Terminator: Resistance is out on Steam now, but isn’t very good

Terminator: Resistance, the licenced game that sort of follows some of the future-battles-with-Skynet story beats from the first two movies, is out today on Steam. To celebrate that, there’s a new launch trailer showing the game in action.

Set 31 years after Judgement Judgement day in the not-too-distant 2028, the game is a mix of running and gunning and stealth, with some RPG fluff and NPC interaction thrown in. On paper, it sounds like it could be a pretty fun time for fans of the series. In practice, it seems to be a hastily cobbled-together load of hogwash.

“That’s the problem with Terminator Resistance,” says VG247’s Matt Martin. “It’s weak. It’s unambitious. It takes a license and slaps it on a distinctly average game. And then stomps on the best bits of the license so all that’s left is the cool-looking T-800 and some vague references.”

IGN’s Tristan Ogilvie was similarly unkind, while acknowledging that even though the game is rubbish, it’s probably the best Terminator game. And that’s kinda…sad.

“The most disappointing thing about Terminator: Resistance isn’t merely that it’s bad, it’s that it’s bad and yet it’s probably still the best Terminator game I’ve ever played. If you’re in the mood to mindlessly mow down waves of authentically modelled T-800s to the rhythm of Brad Fiedel’s iconic theme music, then Terminator: Resistance may well be adequate enough. But while there might already be a truly great Terminator game in some alternate universe’s timeline, in this one the wait continues.”

On the plus side, the game ignores every Terminator film after the second one. If you absolutely must have some playable terminator in your life, then this is probably the game to play. Just don’t expect it to be any good.

Last Updated: November 15, 2019