Game Review: Terminator: Resistance – Complete Edition (Xbox Series X)

Released in 2019, Terminator: Resistance is a first-person shooter game based on the Terminator franchise. Set in the post-apocalyptic future of the universe, players take on the role of Jacob Rivers, a soldier from the Resistance led by John Connor against Skynet.

We played and reviewed it in January 2021. Calling it a solid first-person shooter, with the shell of a AAA title, but without the budget to actually be a AAA title. It can be called the best Terminator game for many decades but considering how low that bar is, that’s not as much praise as you might think.

This review is not going to rehash what we said in that review, you can read that full thing here. The reason we’re covering this ‘re-released’ version is because it includes content that was previously unavailable to Xbox console players. Terminator: Resistance – Complete Edition doesn’t just include the base game, but the previously PS5 exclusive DLC – Annihilation Line and the PC exclusive – Infiltrator mode.

As well as including those two new pieces of content, the base game has had some technical improvements and been optimised to take advantage of the power of the Xbox Series X|S hardware. While it still doesn’t look particularly pretty, these improvements are notable enough.

Alongside that, the achievements that have been re-worked and new ones that have been added for players to earn in Annihilation Line and Infiltrator mode.

Those who played the original game, might wonder if this Complete Edition is worth the money. After all, it’s just DLC really. Very few people are likely to re-buy the full thing just for two previously absent modes. Seemingly aware of this, the upgraded game comes free to anyone who owns the game on Xbox One.

However, players will have to pay for the Annihilation Line DLC, which is packaged within the Complete Edition. So, players can purchase the entire Terminator: Resistance – Complete Edition experience at a discounted price of £11.99 / €14.49 / $14.49. You can’t say fairer than that.

Yet, even at that price… is Annihilation Line and Infiltrator mode worth it?

The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because Annihilation Line is a hefty piece of content that tells its own story and ups the sense of danger, something that is sorely missing in the base game. Here, players join Kyle Reese to rescue a group of people captured by Skynet. One of whom might be Rivers’ father. To do this though, the team is going to have to travel behind the annihilation line itself.

The content will take anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to complete, and has a satisfying story arc that fits into the overall narrative nicely. However, all the issues that exist in the base game, exist here. It’s not a pretty game, even with its enhancements, and gameplay is mind-numbingly boring. Once again, the lack of threat that comes from the machines is laughable, and you’ll feel more like a Terminator than any actual Terminator does here.

Which should make Infiltrator mode a lot more fun, right? After all, you get to play as a Terminator with the goal being to ‘infiltrate’ the resistance and kill a high-level commander!

Except infiltration is not quite what happens here. Instead, you step into the metal feet of a Terminator and shoot up the resistance on a small map, while picking up clues to the commander’s location. Once you have enough data, his position is revealed and you have to go and kill them to end the mode, being given a score based on your performance at the end. The whole thing can last anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour, and is exceptionally dull.

The worst thing of all about this mode is how weak it makes you feel. Instead of making this a fun showcase of over-whelming destruction, you might as well be human. Except, Jacob Rivers from the main game and the Annihilation Line DLC, somehow feels more powerful. It’s a mode everyone will play once, and that is it.

So, the overall score for Terminator: Resistance – Complete Edition is the same as the original game’s score. Simply because all of its technical improvements and added content fail to make the experience any better than it was. It is a perfectly fine game, still one of the best Terminator games, simply because of how awful so many others have been, but there’s nothing ground-breaking here at all.