It goes without saying that the Terminator franchise has had its peaks and valleys, but I for one believe that the latest foray into the world of John Conner was quite successful as a movie.  So then, how does the game fare?  Roughly the same, I'd say.  Having completed Terminator Salvation on the Xbox 360 I can say that it's a totally enjoyable experience, an exciting action thrill ride that coincides with the theatrical release very well, especially considering that the game's plot is meant as a prelude to the events that occur in the movie.  Therefore, if you've already seen the film you'll get a whole new experience with the game.

Terminator Salvation is a lot like Gears of War, in a good way.  Most notably in the control style - Salvation uses the same over-the-should vantage point for its gunplay, and even has a pretty interesting cover mechanic.  The best part about it is that with the ability to move precisely between various forms of cover you won't experience the hassle of getting stuck to cover, or not being able to remove yourself from it as is common in Gears.  Secondarily Terminator Salvation brings Gears of War to mind because it's just a straight-up fun action experience that doesn't take itself too seriously and varies the gameplay enough to keep the player interested.  Although 3rd person shooting could be considered Salvation's main course, there are several vehicle and defense scenarios which give the player enough variation to keep them guessing.

The audio and visual aspects of the game are spot-on.  You'll hear the familiar Terminator anthem several times throughout, and nothing pairs better with mowing down Endos and Aerostats than that classic ballad.  All-around the music fits well, and the visual portrayal of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles is surprisingly intricate and vivid.  The weapon load-out is sufficiently varied without becoming too encumbering: you get your standard M16-variant machine gun, a tactical shotgun, a light machine gun, a grenade launcher, RPGs and even a few different forms of grenades.  Though it may sound limited compared to other games' abundance of weaponry I find that having just a few weapons to work with is optimal since, more often than not, the player just finds their favorite gun and sticks with it anyhow.

I do have a couple of beefs with the game, though.  First of all, it's damn short.  You can blaze through the whole of Terminator Salvation in an afternoon without much difficulty.  This is coming from a guy who is notorious for taking longer to complete most games than many others do.  Also considering the fact that the achievements are pretty basic and there isn't a whole lot of replay value, that initial 5 hours is probably the most you'll want to get out of the game, period.  This shortcoming is somewhat remedied by a nice co-op mode, however.

All-in-all I'm not sure that I can safely recommend Terminator Salvation as a $60 purchase to anyone but the most hardcore Terminator fans.  If you're interested in the game and are looking for a fun but brief experience, by all means check it out, but wait until the price drops a bit or pick it up as a rental and save your cash for a more substantial game.