Systems: Personal Computer
After six installments of The Terminator’s time-traveling narrative, the series has officially reached a stage where each new chapter should include a Star Wars-style opening crawl to bring us up to date. Consider the clumsily phrased “Defiance” in Terminator: Dark Fate. The game takes place in the Dark Fate timeline, which is the same timeline as the 2019 movie of the same name and ignores any canon beyond Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Players might be surprised to learn that they are fighting against Legion rather than Skynet in the future, and that there isn’t even a reference to He Who Will Return.
Even yet, Dark Fate – Defiance is a rather well-oiled battle simulation that leverages its source material as the launchpad for plenty of tense, tactical encounters against both man and machine, despite being far removed from the events of the current Terminator. Ultimately, this is a crisp real-time tactics game with sweeping science fiction themes from the 1980s, and while the concept might not be particularly inventive, it’s certainly entertaining enough to pass the time during this slow patch in the gaming calendar.
The original Company of Heroes video game series from Relic Entertainment, in which players command small units of soldiers throughout dynamic theaters of conflict, is arguably the closest comparison for Dark Fate – Defiance. Rather than overseeing World War II infantry, you will command The Founders, a motley resistance group comprised of ex-US military personnel who are bereft of supplies, personnel, or even a logical leadership to guide them. Meanwhile, Legion is a growing military machine that produces a wide range of metallic threats, including war dogs that are mounted with laser turrets and vintage T-800s. As a result, the odds are instantly stacked against you, giving Dark Fate – Defiance a distinctive survivalist bent.
Sadly, the production value of the game falls short of that amply scaled scope.
This feeling of vulnerability is exacerbated by the fact that there are not many vehicles or ammo available, and there are few opportunities to resupply a unit after a soldier is killed, leaving them far from fully equipped. In these kind of situations, the environment around you is your closest friend. Units can take cover in grass to outwit adversaries, go prone to evade damage, or hole up in structures for additional protection against an unprovoked attack.
Legion’s strategies, on the other hand, are anything from stealthy; they charge headlong into the heat of combat with all the fascist bluster one might anticipate from a battalion of Terminator troopers. Their sheer force more than makes up for any lack of battle strategy, and it can be truly nerve-wracking to hear and see a new wave of chromatic warriors closing in on your squadron. Outwitting your opponent by combining strategic forethought with spontaneous creativity, switching up unit types and ammo to take advantage of flaws in your adversary, and so on, creates a compelling gameplay cycle that endures throughout Dark Fate – Defiance’s extensive campaign.
Another one of the game’s great points is the diversity of missions available in that campaign. These missions range from siege engagements akin to tower defense to more controlled, multi-quest recon expeditions across expansive open regions populated with oddball local NPCs. Regarding the plot itself, however, don’t anticipate a lot of standalone storytelling or significant universe growth. As in Stargate: Timekeepers, the developer Slitherine’s fondness for corny speech is still evident here. The game’s sole noteworthy addition to Terminator canon appears to be the creation of a new human opponent organization, a guerilla resistance group called The Movement. Although their existence appears to be more for gameplay diversity than narrative purposes, it does provide players the chance to engage in combat with other people in addition to Legion’s robotic soldiers.
In addition to its campaign, Dark Fate – Defiance has a few fast play and multiplayer Skirmish modes that allow players to take control of the Movement, Legion, or Founder factions in brief battles against other players or the computer. Though these excursions might not have the same replay value as other live service experiences, they at least make a nice epilogue for those who are still hungry after Dark Fate – Defiance’s main course. It’s probably best enjoyed as a chance to practice and refine some of the more advanced strategies learned from the main campaign.
Sadly, the production value of the game falls short of that amply scaled scope. The game’s arid visual style, with low detail environments and achromatic color palettes that keep this particular future looking rather flat and dreary, struggles to evoke the same sense of palpable atmosphere as, say, the future war sequences of the Terminator films, with the exception of its authentically realised T-800 models.
Though at moments it feels like a desperate attempt to cut costs on a Terminator plot, that franchise window decoration isn’t really the major attraction here. The true strength of Dark Fate – Defiance, however, lies in its captivating action and refreshingly purist approach to the war tactics genre, which can keep your interest even if you have no personal connection to the brand. Although the history of Terminator games has been just as wildly erratic as, well, that of its movie equivalent, Dark Fate – Defiance might have helped to improve that historically low standard a tiny bit thanks to its well-designed, Terminator-infused tactical trials.