Review: Terminator: Resistance (PS4)

Posted on January 29, 2020 by geelw

Hi! I’m Darryl and this is my other brother, Darryl and we’ll be killing you in a sec…

Well, isn’t this a big surprise?

Reef Entertaiment‘s shockingly good Terminator: Resistance ($59.99, PS4) is the best game in the long running series of games based on the franchise since the one-two punch of Bethesda’s two very solid PC games, The Terminator: Future Shock (1995) and SkyNET (1996). What’s so astonishing is this new game’s developer Teyon is responsible for 2014’s RAMBO: The Video Game, which was raked over the coals critically for a number of issues, with being a simple rail shooter where movement was automatic and had too many QTE (Quick Time Event) sequences and some technical woes some of the biggest problems.

The Polish developer (who also has a branch in Japan) has been around since 2006 making a number of games for multiple platforms and to me, they’re a tiny bit like Cauldron, the Bratislava-based developer who made a number of journeyman-like titles across multiple platforms for a few publishers over the years. Whatever budget they had to work with here, Teyon really took the Terminator license seriously, going back to the first two films for inspiration and knocking it out the park as a result. Interestingly enough, there’s a even a Bethesda Softworks touch in the interaction scenes with other characters as choices you make affect a few outcomes and even the lock picking mini-game is lifted from the later Bethsoft-made Fallout games.

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Terminator: Resistance (Finally) Arrives on PS4 Digitally

Posted on January 7, 2020 by geelw

This is actually pretty funny, as Terminator: Resistance has been out on PC for a few months and on PS4 in other territories as a physical release, so it’s like a time gate effect here in the US to see this trailer. Even funnier, I ended up playing about an hour of the PC version at a friend’s place not too long ago and can safely say publisher Reef Entertainment and veteran developer Teyon have really knocked it out of the park in terms of the overall atmosphere.

Translation, it really feels like it’s set in the Terminator universe ‘Future War’ setting and all, and the music is absolutely brilliant. It’s got a few pesky areas, but from my time spent with the PC version, I really liked what I played. Enough to order the game from a UK retailer where the PS4 physical version was cheaper that the digital one by almost half. Anyway, this will be a fun review when it arrives in a few days, that’s for sure. Before you ask, PS4 games will run in any territory, but I may need to set up a UK account if there’s any downloadable content, but that’s not a big deal to do at all.

Here’s when you say “Ladies first!” when asked to tackle a tough mission. You might get a kick to the head, though…

-GW

RAMBO: The Videogame Update: Prepare To Fly Out Of Your Seat On A Friday…

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

BOOM. Reef Entertainment and developer Teyron have been quite busy it seems. This understatement of the week has been brought to you by no fewer that four videos they’ve just posted of their upcoming multiplatform RAMBO game in action that show off lots of stuff blowing up, a fairly high digital body count and overall, a game that isn’t screaming anything but pure guilty pleasure out of the gate for folks who like this sort of thing.

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RAMBO: The Video Game Gameplay: That Long Road Is Getting Shorter…

Posted on November 5, 2013 by geelw

Hmmmm. Cover an eyeball and stick a finger in one ear if you’re partly squeamish and hate the sounds of stuff blowing up. Amusingly enough, I only find two of the four Rambo pictures watchable from start to finish, so I’m quite surprised that I’m liking what I see in this licensed game more than I thought. First Blood was excellent for its surprising take on the action genre in making its Vietnam vet antihero John Rambo a more sympathetic character who gets pushed around in that small town he’s passing through until he’s had enough. The last Rambo film was a fun but gory contradiction because of Stallone’s political stance on what was going on in Burma and how the film turned Rambo from a “peaceful” tour guide back to an even more efficient killing machine with a cause. And yes… I thought Rambo II and III were bigger, dumber 80’s movies with lots of screaming and explosions and nothing worth writing home about plot-wise, but I know SOME of you will be all up in my face about my opinion on that pair of cinematic jokers.

Granted, this won’t be a Game of the Year candidate when it’s finally released in early 2014, but I think some fans of the franchise will be grinning like maniacs as they relive their favorite bits from the movies with a bit more artistic license in some cases…

Rambo: The Videogame Reveal Trailer: Gore Patrol, Reporting For Duty!

Posted on July 10, 2013 by geelw

OK, I wasn’t expecting this game to be anything close to “great”, but I did get a chuckle that Reef Entertainment and developer Teyon have basically taken the extreme violence from 2008’s Rambo and transplanted it into the older films. Of course, if you go back and watch First Blood, you’ll see that John Rambo didn’t actually kill a single person during the film.

The one death he “caused” was actually the fault of the idiot in that helicopter who didn’t think for a second that hanging too far out from that chopper trying to put a bullet into our harried hero was a good idea. Yeah, a lot of people get themselves hurt in that film, but they did pretty much ask for it. Granted, the rest of the series did amp up the body count considerably, so I’ll have to see where this game takes those chapters.

Yeah, I stuck the trailer below the jump, as it’s a bit icky with some gory neck stabbery and an exploding body. Nothing like a little of the old ultra-violence to get your eyeballs wide awake, huh?

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Gallery: Rambo Screenshots – I’ve No Beef With Reef (Just Yet)…

Posted on March 15, 2013 by geelw

UK-based Reef Entertainment along with developer Teyron are hard at work on their upcoming PC/PS3/Xbox 360 Rambo game and it looks pretty good as far (well, as those nice screenshots go). That initial trailer with zero actual gameplay footage was a good enough elevator pitch to some fans, but skeptical dopes like me want to see something to Actual Bravo about.

Still, I won’t be playing this as a “serious” game, as other than First Blood and that last super-gory flick (that made some interesting political points on the pro-rebel side of the Myanmar/Burma conflict), the series isn’t exactly without its unintentionally goofy-ass elements. Of course, I’m also throwing any expectations out the nearest window like I do with every game I play, as going in wanting something LIKE another game and getting what a developer intends to be different always disappoints in one way or another. That May 3, 2013 release dater I’ve seen is rolling around pretty fast, so let’s hope for the sake of the license that the game is actually fun and does well at retail.

RAMBO: The Video Game In Development (It’s 1988 All Over Again!)

Posted on August 4, 2012 by geelw

Granted, the teaser site just has a nice image and that film clip heavy trailer doesn’t reveal much in the way of gameplay (as in no gameplay at all, so I’d gather the project is still early in the dev cycle), but I’m sort of positively ambivalent about the whole thing. Well, positive yet ambivalent if that’s an actual emotional state. If the game is based on the last Rambo film with the hyper-realstic violence and interesting pro-rebel attitude, it’ll be a game worth checking out to see how far it takes its story and violence. Hey, the whole archery thing is big in games these days (not that it went away for us die-hard RPG players out there), so at least I’ll enjoy those parts. And hell yeah, the game had BETTER use some of the late, great Jerry Goldsmith’s music (if legally possible).

On the other hand, if it’s another 80’s throwback with angry Russians, rescue missions in Cambodia or wherever and nostalgically crappy (and completely unnecessary these days) USA!, USA! jingoism permeating the entire project…. I’ll go play something more relevant like Dynamite Duke instead. As usual… we shall see… Don’t blow it, Reef.