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Terminator
Skynet
Video game
Published by Bethesda Softworks
Released in 1996 |
Skynet comes into possession of the most powerful nuclear
missile ever developed and intends to use it to wipe out the
entire remnants of Los Angeles in 2015 in order to stop John
Connor and his Resistance forces there.
Watch the
walkthrough of the game at YouTube
Notes from the Terminator chronology
The game does not state the year in which it takes place. Since
it is a follow-up to the 1995 game
Future Shock and
since that game took place in 2015, but with an ending that
rewrote the timeline to one in which Skynet never existed
and the war against the machines does not ever take place
(at least up to
2015), it is presumed that this game is actually a prequel,
presumably taking place shortly before the events of
Future Shock, in 2015.
Didja Know?
This 1996 game is a follow-up to the 1995 game
Future Shock, but would seem
to actually be a prequel to the earlier game, as
Future Shock ended with a rewritten timeline in which
Skynet never existed and the war against the machines does not
take place up to 2015. Also, a number of characters from
Future Shock are seen here even though most were killed in
the Skynet-reality of that game before the timeline was
rewritten.
Only Terminators up to the T-600 model are encountered in this
game, as Future Shock had already stated that the T-800
is encountered for the first time there.
In this game, John Connor is said to be a colonel in the
Resistance (as is also stated in the earlier game
Future Shock). He is also referred to as a colonel in Bethesda
Softwork's 1992 Terminator: 2029 video game (PopApostle
has no plans to cover that DOS-based game at this time). As far as I can recall, the only other time a
military rank has been applied to him is when he was the
captain of Tech-Com in Salvation.
John Connor and Kyle Reese both appear as characters in this
game, but they seem older than they should be according to the
standard Terminator
timeline. John Connor should be only about 30 years old in
2015, but his face is lined with middle age wrinkles. I suppose
his premature aging could be attributed to the effects of war
and a hardscrabble life. Kyle should only be about 12
years old in 2015, but he appears to be roughly 16.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this game
Resistance soldier (the player)
Thomas Jensen
Pachowski (mentioned only, deceased)
Weaver (mentioned only, deceased)
Major Kathryn Parker
Colonel John Connor
Dr. Bill Hanover
Kyle Reese
Kent (mentioned only)
Sarah Connor (mentioned only)
Vic (mentioned only)
Sanchez (mentioned only)
Didja Notice?
A Dunk 'Em Donuts shop is seen in ruins of
Los
Angeles
in the game. This is a
fictitious business, certainly a parody of the real world
Dunkin'
Donuts chain.
Early in the game, the player-soldier
discovers a nuclear missile in a Skynet facility. The missile
has Hades MX71396 stenciled on the side. The MX may be a
reference to the so-called "MX Missile" (MX=Missile
Experimental), officially named the LGM-118 Peacekeeper
missile produced by the U.S. military from 1985-2005. After returning
to the Resistance HQ, the player-soldier tells Dr. Hanover
that the missile's serial number started with the word
"Hades" and Hanover recognizes it as a model developed by
the U.S. and was the largest nuclear missile ever made in response to the large missiles of the Soviet Union.
This appears to be a fictitious U.S. missile model, but France did
develop a short-range nuclear missile called Hades as a
deterrent to any potential Soviet plans to invade Western
Europe. The actual
largest nuclear missile ever made was the Soviet RDS-202
Tsar Bomba, an experimental bomb of which only one was
ever built.
Hanover says that only one Hades missile was built
and never tested; apparently Skynet's forces found it.
Shop'N'Spend is a store seen during the game. This is a
fictitious business, though it may be a parody of now
defunct Shop 'n Save grocery store chain in the St. Louis
area. Shop'N'Spend is also seen in
Future Shock.
An NPP Insurance office is seen in the ruins of L.A. There
appears to be an actual company by this name currently, but
does not appear to have existed in 1995 when this game was
developed. It is also seen in
Future Shock.
Joan's Bookstore
is seen in the ruins of L.A. This appears to be a fictitious
business.
Carole's Music is seen in the ruins of L.A. This appears to
be a fictitious business. It is also seen in
Future Shock.
Global Shop is seen in the ruins of L.A. This appears to be
a fictitious business. It is also seen in
Future Shock.
Sophia's GA Boutique
is seen in the ruins of L.A. This appears to be a fictitious
business.
The player-soldier comes upon and enters a night club called Tech
Noir. This is the club Sarah Connor tried to hide at after
hearing about the "Sarah Connor" murders and finding Reese
tailing her in
The Terminator.
The club was on Pico Boulevard in L.A. in the film. A poster for a band called Cherry Bomb is posted on the wall
outside; inside we see posters for an anime girl called
Mushi "LIVE EVERY FRIDAY!!", the On Accidents, and Mao Mao. The
interior of the club looks like an updated version of the
one seen in
the film. For some reason, the place is still lit up with
neon and dance lights, a rotating disco ball, and is filled
with various types of Terminators!
Near the end of the
player's excursion into the club, dancers suddenly appear on
the dance floor! One of the dancers, a man in a white suit,
is obviously meant to be the character of Tony Manero in the
1977 film Saturday Night Fever (portrayed by John
Travolta); the dancers do not hinder or help the player in
any way. It seems the whole site is more of an easter egg
for the player than anything else.
At one point in the game, a Bethesda building is seen.
Bethesda
is the video game company that made this game, though
they've never had an office in L.A. as far as I can tell. It
is also seen in Future Shock.
Inside the Cyberdyne Systems building, the player-soldier
sees an old message in the data banks reading, "To
Security: Detain Sarah Connor if she comes by the building
again. The LAPD has a warrant for her arrest." This may
be a reference to Sarah's desire to stop Cyberdyne from
developing Skynet in the first place, as depicted in
Judgment Day.
The player-soldier finds another old message in the data
banks reading, "USS Las Cruces has arrived in LA."
The Las Cruces is later seen to be a U.S. nuclear
submarine. This is a fictitious sub of the U.S. Navy. The
sub is named for the city of
Las
Cruces in the U.S. state of New Mexico.
Another old message the
player-soldier finds in the data banks is, "To Miles: The
SkyNet AI is learning as planned. Think of the games you
could make with this!" Miles must be a reference to Miles
Dyson, the inventor of the neural-net processor that leads
to the development of Skynet as detailed in
Judgment Day.
Another old message the player-soldier finds in the data
banks is, "THX1138> Art server is down." THX 1138
is a 1971 science-fiction film co-written and directed by
George Lucas.
Another old message the player-soldier finds in the data
banks is, "To Carl: LA test silo has broken ground.
(33.40N.117.96W)." In the real world, the numbers would appear to be the latitude and
longitude of
Huntington Beach, CA, near Los Angeles. However, John
Connor later says that the coordinates indicate the test
silo must be in the desert to the east of Los Angeles, far
from Huntington Beach.
Jensen flies an HK modified for human use to rescue the
player-soldier from the roof of
the Cyberdyne complex. Presumably this one is lost at some
point, as another HK has to be captured and converted later
in Future Shock.
A number of USO Gasoline trucks and gas stations are
seen throughout the game. It is also seen in
Future Shock. The name and logo design may have
been a nod to USA Gasoline (U Save Automatic), an American
oil company with gas stations located mostly in the western
states.
When John Connor tells the player-soldier that the
coordinates indicate the test silo must be in the desert to
the east, the soldier says the machines would have to take
the missile along Route 91. CA State Route 91 is a freeway
running from
Gardena to
Riverside,
ending shortly before hitting the desert region.
On the way to the 91 Freeway to intercept the missile
convoy, the player-soldier passes a Big Buns restaurant.
Presumably, this is meant to be Big Jeff's (home
of the Big Bun Burger according to a receipt seen in
Resistance), the restaurant Sarah Connor worked at in
The Terminator.
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