Terminator: Resistance The Future War, Up Close

The first two films gave you a few minutes of the Future War: ashen skies, laser fire in the dark, skulls underfoot. This is the rest of it. You play Jacob Rivers, a resistance soldier in 2028 Los Angeles, and Skynet has suddenly made you a priority target. The story runs up to the decisive final battle for mankind, filling in the events that lead there, and it fits the world of the original films rather than the later sequels. The machines are destined to lose. How much that costs is the question the whole game hangs on.

Early on, a T-800 is not an enemy, it is a death sentence. Ordinary bullets do not scratch one; you track its patrol through the ruins, keep to cover, and pray the red scanning gaze slides past your hiding spot. Hearing a Hunter-Killer's hum overhead means finding shelter fast. So you plan: sneak around a squad, pick them off quietly, or go in loud and accept the consequences. The tension is real, and it pays off. Find a plasma rifle that can punch through terminator armour and the hunted suddenly becomes the hunter.