Licensed video games come with a stigma, one that many have deserved. Games based on films have been particularly derided as poorly-made cash grabs that tasked developers with meeting unrealistic time goals to ensure the game launched alongside the movie, often to buggy, disastrous or otherwise disappointing results. However, in the past few years, video game companies have been utilizing film and comic licenses to create great licensed games that fans of the original works can enjoy. Originally released in 2019, Terminator: Resistance is an example of a solidly made and accurate licensed game not associated with any Terminator film.
Resistance not only explores an aspect of Terminator lore that is only touched on in the best films, but it also effectively recreates the dystopian future war hellscape that spawned the iconic heroes John Connor, Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. Developer Teyon both uses the license effectively and is able to make Terminators the terrifying metal hunters that they were created to be.
Terminator: Resistance takes place during the future conflict between the remnants of human society and the rogue AI Skynet. However, instead of playing as the legendary John Connor or competent soldier Kyle Reese, players control a regular soldier, Jacob Rivers. The sole survivor after his unit is wiped out, Rivers must find new allies in the rubble and try to reconnect with the Resistance and the Tech-Com units who are holding out in the desperate battle against the machines. Rivers is no legendary hero; he's just another regular grunt. This perspective helps to brilliantly illustrate the hopeless nature and overwhelming odds that humanity faces against the forces of Skynet in the derelict battlefields that are now home.
Teyon recreates this future battlefield accurately and effectively, bringing to life Skynet's various killing machines. T-800s roam the battlefield with their red eyes scanning the rubble, wielding dangerous laser weapons. Hunter-Killer drone aircraft hover overhead, ready to fire at any movement. Players must use stealth and positioning to get the best of the killer robots, and can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.
Resistance incorporates just enough strategy into the shooting to get players to run and gun, hiding when necessary and picking the right moments to strike -- much like embattled troops are seen doing in Terminator films. The gameplay evokes the classic scene from the original Terminator film where soldier Kyle Reese recounts the horrors of his experience to a young Sarah Conner, unaware of the future that awaits her and the human race.
Furthermore, the attention to detail is evident in the game's aesthetics. The human Resistance is a ragtag outfit that must scavenge and arm its members with whatever weaponry it can find on the battlefield. Despite the futuristic setting, players start out using conventional weaponry that would've been present in the time when Skynet took over. Military rifles like the M-16 and Uzi submachine guns are ineffective against the alloy armor of the T-800s, but it's not until halfway through the game that players are able to finally wield a laser rifle. Other equipment helps create Terminator's retro-future world, including an optical device that can scan for Terminators through walls by zeroing in on heat signatures. The CRT-styled computer interfaces and menu systems only further enforce the aesthetic.
Resistance's PC release, which was renamed Terminator: Resistance Enhanced, goes even further with its dedication to the license by including enhanced visuals and a brand new mode dubbed "Infiltrator Mode." For the first time in a modern Terminator game, players can play as an enemy T-800, complete with artificial human disguise. Infiltrator Mode has players doing what the Infiltrator Terminator was designed to do: getting inside the Tech-Com defenses to brutally assassinate as many humans as possible. Players can utilize the Terminator's classic retro-future red vision scanning mode, and even wield the pistol that Arnold Schwarzenegger so menacingly used in the first film.
Ultimately, Teyon's take on the Terminator universe succeeds because it effectively employs an underutilized aspect of the films and recreates this aspect with love and attention to detail. Resistance is a competent enough shooter on its own, but it's the Terminator license that makes it a real treat to not only fans of the series, but also to those who appreciate good worldbuilding and atmosphere. Terminator: Resistance Enhanced is available on PC, and will release on April 30 for the PlayStation 5.