TERMINATOR: RESISTANCE ANNIHILATION LINE REVIEW
Terminator: Resistance has an enigmatic charm that leaves me very uncertain about what to make of it. It’s a boring shooter that uses the same RPG mechanics as other games and has too many repeat environments. It’s also a fun little game with an oppressive world that can actually be used in-universe. I had hoped that Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line might make me think, but it didn’t.
You play Jacob as the infiltrator model, which takes place right in the middle. Momentarily, you are transported into a dreamlike version of Jacob’s past, and most importantly, his mind. This is an important start to the DLC. It will both throw you into the action and show you a bit of Jacob’s past. Jacob’s search to find a father figure and fear about losing his family shine through, setting up early conflicts that you will have to explore over the few hours Annihilation Line.
I feel like Annihilation Line isn’t right for you if it doesn’t work out for you.
You wake up to find that John Connor has asked for a backup in Annihilation Line – an area already occupied by the machines. To find out why it is so important to help, you fight alongside Ferro, Kyle Reese and Evans. The DLC doesn’t have enough depth to impact the original story, but it is still interesting enough to keep you interested.
Annihilation Line isn’t for everyone. I feel this way. Although I was almost annoyed by the amount of fan service that was poured into this DLC, it often makes it feel a little hollower. The sheer number of easter eggs is a great thing, but I felt a bit manipulated by the whole thing.
Annihilation line’s pace is fast enough that you barely have time to catch your breath. The “small open environments” framework of the base game is reworked to include more enemies, tons of bombs, and interesting side stories. The game will take you a while to complete and nearly every minute of it is spent blasting. Although it’s not very poetic or insightful, it can sometimes feel quite good.
“Even though the environments often repeat themselves, there’s a nihilistic mirkiness to every thing that just nails the perfect balance between ‘everything’ and ‘boy do Terminators looks cool’”
Terminator, and by extension terminator games, encapsulate my difference between my analytical mind and my childlike core. It can feel a bit like Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line is pandering to its target audience when you are able to detach from the actual offering. Terminator: Resistance’s gameplay, graphics, performance and gameplay are not helping it. However, it’s hard not to feel a little excited when I hide underneath a car waiting for the perfect shot of a T-600.
Annihilation line’s general atmosphere is a major factor in this. Although environments can sometimes repeat themselves, there is a nihilistic murkiness that pervades everything. This just strikes the right balance between “everything seems hopeless” (boy do Terminators look cool)
The AI is weak for the most part. I find myself prone to running away or peeking out from cover. This can get in the way of the fear that the story attempts to convey, but it also adds some fun to the world. This will be the ultimate struggle in creating a Terminator game. Should you make it tough and brutal or should it be fun? Terminator: Resistance is somewhere in the middle and has never truly appeased either side. Annihilation Line is in lockstep with it.
Performance
Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line was tested on two central devices. My laptop had a Ryzen 7 5800h with an RTX 3060, and my desktop had a Ryzen5 3600 with a GTX 1660Super. The game looked terrible, but the performance was inconsistent. Without any explanation, it would go from smooth to choppy within seconds. Although it’s not noticeable enough to completely take you out, it is certainly notable with the specifications.
Terminator: Resistance’s performance doesn’t make sense to me. It often looks like a 2014 game and doesn’t offer the same performance boost. Textures can be blurry and unclear, physics feel heavy and lighting isn’t very impressive. Terminator Resistance is a fun game, but it doesn’t run as smoothly as you might think.
Accessibility
Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line has some basic options, such as subtitles and gamma setting. However, it does not offer anything more for those who might need it. Any option that might make the game more accessible is provided by game tradition, and not because the game wants to be more accessible.
There is no place to hide a colorblind mode in the video options. Annihilation Line’s grey aesthetic might be too much for some.
