Last month, Acegamez looked at Headhunter Redemption, which scored a fair 7. This month, we receive even more Redemption from that well-known senator of California, Arnie. He is a pretty cool, down to earth guy and when he's not sorting out the law in the sunny state he's lending his voice to games, making cameo appearances in Disney films and talking about another Terminator film. You've got to hand it to him. Terminator 3: The Redemption has been released at a budget price but will this reflect in the gameplay?

After a quick tutorial, Terminator Redemption throws you right in at the deep end, head first. You get the odd helpful tip on your first real mission, during which certain combo attacks and scenarios are revealed. When you walk past a road sign for the first time for example, a tip comes up telling you how to wield it as a weapon! That's right, Arnie can use objects as well as his fists of steel - combine this with heavy weaponry, vehicles and dozens of comical Arnie phrases and you've got the recipe for Redemption. And trust me, this recipe is more successful than a lot of the shooters out there today.

You play as Arnie's terminator in this game, using a third person perspective with an easy targeting system for "taking out zee trash!" But first, let's talk about the upgrade system the Terminator has available to him. You can fully upgrade your character throughout the whole game, with acquired terabytes. Terabytes can be gained by beating level times, reducing lots of enemies to scrap metal, performing plenty of combos and not stopping to think. At the end of each level you get the chance to spend your hard earned terabytes on five different areas. Three of these involve the Terminator's special vision, which increases firepower and efficacy for a short period of time; it's really good in emergencies but the effect only lasts for a few seconds and it takes ages before you can use it again. Which is where the upgrades come in.

Some upgrades cost more than others but I'm a keen believer in "you only get what you pay for" and with these upgrades that is very true. The most expensive is the one that increases your vision's damage - doubling your overall damage is fantastic and you will take down bosses quickly as a result. You can also upgrade the time it takes your vision to recharge and the time the vision lasts. The other two upgrades make the Terminator stronger and more powerful; you can upgrade the recharge rate and firepower, which both prove useful in later levels. You'll have to choose which areas you want to specialize in though and with limited amounts of terabytes to be had on each level, you're going to have to use your head and spend them wisely. Do you want a powerful Terminator, or one that's slightly weaker but almost impossible to kill!

I feel that the gameplay itself is fantastic. It's fun, fast, funny and flamboyant - and that's quite a mouthful. Most levels consist of you shooting down waves of robots, acquiring vehicles, shooting down airborne enemies and laughing your way through the random Arnie phrase book. At times the gameplay may feel repetitive but the fun factor really does cancel that out.

Throughout the levels you can man any vehicle, from helicopters to strange futuristic laser cannons on wheels, pick-up trucks with a Gatling gun in the back to motorbikes with melee weapons, which brings back fond memories of Road Rash! You can control the vehicles' weapons as well as pilot them and you can even power slide in most vehicles, running over robots and thus creating immense piles of terminator fun.

Another thing that you'll be pleased to hear about is the large artillery of heavy weapons you can wield. You start off with a standard weapon but as you progress you get the chance to pick up new weapons and even equip dual guns. This means you'll be able to steal a laser weapon off a robot and use your machine gun then fire them at the same time for double damage. Not only does this feel good, it also looks very good, which brings me on to the graphics!

For a budget title, the graphics are superb and you can tell that the developers have been paying lots of attention to each and every individual aspect of the game. The Terminator himself looks fantastic and once he's taken a few bullets you can see holes in his trench coat, with wires and bits of metal showing through his skin. The face-mapping is top notch too, so this Terminator actually looks like Arnie, which is a big plus. The robots also look realistic and true to the films, with their glowing red eyes and maniacal grins. All the terrains are detailed and although some of them do look similar to others they still deserve credit in their own right. The vehicles look very good, with rusty pick-up trucks and big laser cannons, whilst all the explosions and weapon effects make for the biggest firework in the graphical display box. There are plenty of explosions to be seen throughout the game and the developers have got it all down to a tee.

The sound is quite good too; the Arnie phrases are loud and clear, with just the right accent. The weapon noises sound realistic, as do the explosions. And the vehicles sound just as good as the rest. The only quibble in the audio department is the background music; it's not too bad but it's very repetitive at times, with the same constant loop running through the whole level. It's hardly noticeable but if you stop to listen it can sometimes get on your nerves. With each level only lasting around ten minutes is doesn't cause much of a problem.

Hang about, ten minute levels? The good thing about Terminator Redemption is the fast paced nature of the game. You are constantly trying to beat the clock in this game and the faster you complete the level, the more terabytes you receive. During the briefing for each level you receive times to aim for - ten minutes might give you 500 terabytes while 8 minutes gives you 2000! There's a big difference in points if you can get your act together, so there's definitely replay value for shaving down your times. And while the levels may be short, there are plenty of them to get through, so there's no need to worry about that. However, I can't see even hardcore players completing every level on their first attempt. There's no difficulty setting and I think it comes on hard as default! It took me a good five attempts to complete the first level - partly because I didn't know what I was doing and partly because it's so hard. You have to keep up with the pace in order to survive, so practicing again adds to the replay value.

In addition to all of the above, there's a small bonus co-op mode. I say bonus, because I don't really think it's a selling point but it's still quite good as an extra for you and your friends to play together. It's nothing like the single player; it's actually similar to the Time Crisis games. You and a friend perch in a helicopter with machine guns and you must kill all the enemies in your sights. The bigger the enemy, the more points you receive, so you must team up to take down the biggest of the machines. The multiplayer mode can be played alone, if you fancy some mindless shooting, but it's not the multiplayer I was hoping for.

Terminator 3: The Redemption really is worth the price tag. If it was retailed at the standard price then I'd still be inclined to recommend it but at this price it'd be a crime not to check it out. With a fast and frantic single player with all the trimmings, plus the voice and image of Arnie, I can't complain one bit. And when you've completed the game with a high score there's some decent cheats to unlock that enrich it even more. Not only that, but Redemption has a cracking storyline that ties in with the films and the full motion videos tell the story very well. With Terminator games of this standard, I'm hoping Arnie will be back soon for another fulfilling instalment.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).