The Terminator: Future Shock

The Terminator: Future Shock (1995)

by Bethesda Softworks
Genres:Shooter
Themes:Action, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player
Story:The Terminator: Future Shock is a first-person shooter computer game released by Bethesda Softworks in 1995. The game depicts Judgment Day as happening in 1995, then the setting jumps forward to Los Angeles in the year 2015. The gamer plays a human escaping entrapment by Terminators. After escaping hostile enemy territory in the first mission, the player meets with John Connor, the leader of the Resistance. From that point on, one plays as a Resistance fighter. Skynet's uprising in 1990 has left most of humanity dead, with control in Skynet's hands. All around is death and decay, scattered with remnants of a past society shattered. Future Shock is played in the first person perspective at all times. Each level in the game requires the player to solve a number of objectives before continuing to the next level, while fighting enemy robots 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 Aerial Hunter-Killer.Show more
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Stories about this game (14)
What’s your memory of The Terminator: Future Shock?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@Xalmaruser avatar@Xalmar
January 29, 2025
I still remember the day I ran over to my friend's house and my jaw fell towards the ground after seeing this game. Magical moments in one of the first true 3D engines, with an exceptional Terminator vibe, in every aspect - from the eerie sound effects of the robots moving, to the dystopic urban settings. Whenever I see this big box I still get the chills, and preserving this gem through GOG would be a dream come true, for sure.
user avatar@bdo7user avatar@bdo7
January 30, 2025
I remember being blown away by this game, often literally - the giant HK robots were nightmarish enemies. Was this the first game to use WASD as default keybindings for movement? I don't remember for sure, but I have some vague memory that it changed the standard in some way. The game engine felt exactly like Daggerfall, jank included. I doubt it's aged well, but it was pretty groundbreaking all the same. I'd hate to see it lost forever.
user avatar@kgh888user avatar@kgh888
February 17, 2025
It was 1996 when I received this game as a gift. Being a huge terminator fan all my life, this game was an indescribable experience. It felt that you actually were in the future war between people and machines, that you really met John Connor, Kyle Reese, these legendary characters, that you really played a part and made a difference in the resistance. The story is fantastic, and from a technical standpoint, the game was way ahead of its time, being the first game to feature true 3D models and mouse look (before Quake) and offering the sense of freedom of an open world game, you could explore any location you wanted, enter any building unrelated to your objective, although the structure of the missions is linear. To this day it remains the best terminator game I have ever experienced, and one of the best FPS games of all time. I still have the box on display in my bookcase. The visual atmosphere is unparalleled, the sound effects are superb for their time, even the artwork on the box and manual (with the manual itself being worth a read on its own), Terminator: Future Shock is an absolute masterpiece.
user avatar@Desavuser avatar@Desav
January 29, 2025
Always saw this game in magazines, and I remember I eventually briefly playing a demo somewhere but the memory is very faint. It would be awesome to finally get a chance to play the full thing.
user avatar@wesker47user avatar@wesker47
January 30, 2025
I only ever played the demo for this game. Could never find it in stores. But I played the Hell out of that demo. I would love to FINALLY play this game start to finish!
user avatar@Xegethrauser avatar@Xegethra
February 20, 2025
A janky but still fun FPS. It nails the look and feel of the original film's future war scenes. Would be nice to see this game on modern systems to just load up and play.
This game taught me how to play with mouse and keyboard and caused a revolution in terms of how a game should be interacted with. One of the very first. Other than that, it's a very good game. Not without its quirks though, but very good and atmospheric.
user avatar@jctaylor612user avatar@jctaylor612
February 12, 2025
I had the demo before the game came out, and I must have played that one level over 100 times. This was the perfect game of the future war! It opened a whole new world for the franchise and gave the hardcore fans the way to experience the war for themselves in the ruins!
user avatar@severhuser avatar@severh
March 12, 2025
I remember playing a demo version long, long time ago. Unfortunatelynever had a chance to get a full version. If it pops up on GOG it will be in my "Must buy" list.
user avatar@MRNot01user avatar@MRNot01
March 22, 2025
THIS MUST COME BACK! I first came across the demo on a PC Mag CD, and I fell in love with the immersive environment and esp the creepy soundstage. Even with just 256 colours & low-res audio, this game drew you in. The story was very creative. I've been dying to revisit ever since Windows evolved away from it (I am just now holding the original install CD in my grubby paws, but Windows keeps saying (can't find INSTALL.EXE) even though it is sitting right there where I tried to click on it. (ultimately, after Santa* brought me this game one year, it contained the demo for Daggerfall, which ALSO drew me in to the point of obsession) People must know of the majesty of this game!
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