Terminator 3: War of the Machines

Terminator 3: War of the Machines was among the first more ambitious 3D action titles that Gameloft created for Java phones on the occasion of the Terminator film trilogy. The game built on a simple but effective corridor-shooter principle - the player advances through linear levels, aims at Skynet's robots and soldiers, and must keep track of dwindling health and ammunition while a battle for humanity's future rages around him. It was one of the first attempts to bring the feel of an action blockbuster to the small display of a mobile phone, at a time when most competing games still stuck to two-dimensional graphics.

Technically, the game demonstrated how far the phones of the time supporting Java had come - a primitive 3D environment, though blocky and with limited texturing, felt impressive for its time and pointed toward the direction mobile games would continue to develop. Controls were adapted to the numeric keypad, with movement and aiming working via a combination of directional buttons, while shooting was handled by a central button, which required some getting used to but offered a functional action experience once learned. Sound effects of gunfire and explosions rounded out the atmosphere, though the musical accompaniment remained rather sparse and limited to short repeating loops meant mainly to sustain a sense of urgency between firefights.

Terminator 3: War of the Machines became one of the titles that helped establish Gameloft as a major player in the field of licensed movie games for mobile phones. The game is still remembered today as an example of early efforts toward 3D action on Java - technically limited, but ambitious and, in the context of its time, surprisingly playable, and as part of the wave of movie adaptations that targeted mobile audiences specifically in the mid-2000s. For Gameloft, it was an important step on the road toward the even more elaborate 3D titles for smarter phones that followed.

Why play it: For players interested in the early attempts at 3D action on Java and in the history of licensed movie games - a technically limited but ambitious title that helped Gameloft establish itself in the mobile market.