Terminator Is Officially Back: And The T-800 Is Scarier Than Ever
Terminator's Return Is Making The T-800 Scarier Than Ever
Like its namesake, the Terminator franchise is hard to kill, with the seeming finality of Terminator 2: Judgment Day's storyline failing to prevent a long succession of sequels. Now, another big Terminator project is on the horizon, and this one doesn't actually seem like it will just be another retread of Judgment Day.
The last huge year for the Terminator was 2019, which brought both the theatrical film Terminator: Dark Fate and the video game Terminator: Resistance. Surprisingly, Terminator: Resistance made a strong case that video games might be the best medium for the franchise going forward, blazing a trail that a new game called Terminator: Survivors will hopefully follow.
The T-800's New Target Is... You
Originally announced in 2024, Terminator: Survivors is "an open world return to the iconic Terminator universe," taking place in 2009 in the aftermath of Judgment Day. Its post-apocalyptic world sounds like it will be filled to the brim with threats, with the Steam page describing challenges ranging from "formidable sophisticated machines" to human scavengers.
The biggest draw here, though, is the inclusion of the T-800 itself. Having an unstoppable killing machine on your trail in a large-scale adventure could create a proper sense of consistent tension, similar to Resident Evil 3's Nemesis or the Hunter in Dead Space.
While it remains to be seen if the game will depict T-800 in a way as compelling as the film, there's certainly an interesting opportunity on the table here. The scrappy survival of the Resistance has always been a compelling part of the Terminator franchise, and Survivors could bring it to life in more depth than ever before.
Terminator Survivors Looks Extremely Promising
The T-800 also appeared in Terminator: Resistance, and Survivors could certainly benefit from replicating some of that game's successes. Terminator: Resistance developer Teyon has since moved on to the RoboCop franchise, delivering RoboCop: Rogue City and the standalone Rogue City adventure Unfinished Business.
Meanwhile, Nacon Studio Milan will be handling Terminator: Survivors. The new game is a very different project from the studio's bike racing titles RiMS Racing and TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3, but the team cites experience on everything from System Shock to The Last of Us.
Terminator: Survivors was originally intended to launch in early access in 2024, but along with delaying the game, Nacon has pivoted away from the early access plan (and scrapped plans for co-op). While the lack of co-op is a shame, keeping the scope of development reasonable could help the game to deliver on its potential. Lone survival is scarier, anyway, and the idea of being stalked by the T-800 without any other players to help brings a certain chill.
Hopefully, the final product will be worth the wait. The game doesn't need to be incredible — Terminator: Resistance was faced with some rough critical reviews — it just needs to replicate Resistance's success in resonating with fans. The opportunity to bring the T-800 to life once more in a video game isn't one that should be wasted, and it looks like Terminator: Resistance is well aware of that.