As depicted in James Cameron’s sci-fi classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a military defense computer system called Skynet becomes self-aware in the far-flung future of 1997, setting off a nuclear holocaust in an attempt to wipe out the human race. The survivors form a resistance against the malicious A.I., which deploys advanced robotic warriors and drones coined Terminators against the last remnants of humanity.
Set during this war, developer Teyon’s Terminator: Resistance has players taking the role of Pvt. Jacob Rivers, a Los Angeles soldier separated from his squad after being attacked by a new kind of Terminator—an “Infiltrator” that perfectly mimics humans—and takes refuge with a group of survivors trying to escape the city. With their help, Jacob fights across the ruins of Pasadena to unite with the resistance so that they can learn of this new threat, and join series icon John Connor in a final battle to save the future, leading to the events of the films.
From the outset, Resistance is much more compelling than any number of uninspired movie sequels. How Jacob interacts with the survivors alters the trajectory of his story: Between the branching dialogue options and different outcomes, the game puts a human face on the cost of the war, and gives the player a reason to care about its characters, even providing an effective entry point to the setting and the overarching series for Terminator newcomers.
Resistance’s gameplay takes major inspiration from Bethesda’s Fallout series, with each level comprising a detailed open-world location where story missions are completed to progress the narrative. Skynet Outposts litter burnt-out cities and can be cleared to further the resistance’s cause, and Safe Houses can be discovered to save progress. Like Fallout, this wasteland is made to be explored, with plenty of weapons, crafting material, and collectables to enhance gameplay and provide more background on the setting. As the narrative plays out and the resistance takes the fight to Skynet, the gameplay transforms into a large-scale, action-driven first person shooter reminiscent of the best modern Call of Duty campaigns.
From the desperate struggle of scavenging a wasteland alone to the large-scale boots-on-the-ground final battle, Resistance looks and feels like being inside one of Cameron’s Terminator movies. The game draws on sounds and images from the movies with stunning accuracy, while boasting a storyline with new characters worth investing in. Further, there’s enough variety to Resistance’s gameplay to hold interest across its runtime without feeling repetitive.
Early in the campaign, encounters with Terminators are extremely deadly, without a way to fight back; these sections call to mind Alien: Isolation, where the unkillable enemies had to be sneakily avoided rather than confronted head-on. Only later in Resistance does Jacob acquire plasma-based weapons that can harm the Terminators, completely changing one’s approach to encounters. As if responding to this, Skynet deploys even more powerful Terminators against Jacob and the resistance, escalating the conflict through to the explosive finale.
In addition to the main campaign, this remaster includes the Annihilation Line DLC, which picks up midway through the main campaign story to flesh out some elements connected to The Terminator DLC, and the more substantial Infiltrator Mode, a unique rogue-lite chapter wherein the player assumes the role of a damaged Infiltrator. Playing as a Terminator significantly changes how the game functions, given that you experience the campaign through the “Termovision” heads-up display (HUD) made famous by the original film.
For a while, the T-800’s cyborg strength is more than enough to compensate for your initial lack of weapons. (Picking up and throwing humans into walls, cars, furniture, or each other is satisfying and darkly humorous.) Victims drop weapons and sometimes intel, which eventually leads your Infiltrator to its ultimate target—unless, that is, the T-800 is killed, in which case you’re forced to restart your mission. Each encounter raises the stakes in ways that makes this relatively brief mode an engrossing addition to the Resistance experience.
This remaster boasts impressive technical upgrades, with high framerate and resolution, but the most impressive visuals are stylistic. Your Termintor’s “Termovision” features the same kind of lens flares and video glitches as depicted in the movies, all of which cleverly degrade with grainy distortion as you take damage. Everything from the burnt-out setting to the Terminators and Hunter-Killers look stunning, as do the recreations of famous moments from the first two films, most notably the Terminator skull crush from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The score, composed by Chris Detyna, Jakub Gawlina and Leszek Górniak, impresses with fresh instrumentation and variations on Brad Fiedel’s powerful theme. Of particular note is a gorgeous acoustic rendition scoring the credits and one of multiple sex scenes, calling back to the original film. But Resistance is more than just hollow fan service or wish-fulfilment for a worn-down fanbase, as it stands out as an engaging first-person action-adventure. And, with this remaster, it gets a second wind as a truly “complete” experience.
This game was reviewed with code provided by Reef Entertainment.
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