1996 · Bethesda Softworks · Cyberpunk · First-person shooter

SkyNET

SkyNET is Bethesda's last game based on the Terminator franchise. Originally developed as an expansion pack to Terminator: Future Shock, SkyNET eventually became its own standalone product. Its major features are an updated version of the Xngine allowing for play in the sharper 640x480 resolution (and the ability to update Future Shock to the same), a new single-player campaign, and a new multiplayer deathmatch component.

Released: 1996
Platforms: MS-DOS
Genres: Cyberpunk First-person shooter Shooter
Developers: Bethesda Softworks
Publishers: Bethesda Softworks
Series: Terminator
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: First person
Themes: Action Science fiction
Engine: XnGine
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB M

About

Skynet (known in Europe as The Terminator: Skynet − stylized as SkyNET) is a 1996 first-person shooter video game developed by Bethesda Softworks based on the Terminator franchise. It was intended as an expansion pack for the predecessor The Terminator: Future Shock, but was adapted into a standalone product.

It received mostly positive reviews, praising its advanced high-resolution graphics for the time, as well as the fact that Bethesda included a multiplayer mode in contrast of its predecessor.

Keywords

post-apocalyptic
futuristic
cyborg
one-man army
wasd movement

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Skynet is played in the first-person perspective. Each of the eight levels in the game require the player to solve a number of objectives before continuing to the next level, while fighting enemy terminators with a wide variety of guns and grenades. Another obstacle in each level is the harsh terrain, as many areas contain too much radiation for the player character to remain alive. The terrain is navigated in three ways, 'on foot', in a jeep with a mounted cannon, or in an HK fighter (a modified terminator robot that flies). Before each mission, the player is briefed via a full-motion video cutscene.

Skynet features a deathmatch mode, which allows players to fight in a number of maps as either a human or a Terminator. Human players move quickly and silently, but are relatively fragile and can only carry lightweight weapons. Terminators, on the other hand, move slowly and make loud hydraulic noises when they walk, but are very resilient to damage and can carry heavy weapons. Players are able to change various options including time limits and the time of day.

Development

Skynet was developed by Bethesda Softworks and MediaTech West and used Bethesda's XnGine. While the majority of the game uses textured polygons to display structures and enemies, many of the items, weapons, and level decorations are still shown using older sprite technology. The game went gold on November 11, 1996.

Reception

A reviewer for Next Generation said the game fixed the problems with the "revolutionary" The Terminator: Future Shock by enabling "high resolution SVGA graphics", adding a multiplayer mode with maps designed specifically for deathmatch, and including an involved storyline. He concluded, "The sheer beauty of the game, combined with the incredible amount of flexibility of the engine, means Terminator: SkyNET could be the best first-person shooter of the new year." Scary Larry of GamePro found that the high resolution mode runs choppy even on high-end PCs, and had a more measured reaction to the game in general, concluding, "Although not as intense as Final Doom or as attitude-filled as Duke Nukem [3D], SkyNET will keep you blasting into the wee hours of the next apocalypse." He was most pleased with the mission objectives which involve riding vehicles and the intuitive, easy-to-remember controls.