Terminator: Resistance | Xbox One Review

I’ve been a fan of the Terminator franchise for well over 25 years now. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are often considered to be two of the best action films of all time. While the later sequels are mostly seen as subpar, there is no question about the legacy of the first two films and the impact they left on pop culture.

A long time ago, upon one of my many viewings of the movies, I thought to myself that a first person Call of Duty style shooter set solely in the future war against Skynet would make for a great video game. I’ve held on to that pipe dream ever since, so you can imagine my excitement when this game was first announced, seemingly out of nowhere. Developed by the Poland based company Teyon and published by Reef Entertainment, Terminator: Resistance seemed to be the game I had imagined in my head.

August 29th, 1997 – Judgment Day

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in the year 2028. A human resistance group is at war with the artificial neural network called Skynet, who’ve deployed robotic killing machines known as Terminators to wipe out humanity. You play as Pvt. Jacob Rivers, a resistance soldier who is the sole survivor after his unit is ambushed by Skynet patrols. He then meets up with a ragtag group of civilian survivors and tries to make contact with another Resistance unit. This one is led by the hard-ass Commander Baron (basically Sarah Connor from T2). Jacob will interact with various NPCs and will have to make choices, which will affect the ending. Yes, this game has multiple endings.

I found the overall narrative to be quite compelling, and Jacob Rivers is an interesting protagonist with some decent voice acting. The NPCs, however, are another story, with their voice over performances ranging from mediocre to awful. Thus, the emotional interactions often feel forced. However, this is a minor gripe, and it doesn’t take away anything from the overall narrative, which fits in nicely within the Terminator mythology. The game make numerous nods and references to the films, which makes for excellent fan service without being too “in-your-face” about it.

Phased Plasma Rifle in a 40-Watt Range

Terminator: Resistance is a first-person shooter featuring the standard control schemes. You can run, jump, crouch, aim-down-sights and sprint-slide, all the while equipped with a nice variety of weapons to boot. You begin with what the game calls standard weapons like pistols, Uzis, shotguns, and assault rifles. There is a leveling system present in the game, therefore there’s also a basic skill tree. These skills are divided into three sections: Survival, Science and Combat, the latter of which grants you access to use Skynet’s more advanced plasma based weapons.

Also present is a simple crafting system where you can scavenge for items that can be used to make decoys, traps and even ammo. Lastly, the game has a hacking ability, which too is an upgradable skill allowing you to bypass Skynet security perimeters and also able to reprogram gun turrets. I found this to be useful in the rare situations where I was either low on ammo or outnumbered.

One major gripe I have with this game is that it often feels too easy and lacks any significant challenge. I found this most apparent in the latter half of the game, when I maxed out my skill stats. I played this game on Hard mode, and I was still able to play the game quite easily.

♪ Duh-dun Duh Duh-dun ♪

The one area where Terminator: Resistance really shines is in the music and sound design. It captures the tone and atmosphere quite nicely. The soundtrack features new renditions of tunes heard in the films, along with some original compositions that blends in nicely with the familiar. The sound design is also top-notch. The “pew-pew” sound effects of the plasma rifles seem to have been pulled right out of the films. This combined with the soundtrack gives the player a level of immersion not seen in any previous Terminator game.

The graphics, I’m sad to say, is where the game can fall flat at times. They aren’t bad by any means, but they certainly won’t define a console generation. In fact, in some instances the graphics tend to look last-gen. This is most apparent with the human character models. They could’ve used more polish and more work in lip-syncing. But some moments, particularly those set at night, can look really cool. Especially when you’re in a big battle sequence fighting Hunter-Killer aerials and tanks all the while plasma blasts are zinging by. It’s just another example of this game doing a fine job in giving the player full immersion in the Terminator universe.

“There’s no Fate but what we make”

So did this game meet the expectations of my imagination? Yes, it did, but not completely. This is the best Terminator game I’ve played, but I’m well aware that it’s not a high bar to clear. The game provides enough fan service to make any die-hard Terminator fan overlook its technical shortcomings. It was clearly made with love and passion for the source material and isn’t just another licensed cash-grab. I highly recommend this game to anyone, who at the very least, appreciates the James Cameron Terminator films. For everyone else, wait for a sale.

This review is based on a purchased Xbox One copy of Terminator: Resistance. It is also available on PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.