There have been many Terminator games over the years, with varying degrees of success between them. When I learned that RoboCop Rogue City publisher Nacon was overseeing Terminator Survivors, my hopes for the project immediately increased. Yet, despite an intriguing premise set after the events of T2 Judgment Day, Nacon Studio Milan reveals that Terminator Survivors PvP won’t be a feature in the PS5 and Xbox title.
Terminator Survivors will blend FPS game elements and base-building mechanics, as you band together with three friends to survive against Skynet’s forces. It’s absolutely ripe for co-op game fun, especially if you had an extra player attempting to vanquish you with the might of a powerful T-800.
However, in a recent blog post about the new PS5 game and new Xbox game, Nacon Studio Milan details that you can “experience the entire story of the game alongside up to three friends. There are no plans for player versus player functionality.” And that’s a massive shame, really. The thrill of the Terminator movies is watching the ‘hunter vs. the hunted’ dynamic unfold, a staple of the franchise since James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi classic debuted.
The dread of the cold, emotionless cyborg looming permeates the air of any Terminator movie, and you could cut that tension with a knife. Bringing the focus down to one singular enemy has its advantages, but placing the T-800s capabilities into the hands of another player is a blood-curdling thought.
While asymmetric horror games are a dime a dozen these days, converting that notion into an experience that spans over the course of an entire story seems like an amazing concept. Can you imagine the terror of having a player-controlled T-800 studying your every move from in an open world game from afar, learning your habits and shortfalls? If there was ever a franchise perfect for PvP, it is definitely the Terminator series. The rationale behind the game’s sole T-800 is down to Terminator lore, according to the studio.
In Terminator Survivors, Skynet’s means of production have to reach “their peak”, resulting in limited infiltration units, like the game’s T-800, acting as a reminder of “Skynet’s relentless pursuit across time.” This particularly T-800, which arrives in an alternative future where Judgment Day occurs in 2005 (not 1997), is sent to rewrite history and secure Skynet a meaningful victory for the Future War. We’ve seen different futures unfold in the movies before, notably with the critically mixed results of Terminator Genisys and Terminator Dark Fate.
Yet, leaving out an extra layer of multiplayer game immersion seems like a step back, rather than the step into the future Nacon is teasing.
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