Terminator Resistance | November 15th

[Down by Law]

Yeah, I picked this up at the start of the pandemic and finished it over a weekend. It wasn't bad at all - you can tell the developers really made the most of the license from the first two movies and they captured that feeling quite well. The colour pallet is spot on - especially at night where the world is illuminated only by bin fires, neon reds from Skynet prisons and purple laser tracers, and the searchlights of HKs overhead. The outfits the resistance wear are all true to the opening scenes of the second movie. They focus on the classic T-800 Terminator Endoskeleton for standard infantry which is great, with the other units being the spider tanks seen in things like the older Mega CD game. Good escalation of power, too - A T800 will instantly kill you early on and it's only in later missions where you can wield plasma rifles and those cool twist canister grenades from the movie that you start to turn the tide against the machines. The use of Brad Fiedels score from T2 when you're sneaking about with those harsh industrial, horror movie style synths helps elevate things, too. I mean, the games certainly not a classic and doesn't give of an amazing first impression when you first take control and are pot-shotting drones and little spider machines but on the otherhand there's some scenes that will bring a smile to the face of any fan. Also the sex scenes are totally optional and easily avoided if you can't deal with the cringe, but reviewers often being a herd of gazelle won't mention that.

 

It's the definition of a AA game, you know those ones that people moan they don't make anymore - then they are presented with something like this and just relentless take the piss out of it

 

The best Terminator game is still the Mega CD one for my money though, that game is just a blast from start to finish and does a lot of great visual storytelling with it's pixel art. The romp through the Skynet base is thrilling and would have made ideal 3rd movie material but instead we got 3 retreads of T2 instead. Shame.

 

 

 

 

[Robo_1]

3 minutes ago, Down by Law said:

Yeah, I picked this up at the start of the pandemic and finished it over a weekend. It wasn't bad at all - you can tell the developers really made the most of the license from the first two movies and they captured that feeling quite well. The colour pallet is spot on - especially at night where the world is illuminated only by bin fires, neon reds from Skynet prisons and purple laser tracers, and the searchlights of HKs overhead. The outfits the resistance wear are all true to the opening scenes of the second movie. They focus on the classic T-800 Terminator Endoskeleton for standard infantry which is great, with the other units being the spider tanks seen in things like the older Mega CD game. Good escalation of power, too - A T800 will instantly kill you early on and it's only in later missions where you can wield plasma rifles and those cool twist canister grenades from the movie that you start to turn the tide against the machines. The use of Brad Fiedels score from T2 when you're sneaking about with those harsh industrial, horror movie style synths helps elevate things, too. I mean, the games certainly not a classic and doesn't give of an amazing first impression when you first take control and are pot-shotting drones and little spider machines but on the otherhand there's some scenes that will bring a smile to the face of any fan. Also the sex scenes are totally optional and easily avoided if you can't deal with the cringe, but reviewers often being a heard of gazelle won't mention that.

 

It's the definition of a AA game, you know those ones that people moan that don't make anymore - then they are presented with something like this and just relentless take the piss out of it

 

The best Terminator game is still the Mega CD one for my money though, that game is just a blast from start to finish and does a lot of great visual storytelling with it's pixel art.

 

 

 

I really should return to this as I bought it in the sale, played the first two hours and didn't think much of it. Pretty much everyone says that's when it starts to get going, so I'll have to return to it. Totally agree about the Mega CD Terminator being the best Terminator game. I've completed it many a time and still enjoy it. Let's face it, the killer soundtrack elevates it a lot, but still, it's about as a solid a 2D run and gun game as you'll find from the 16bit era.

[Ry]

I really enjoyed it. I'm a massive terminator fan and it was clear the Devs were too. 

 

I need to get Terminator CD running on my RG350. I loved it when I played it 20 years ago. 

[Down by Law]

Yeah man! the music is awesome and I love the progression of the stages. The whole middle act through the Los Angeles streets is wonderful. The soaring music, the great animation on Reese and all the punks (of course they are bad, it's a 90's video game - and they are even dressed like Bill Paxton's crew) and the little touches like the windows lit by TVs, and the handrails outside lit by the light coming out of the window, it's brilliant. 

 

 

 

 

Screenshots you can hear 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

The sex scenes in this are absolutely amazing and should not be missed just for turning the amazing theme music into something that sounds like it came from a 70's pron movie.

[Vemsie]

Jim liked it as well.

There is a PS5 Enhanced Edition on the way (26th of March) with the following improvements:
 

- A fully updated version of the main game including balance and difficulty patches previously released on the PC. Players who own a PlayStation 4 version of the game will also receive a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version.

- New “Infiltrator Mode” in which players can get under the skin of a T-800 series Infiltrator unit and strike out against Resistance forces.

- A range of visual improvements taking advantage of the PlayStation 5’s more powerful hardware, including upscaled 4K resolution and locked 60 frames per second, higher resolution textures, higher polygon counts, tessellation, improved lighting and dynamic shadows, improved post-processing (antialiasing, bloom, and more), and more detailed particle effects.

- A variety of features new to PlayStation 5 including Game Activities which can be used to track the player’s progress in missions and trophies, DualSense adaptive triggers for weaponry, and color shifting within the DualSense light bar to reflect the player’s health.

- Four-times faster load times on average.

- Two physical editions available for the PlayStation 5 version of Terminator: Resistance Enhanced: a Standard Edition, and a Collector’s Edition, which includes a Steel Book, two-part hardback comic book “Zero Day” from Dark Horse (comic text in English only, previously available in digital format with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game), as well as four character art cards and a collectors box.

- A paid downloadable content expansion with new narrative content will also be available in Summer 2021 for the PlayStation 5 and PC versions of the game.
https://www.gematsu.com/2020/12/terminator-resistance-enhanced-announced-for-ps5

[Nathan Wind]

I'll probably pick that PS5 version up as long as the price isn't too rude.

 

I've played through this twice now on PC and I like it.  I think with a bigger budget these devs could do something really good.

[gooner4life]

I got this in the sale ages ago on PS4 and liked it, never finished it because of other stuff on the pile, but i'll go back for the PS5 version.

[Robo_1]

3 hours ago, gooner4life said:

I got this in the sale ages ago on PS4 and liked it, never finished it because of other stuff on the pile, but i'll go back for the PS5 version.

 

Absolutely. Yeah, holding off for the PS5 upgrade. Loving these free upgrades to be honest, it's like getting the remaster that you used to have to shell out an extra £30 on for free. With the success of this game, I hope the team are given a few more resources to deliver a sequel. Nice to hear of a small team delivering against expectations... the inverse of what's happened with Cyberpunk (yes, I know it'll be awesome a few patches in) 2077.

[Thwomp]

I'm playing through this and I love it. I think special recognition should be given to the developers, who were obviously under a tight budget, but managed to make a game as solid and with as much respect for the source material as this.

 

I just looked up some reviews and they annoyed me: 1/5 from Eurogamer etc. Games from huge developers that are broken on release get a free pass. Teyon has 39 employees, so what's CD Projekt's excuse?

[merrychan]

1 hour ago, Thwomp said:

 

I just looked up some reviews and they annoyed me: 1/5 from Eurogamer etc. Games from huge developers that are broken on release get a free pass. Teyon has 39 employees, so what's CD Projekt's excuse?

I like the theory that reviewers will weigh in hard on a title they know won't have a fan backlash...like some form of catharsis amid all the buggy big budget shite they have to give minimum top marks to or risk the man baby wrath.

 

Edit : Also publishers pulling banner adverts too, I imagine that's a thing

[Thwomp]

Just finished it - absolutely loved it! I think the length was perfect, any longer and it would've worn out its welcome 

[Transient Curse]

Surprised they aren't talking about a series X upgrade too. I'd be tempted to pick it up if one appears. 

[phillv85]

I picked this up yesterday from CEX for £12 and I’m glad I did. I’m really enjoying it so far, especially all the fan service in there. All the professional reviewers absolutely murdered this game yet all the amateur reviewers are gushing over it. Looking forward to playing it again.

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Is there any news on the PS5 upgrade? It was due to release last month but I never saw anything announced. 

[gooner4life]

2 hours ago, Sexton Hardcastle said:

Is there any news on the PS5 upgrade? It was due to release last month but I never saw anything announced. 

 

The 30th April, but the free upgrade might be a couple of days after for existing owners.

[Steve McQueef]

PS5 upgrade?

 

YOINK! 

[gooner4life]

The PS5 Upgrade is out now and free, I had to start the download of the PS4 version then on the homescreen of the game it had the option for the PS5 upgrade so i selected that and downloaded it.

[Hideous Kojima]

I've never seen a project before where the makers clearly had such respect and enthusiasm for the licence they were working with.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Almost at the end of this game on Series X and I'm having a blast. I like the first two movies and the early Dark Horse comics*, and it's obvious the developers do too. It's AA as fuck, but it makes optimal use of the license and absolutely nails the feel and atmosphere. Great stuff.

 

*I'm convinced they took the hoodied look of the Infiltrator from the comics but maybe not

[ucci]

It was quite..erm....brown this game but the atmosphere got it spot on though. Played Future Shock the other day too which whilst limited has the same sort of stalking atmosphere. 

[Transient Curse]

On 30/12/2020 at 22:03, Transient Curse said:

Surprised they aren't talking about a series X upgrade too. I'd be tempted to pick it up if one appears. 

 

I saw on another forum someone say that the PS5 Upgrade vs the Original X1X version wasn't much different, and that there was quite a gap between the PS4 and X1X version, which was already 4k60hz, which is why only one system got an update. This video comparing the game running the Enhanced PS5 verses the Xbox Version on Series X seems to bear that out:

 

 

 

They should have said as much two years ago!  I've picked up a copy to add to my pile of shame as much as anything else. 

[Benny]

I'm amazed this hasn't turned up on Game Pass yet.

[glb]

Haven’t quite finished Horizon Forbidden West but wanted to play something different and this on my pile. As has been mentioned the first hour or so is a bit wonky. Not awful, but clearly budget and a bit clunky.

 

Then things start to fall into place. The game offers simple mechanics done well, allowing for some solid action set-pieces against a backdrop of a washed out aesthetic. Echoing the thread, this has clearly been made with a lot of love for the early Terminator films, with plenty of references that should raise a smile. The first level where you properly encounter T-800s is genuinely nerve-wracking, with a condensed feel of Alien: Isolation’s encounters with Alan.

 

Fun game, well worth a look if you’ve enjoyed The Terminator or T2, and a good example of a dev team that understood their licence and made the absolute most of it.