Terminator: Resistance Enhanced (PS5 update)
We now know why you cry
Remember how the Terminator was a focussed hunter? Like a drunk who can smell a kebab at ten paces, it couldn’t be bargained with, it couldn’t be reasoned with, and it would not stop… ever. But what was true in the film is not true in the game: these T-800s hit invisible walls and give up the chase.
While it’s commendable that Terminator Residence Enhanced tries to live up to the licence – set after Terminator 2: Judgment Day it has suitably chromatic adversaries, pew-pew laser guns, and hulking Hunter-Killers – it stumbles all the time trying to bring this movie-verse to life.
T-800s stomp in ridged patterns, give up if you leave their ‘zone’, and soak up shots like wet sponges. You’ll feel a thrill when you first encounter the famed metallic dogs with a bone, and early levels where one shot will finish you are genuinely tense, but towards the end of the game the veneer of danger is lifted to reveal a lifeless carcass held up by a love of the source material.
IT’S BACK
All of these failings were present in the original PlayStation 4 release, and remain in place in this PlayStation 5 ‘Enhanced’ edition. The power of Sony’s new gen isn’t being used to improve this narrative shooter’s intelligence. The oomph of your PS5 is used to deliver a solid experience. Running in 4K at a fairly smooth 60fps (there are occasional framerate drops resulting in blurring), Skynet’s stilted lineup of machines at least looks shiny. The world, however, remains a PS3-era collision of reused assets and simple corridors – even the semi-open-world maps are clearly funnelled.
Sadly DualSense is rarely rattled by the on-screen action, and with little use of haptic feedback these guns lack impact. Sound, too, fails to stir PS5 into action, and indeed actively bugs out, leaving you shooting in silence.
DualSense is rarely rattled by the on-screen action, with little use of haptic feedback.
The upside is this PS5 edition comes with the PC-only DLC – play as a T-800 Infiltrator and search a sandbox map for clues to find your human adversaries. Enjoyable but limited in execution, this track-and-trace mode sums up Terminator Resistance Enhanced perfectly.
Slighty improved over the PS4 edition, and featuring the fun Infiltrator DLC, Terminator: Resistance Enhanced never makes use of PS5’s power. A missed opportunity. Ian Dean