for personal computers with the operating system DOS by Bethesda Softworks in 1993.^[2] It is the third game based on the Terminator film series that was made by Bethesda, following The Terminator and The Terminator 2029.

Gameplay

The game's levels are grid-based 3D mazes, similar in design to Wolfenstein 3D. Players explore each level searching for the stairs leading down to the next level, with the Skynet computer core located underground. The game contains dungeon crawl elements, as the nature of the game's mazelike levels sometimes requires players to backtrack between levels in order to access previously inaccessible areas of a level. Exploration of the game's levels is required to finish the game, as the player must collect and assemble various scattered pieces of a plasma gun, which is the only weapon capable of harming the game's final boss.

Plot

Skynet has sent a computer core containing its core programming back to 1984, shortly before its ultimate defeat at the hands of John Connor's human resistance in 2024. The computer core (known as the Meta-Node) arrives at Cyberdyne Systems' headquarters at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, and proceeds to take over the building and begin manufacturing an army of Terminators. A lone commando is sent into the past by John Connor, arriving there in 1988. His mission is to destroy the Skynet computer core and eliminate the threat of Skynet once and for all. To do so, players must explore the 32 floors of the Cyberdyne building, fighting off various Skynet robots and cyborgs while assembling the pieces of a prototype plasma weapon called the V-TEC PPC (Phased Plasma Cannon), the only means of destroying the Meta-Node.

Development

The Terminator: Rampage used the same engine as The Elder Scrolls: Arena.^[3] According to Bethesda, the game was influential in the development of Doom.^[4] Id Software showed a lot of interest in the production of this particular game at Bethesda's stands at various trade shows.^[4]

The game's Chief Designer was V.J Lakshman.^[5]

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
Aktueller Software Markt	10/12[6]
PC Player	49/100[7]
Pelit	70/100[8]
PC Joker	52%[9]

Computer Gaming World in February 1994 said that the game resembled Doom "though the gameplay doesn't compare. Action, regardless of difficulty, is intense".^[10] The magazine said in March 1994 that the game was "a decent attempt for an imitative product, but you might say that the effort to catch-up and cash-in on id Software's success was doomed from the beginning".^[11]

Roy Bassave of Odessa American said in May 1994 "No special glasses needed to enjoy this very real Virtual Reality experience. The closest thing is Capstone's "Corridor 7" game with Wolfenstein 3D programming.^[12]

The game sold 30,000 units in its first week.^[13]

References

1. Provick, Bill (December 18, 1993). "Games made just for CD". Ottawa Citizen. p. 84. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "(Skyrim) Todd Howard DICE 2012 Keynote". YouTube. February 9, 2012. Event occurs at 2:00. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
3. "Ted Peterson Interview Designer & Writer on Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind & Oblivion". YouTube. October 3, 2018. Event occurs at 3:22. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
4. "Terminator: Future Shock". PC Zone. February 1996. p. 76. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
5. Dille, Ed (May 1994). "Terminator: Rampage". Electronic Games. p. 106. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
6. "Terminator: Rampage". Aktueller Software Markt (in German). February 1994. p. 144. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
7. "Terminator: Rampage". PC Player (in German). February 1994. pp. 40, 41. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
8. "Terminator: Rampage". Pelit (in Finnish). January 1994. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
9. "The Terminator: Rampage". PC Joker (in German). January 1994. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
10. "Taking A Peek" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. February 1994. p. 212. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
11. Pyron, Dave (March 1994). "Terminators Make For Poor Housequests" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. p. 110. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
12. Bassave, Roy (May 29, 1994). "Video Game". Odessa American. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Snider, Rick (March 10, 1994). "Putting Future in play:Games as door to new worlds Virtual Reality is Newton in a box to founder of software firm". The Washington Times. p. C12. Retrieved January 2, 2024.

External links

• Official website (archived)
• The Terminator: Rampage at MobyGames