The Terminator franchise has been taking a bit of a beat down lately. With the recent movie flopping among the fans, it seems that this once celebrated classic is at risk of going the way of the Transformers. Can the new game, Terminator Resistance, save it from its own downfall?
Terminator Resistance is a first-person shooter, set in the Future Ware between man and machine. In this timeline, machines have gone out of control and have turned against their very own creators. As humanity desperately fights for its right to survive, can flesh truly triumph against an unfeeling machine bent on ridding the planet of life?
To start with, Terminator Resistance is definitely one for the fans. It is very unfriendly to newcomers and if you haven’t heard or watched any of the previous Terminator films, then you’re going to be just as lost. Although it doesn’t take much to piece it yourself that machines have taken over and humanity is barely scraping by in a war against them.
The game starts in a rather unflattering fashion. You are thrust into controlling a generic soldier, Jacob Rivers, as tries to survive an attack from Skynet in one of the last few human sanctuaries. This battlefield essentially serves as your tutorial level. You’ll learn to shoot, sneak, and scavenge your way around. It’s here that you’ll get a good feel of how this game plays.
And to comment on the gameplay, Terminator Resistance seems to blend concepts from Fallout into its own mechanics. Besides just shooting everything, it is entirely possible to sneak around, hack computers, as well as lockpick doors.
Unfortunately, the gameplay in Terminator Resistance comes off as painfully generic. The shooting isn’t satisfying. And even with other options presented, the gameplay comes off as plain mediocre. It never really felt necessary to scavenge for items around, even on higher difficulties. Sneaking around feels much too slow. Why bother using all the other mechanics when shooting does the job just as well if not better?
Enemies have their own health bars, but they aren’t bullet sponges. You’ll face off against a variety of machines that stand in your way. And while a lot of machines can fall prey to bullets, some enemies, like the infamous T-800, are only vulnerable to plasma weapons. Despite this, most machines feel rather repetitive to fight against.
Terminator Resistance takes you to level after level with brief stops at your base to restock on supplies before heading out. These levels are usually straightforward but leaves a bit of room for exploration. Unfortunately, the environment in itself feels rather uninspired. There’s nothing but rubble and trash everywhere, which is to be expected in a post-apocalypse, but there is just something about the design where everything felt ok but nothing amazing. There have been post-apocalyptic environments that have been done better and more interesting in other games. The level designs in Terminator Resistance are unfortunately lifeless and generic.
Story-wise, the game isn’t bad. But introduces itself in a rather bland way and doesn’t become halfway interesting until a couple of hours. You’ll meet NPCs who have their own personality, motivations, and goals. And you’ll occasionally get to do some side activities for these people along the campaign to get them to like you. There’s even an awkward first-person sex scene lazily thrown in to spice the game up. Because you just can’t fight for humanity without getting laid first. Though for the majority of the people you’ll meet, you really won’t develop any attachments for. They never really come off as interesting or deep and wind up being one dimensional even with the option to dig into their pasts.
Terminator Resistance is a mediocre game. This shooter just isn’t satisfying enough to recommend a buy. It has its fun moments and treats the source material well. But if you’re looking for a fun first-person shooter, you’d best look elsewhere. Terminator Resistance is definitely one for the long-time fans. Overall it feels like this game could’ve been better than it was.
