Atari's upcoming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines game, based on the soon-to-be-released third installment in the Terminator film franchise, puts video game players one place they've never before; right in the shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the original Terminator cyborg. That's right fans, Arnold has finally allowed his voice and likeness to be used in a video game.

Under development by Black Ops Entertainment for all next-generation console systems, T3's story will weave in and out of the events of the movie, much like Atari did with Enter The Matrix. In addition to using actual footage from the movie to tell the story, an exclusive five minutes of film was shot by T3 movie director Jonathan Mostow especially for the game that will further illuminate the dark origins of the Terminator.

Players start the game as a Terminator fighting the human Tech-Com forces. After being disabled and reprogrammed, players then fight with the humans against the forces of SkyNet to save mankind's future.

As the original Terminator, players will have access to 20 futuristic and contemporary weapons with which they can lay down a serious hurt on anything unlucky enough to wander into their sights. Players fight through more than 20 unique locations that span from present-day Los Angeles to the war-ravaged lands of the future.

The build that was shown only behind closed doors at E3 seemed a bit early and no hands-on play was available. Environments were well detailed. The first-person perspective can be toggled between standard mode and in the red-tinted, detailed-readout "Terminator" mode that was so cool in the movies.

Scheduled for release November 18, 2003, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines appears to have the elements that Terminator movie fans will want. A hands-on previewable build will better tell if Atari is really on the way to having a game worthy of the popularity of the movies and not another Terminator: Dawn of Fate.