The Terminator: Future Shock. Most underrated, groundbreaking games of the 90s
Table of Contents
- Release date: December 15, 1995
- Developer: Bethesda Softworks
- Genre: shooter
In the old days, Bethesda owned the rights to the Terminator franchise and since 1991 started making various productions in the universe of the cyber assassin. One of the better attempts was Future Shock from 1995. The action of the game took place in the post-apocalyptic version of that world, after the nuclear annihilation. The player, as a former prisoner, supported the resistance by fighting T800 terminators in various missions. On their way, the player even met John Connor and the young Kyle Reese, and performed many tasks as a foot soldier, gunner in a speeding jeep armed with a cannon, or on the deck of a fighter jet.
At that time, it was a thoroughly revolutionary production. While everyone was still playing different Doom clones on its own engine, Bethesda pioneered using the mouse to control the camera. Future Shock was also one of the first games with a world generated exclusively in 3D and with actual textures on objects. The levels allowed exploring each building in search of weapons, first aid kits and ammunition. It was also possible to fight vehicles, which was also a unique experience. Critics praised mainly the graphics, the sensational atmosphere and the control scheme.
The Terminator actually paved the way for Skyrim!
The gameplay in Terminator: Future Shock was all about exploring huge maps, gathering resources and fighting. While it wasn't an open-world sandbox yet, the concept was later used and developed by Bethesda in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and the studio's subsequent RPGs. In a way, Skyrim is a descendant of that Terminator!
But all these advantages and revolutionary ideas were stolen by Quake and released a few months later. A classic case of stealing someone's thunder. Despite the lack of a famous Hollywood license, the magic of the new game from the creators of Doom did the job, and Quake was praised mainly for its freedom of controls in 3D environment. The lack of multiplayer in Terminator and graphics in higher resolution were probably to blame as well – these shortcomings have been corrected in the SkyNET sequel. And although Quake has made history in gaming, it is worth remembering that the technological revolution in FPS began with Future Shock!
