Terminator: Resistance Release Date, Trailer, Gameplay And Platforms

It's a tale as old as time machines: A computer called Skynet nearly wipes out the human race in a nuclear holocaust. The survivors, led by a hero named John Connor, are forced to go to war with a legion of homicidal machines. Humanity one day wins its war, but not before the machines send a few of their own back in time to kill John's mother. Then John himself. Then the kids who'd become his lieutenants. Then Sarah again, even after they manage to kill John Connor. Look, the machines don't get where they are by not being stubborn.

That stubbornness is also the guiding spirit that keeps developers trying their absolute hardest to make a Terminator video game work. And our next, best hope is Terminator: Resistance, a brand new experience that puts the course of the war against the machines directly in our hands. We have all the details on what to expect right here.

The game will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC Nov. 15 in Europe and Australia, but in a strange twist of fate from the way these things usually pan out, it's the poor Americans who have to wait, as it drops in North America Dec. 3.  Probably the even bigger surprise is that both release dates mean the game will miss the lovely synergy of dropping right alongside the actual new Terminator film, Dark Fate, on Nov. 1.

On the other hand, North America might have it a little better. Terminator: Resistance is releasing there at the very end of the AAA post-Black Friday apocalypse, with only the final Life Is Strange 2 episode and a new SaGa title as direct competition for precious time and attention. Nov. 15 puts the game in the long, dark shadow of Pokemon Sword and Shield and Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order. Good luck on that one.

Here we have the very first look anyone got of Terminator: Resistance, and if you're wondering why we're only just seeing this two months before launch, well ... we have no answers either. 

Still, we get a tiny idea of what we're in for here. It's mostly what one might expect from a Terminator game that's focused squarely on the future war side of things and not the "lol that murder robot doesn't know how '80s people live" side. Lots of purple skies, laser fire crossing with bullets, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's endoskeleton shambling around being creepy, all held together by some Call of Duty-ish gameplay and cinematic in-engine beats. When it's not that, though, there's also some intriguing story stuff going on that's more than a little reminiscent of the Metro games, which, really, is perfect for a Terminator game.

So, in a real change of pace, there doesn't seem to by any hint or trace of anybody with the last name Connor anywhere to be found here. Instead, Terminator: Resistance will be following someone new, a low-level soldier named Jacob Rivers. He's like everybody else, really: just trying to survive, stay fed, and not get murked by murderbots. However, that may not be an option after he finds out that, for reasons unknown, Skynet has singled him out specifically for termination. That's usually reserved for those aforementioned folks with the last name Connor, and occasionally, Sam Worthington.

So without a doubt, that's reason to wonder who and/or what exactly Jacob Rivers is. Either way, the Resistance thankfully got to him first, and is just as hungry for answers as he is, since Jacob is apparently not the only soldier with a bright red target on his back. 

So, who are the lucky folks who will be taking a swing for the cybernetic fences this time around? Well, the game will be developed by Teyon, a Polish studio that's mostly been pumping out a gargantuan mountain of shovelware for PC, DSiWare, and the Wii. Their most notable titles are the Heavy Fire series of rail shooters on the Wii, a remake of steampunk shoot 'em up Steel Empire, and that Rambo video game from a few years back (which, one has to imagine is the connection that nabbed them the Terminator license).

The game's publisher, Reef Entertainment, has a smaller but similar resume to speak of. They published a couple of indie titles for the DS, Boulder Dash XL and Alien Chaos; a few ports for the Wii, including Ubisoft's PS2 Free Running game and the first Sniper Elite; and the aforementioned Rambo from 2014. Hopefully, this will be the title that forces both companies to raise their game.

Terminator: Resistance will have you  engaging each endoskeletal Skynet drone in amicable conversation about their hopes and dreams, and upon parting, each will have come to a deeper understanding about — nah, you're gonna be shooting a lot of homicidal robots.

As you might expect, Terminator: Resistance is an FPS which will have you engaged in fast-paced fights for your life against Skynet's deadliest machinery. Running and gunning is the name of the game, and doing it with badass future weaponry is the cherry on top.

On top of that, apparently there's going to be some stealth action as well, which makes sense going up against machines that don't die all that easily. You'll also be doing some crafting in the field, because a weapon made of three TV antennas and pre-chewed gum is better than nothing. But Reef's description of the game also mentions that you'll have choices in dealing with various members of the resistance through side quests that may have an effect on how the story plays out. There truly is no fate but what you make here.

Normally, there'd be plenty worth tiding you over until the big release day arrives, but, well, the fact of the matter is that the Terminator franchise hasn't exactly had the best luck getting translated to video games over the years. Spending most of those years saddled with LJN as a publisher didn't help, for certain. But, there are gems to be found regardless, if you have the ways and means of playing them in 2019. There's the Sega CD game, which is a perfectly serviceable action side-scroller, with even some snippets from the actual film spliced in, but it's also got one of the absolute greatest soundtracks ever composed for a game. That alone justified the price of a Sega CD by itself. 

The second is a wee bit easier to come across, and that's Robocop vs Terminator on SNES and Genesis. No real justification here. It's Robocop vs all the Terminators. That game basically sells itself. Fortunately, it's an okay game, albeit on the hard side. 

Oh, and, of course, there's the actual new Terminator movie on its way.