Quick answer: Critics hated it and players did not. Terminator: Resistance scored 47 on Metacritic on PS4, took a 4 out of 10 from IGN and an "Avoid" from Eurogamer, then went on to hold a "Very Positive" Steam rating and 4.38 out of 5 from over 7,200 PlayStation Store ratings. It is a budget shooter with weak combat and genuine affection for the first two films. Buy it on sale, which is most of the time, and get the Complete Edition for the DLC.
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There is a particular kind of game that review scores handle badly, and this is the clearest example of it in the last decade. On paper Terminator: Resistance is indefensible. The shooting is soft, the enemy AI is poor, the objectives repeat, and the 2019 version ran badly. Several major outlets said so in blunt terms and they were not wrong on any of those points.
Then something odd happened. The people who actually played it kept recommending it to each other, the Steam rating climbed instead of falling, and the game quietly became the thing Terminator fans point at when they're asked whether any adaptation has ever got the tone right.
The score gap, in numbers
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| Measure | Score | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic, PS4 critics | 47 | The lowest-scoring version |
| Metacritic, PC critics | 60 | |
| Metacritic, Xbox Series X/S critics | 71 | Complete Edition, the best reviewed version |
| OpenCritic, Enhanced | 61, "Weak" | 18 critics, 22% recommend, bottom 19% of all games |
| Metacritic PC user score | 8.0 | 72% positive |
| PlayStation Store, Enhanced | 4.38 / 5 | 7,225 ratings, 64% five star |
| Steam | "Very Positive" | Over 10,500 user reviews |
Both sides are measuring honestly. Critics score against everything released that year, and in 2019 that meant standing this next to Modern Warfare and Control. Players score against expectation, and almost nobody arrived expecting much from the studio that made Rambo: The Video Game.
There's a second factor. The worst-reviewed version, PS4 at 47, is the one most of the harsh reviews are based on, and it is the version with the frame rate problems. By the time the Complete Edition reached Xbox Series X/S in 2023 the same game was scoring 71. A lot of the critical record is describing hardware that nobody plays on now.
Everything added after the launch reviews
| Addition | Date | Length | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infiltrator Mode | 2020 to 2021 | ~50 min | You play a T-800 hunting the resistance, red HUD and all. Short, and the best idea in the package |
| Enhanced edition | 30 Apr 2021 | n/a | PS5 release, better visuals, faster loading, DualSense support. Free upgrade if you owned the PS4 version |
| Annihilation Line DLC | 10 Dec 2021 | ~5 hrs | Fight alongside Kyle Reese. Also finally added an FOV slider. Scored 64 to 65 with critics, 4.47 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store |
| Complete Edition | 27 Oct 2023 | ~13 to 15 hrs total | Everything bundled, and the first Xbox Series X/S release. This is the version to buy |
Worth noticing what is not in that table. No battle pass, no in-game store, no seasons, no always-online requirement. It's a single-player licensed shooter that sells you a thing and then leaves you alone, which in 2019 already felt like a throwback and now looks almost like a statement. That absence is the exact pressure we traced in why big budget games stopped being fun.
What it actually does well
Tone, mostly. The Future War sequences from the first two films are about two minutes of screen time each and have fuelled thirty years of imagination. This is the first game that properly lives in them. The sound design does a lot of the work, the score leans on the original themes, and the sheer dread of hearing a Hunter Killer approaching while you're pinned in a culvert is the single best thing here.
The base camp loop is the surprise. Between missions you go back, talk to people, run small side quests, and the game tracks whether they like you. It's light, it's Telltale-shallow, and it works anyway, because it gives the war a reason to matter. Several players rate the game highly almost entirely on this.
The levels are also more open than they look. You can usually approach an objective several ways, scavenge for crafting parts, and skip fights you don't fancy. It's closer to a stripped-down Fallout 3 than a corridor shooter.
What it genuinely does badly
The combat is soft. Human enemies go down without resistance, and on default difficulty you can stand in the open trading fire with machines and survive it. Stealth exists and is almost never worth the time, because shooting is faster and safer. Raising the difficulty helps more than it should have to.
Mission objectives repeat: destroy the installation, kill the specific machine, reach the location. The environments reuse heavily. Enemy AI frequently fails to path properly, which is a problem in a game built on being hunted. And while the Enhanced and Complete versions fixed the worst of the performance, the character models and animation still look a generation behind.
Annihilation Line is more of the same rather than better. IGN gave it 5 out of 10, Push Square 6, PC Invasion 8. Buy it if you finished the main game and wanted more hours in that world, not if you hoped it would fix anything.
The postscript that changes how you read all this
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Teyon are a small studio in Kraków whose previous licensed game, Rambo: The Video Game, was one of the worst reviewed releases of 2014. Terminator: Resistance was the second attempt, and the reviews suggested they'd learned a little.
Their third attempt was RoboCop: Rogue City, released November 2023 with Peter Weller back in the role. It became Nacon's biggest launch in the publisher's 42-year history, pulling 435,000 players and 2.7 million sessions in a fortnight, and has since passed 1.8 million copies on Steam with an 86% positive rating. A standalone expansion, Unfinished Business, followed in July 2025. In March 2026 the studio announced Hunter: The Reckoning: Deathwish for 2027.
So the generous reading of Terminator: Resistance turns out to be the accurate one. It wasn't a fluke of low expectations, it was a studio visibly getting better in public, and the people giving it 8 out of 10 in 2019 were reading the trajectory correctly while the scores were reading the frame rate. That mid-budget licensed niche barely existed a few years ago and is now one of the healthier corners of the industry, which lines up with what we found about scale mattering far less than people assume.
Should you play it?
| You are | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A Terminator fan | Buy it | Nothing else has treated the Future War with this much care. Get the Complete Edition |
| Here for the shooting | Skip | Combat is the weakest part. Play RoboCop: Rogue City instead, same studio, far better gunplay |
| You want a short single-player game | Buy on sale | Around 13 to 15 hours with the DLC, no live service strings of any kind |
| On PS4 already owning the base game | Upgrade free | The PS5 Enhanced upgrade costs nothing and includes Infiltrator Mode |
| Sensitive to jank | Skip | The AI pathing and animation will bother you throughout |
Where to get it
It's available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S. Look for Terminator: Resistance Complete Edition, which bundles the base game, Infiltrator Mode and Annihilation Line.
Do not pay full price. This game is discounted constantly, frequently by 70 to 85 percent on Steam, the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store, which puts the full package into pocket-change territory during any major sale. Check a price tracker and wait a few weeks if there isn't a sale running. It's a modest download by modern standards, so it won't cost you a night of bandwidth either, unlike the installs covered in our Division 2 review.
Verdict
Recommended for fans, on sale. The combat is weak, the AI is poor and it looks its age. It is also the only Terminator game that understands what people actually love about the first two films, and the only one with the patience to let you sit in that world. The critics were right about the mechanics and the players were right about everything else. Assessed against the Complete Edition, which bundles all post-launch content.
Frequently asked questions
Why did critics score Terminator: Resistance so low?
Mostly for soft combat, poor enemy AI, repeated objectives and the PS4 version's frame rate. Metacritic has it at 47 on PS4 and 60 on PC. Those criticisms are fair. They just don't capture why people enjoy it.
Why do players rate it so much higher?
Tone and atmosphere. It is the only game that takes the Future War seriously, and the base camp relationships give it unexpected warmth. The PC user score sits at 8.0 and the PlayStation Store Enhanced rating is 4.38 out of 5 from more than 7,200 ratings.
Which version should I buy?
The Complete Edition, released 27 October 2023. It includes Infiltrator Mode and the Annihilation Line DLC and runs best on current hardware. The Xbox Series X/S release is the best reviewed version at 71 on Metacritic.
How long is it?
Roughly 7 to 10 hours for the main campaign, about 5 more for Annihilation Line and under an hour for Infiltrator Mode. Call it 13 to 15 hours for everything.
Is the Annihilation Line DLC worth buying?
Only if you liked the base game. It adds about five hours alongside Kyle Reese and an FOV slider, and it changes nothing structurally. Critic scores landed around 64 to 65, while PlayStation Store users rate it 4.47 out of 5.
Is there a sequel?
Not to this game. Teyon went on to make RoboCop: Rogue City in 2023 and its standalone expansion in 2025, and announced Hunter: The Reckoning: Deathwish for 2027. If you liked Resistance, Rogue City is the direct upgrade.
Does it have microtransactions or require online?
No to both. It is a single-player game with no store, no battle pass and no online requirement.
Where to go next
- The Division 2, another shooter judged on its launch build and much better now
- Why mid-budget games keep outperforming expectations
- What happens to games built around live service instead
- Why review scores and enjoyment keep coming apart
- What else is worth your time right now
- Browse more Action, Open World and Multiplayer guides
Sources
Critic aggregate scores from Metacritic (PS4 47, PC 60, Xbox One 55, PS5 Enhanced 62, Xbox Series X/S Complete Edition 71) and OpenCritic (Enhanced 61, 18 critics, 22% recommend). Individual scores from IGN, Eurogamer, Destructoid and Push Square. Player ratings from Metacritic user scores, Steam review summaries and PlayStation Store global ratings. Release dates and contents from Teyon, Reef Entertainment and PlayStation Store listings. Playtime figures from HowLongToBeat. RoboCop: Rogue City launch figures from Nacon's November 2023 statement as reported by Game Developer and The FPS Review, Steam review counts from the store page. Hunter: The Reckoning: Deathwish announced at the Xbox Partner Showcase, 26 March 2026. Important: user rating platforms are self-selecting and skew toward people who already wanted the game, so the player scores are not directly comparable to critic averages. Steam review counts and percentages move over time. Prices and discount levels change constantly, so check a price tracker before buying.
Compiled and fact-checked by Hammad Ahmad, IGGG Guides Editorial.