With the new Terminator: Zero anime series coming to Netflix on August 29, 2024, it marks one of many attempts to branch out in the Terminator universe. There have been TV shows, comics, and video games that craft adventures set in the iconic sci-fi series for fans of the franchise to experience.
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Sadly, there have been dozens of Terminator games, and the majority of them fall under the same trappings that most movie-licensed games do, thus making Terminator game development seem destined to fail. However, occasionally, developers have made their own fate and delivered games that managed to rise above the low bar.
Games not based on the films, such as Skynet, are also considered for this ranking.
6 Terminator: Salvation
Average Clone Of Gears Of War
- Developed By: Grin
- Released: May 1, 2009
- Genre: Third-Person Shooter
On the one hand, Terminator: Salvation is a blatant rip-off of the Gears Of War games that were popular around the time it was released. It delivers nothing new other than plaster armies of T-600s and T-800s where Locusts would be, and replaces Marcus Fenix with John Connor, resulting in the most standard third-person action game imaginable.
On the other hand, Gears Of War is not the worst game to base a Terminator game on. Both franchises feature post-apocalyptic landscapes where the protagonist is part of a resistance going against the conquering forces. The result is far from the greatest shooter ever made, but Terminator: Salvation is worth checking out for fans of the franchise.
5 RoboCop Versus The Terminator (Sega Genesis)
The Ultimate Crossover Of Cyborgs
- Developed By: Virgin Games USA
- Released: May 19, 1994
- Genre: Action-Adventure Sidescroller
Crossovers are always going to draw the attention of audiences and RoboCop Versus The Terminator brings two of the most famous sci-fi franchises of the 80s and 90s together. Sadly, only RoboCop is playable, but it still delivers a bloody action-sidescrolling experience that should make fans of both sides happy.
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Straight out of the Dark Horse comic books of the same name, RoboCop Versus The Terminator is as simple as fan-fiction fantasy can get about Terminators arriving in Detroit and now RoboCop has to stop them as well as other RoboCop villains.
4 Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance
Fun But Difficult RTS Depiction Of The Future War
- Developed By: Slitherine Software
- Released: August 21, 2023
- Genre: Real-Times Strategy
The first and only game set in the Dark Fate timeline, Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance takes an RTS approach, which is different from most Terminator games. In it, the new Resistance fights the future war against Legion and its army of Terminators.
Anybody who has mastered hard real-time strategy games will likely adjust to Defiance, but a warning to newcomers to the genre should be in place. Defiance is a difficult RTS game and will result in the player retrying missions over and over again to learn all the different strategies needed to complete them.
3 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Arcade)
Just Shoot Everything In The Classic Arcade
- Developed By: Midway
- Released: October 31, 1991
- Genre: Light Gun Shooter
Aim and shoot; the makings of most arcade games, and the Terminator 2: Judgment Day arcade game is no different, but that doesn't make it any less fun to play. With digitized actors for the enemy sprites, including Robert Patrick as the famous T-1000, and addictive gameplay filled with explosions, it's easy to see why Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a beloved shooter arcade game.
The Judgment Day arcade machine would even be re-released by Arcade1UP, allowing consumers and collectors to have the game in their homes with the red and blue light guns. It can be beaten in less than an hour and any Terminator fan should at least try it once in their life.
2 Skynet
Before Skyrim, Bethesda Made Skynet
- Developed By: Bethesda Softworks
- Released: November 16, 1996
- Genre: First-Person Shooter Adventure
In the mid-90s when every first-person shooter was trying to be a Doom clone, Skynet was ahead of its time with full camera movement to look up, down, and in any direction possible and forced players to aim a reticle, which has since become the gold standard of shooters everywhere.
Skynet was developed by Bethesda of all companies and as a result, it not only featured fast-paced action that depicted the Future War faithfully, but it also featured massive levels that were quasi-open-world to explore and fight Terminators as a member of the Resistance. Mixed with cheesy FMV cutscenes, Bethesda crafted a Terminator game that doesn't get enough love.
1 Terminator: Resistance
Best Depiction Of The Future War
- Developed By: Teyon
- Released: November 15, 2019
- Genre: First-Person Shooter Adventure
Fans were hesitant about Terminator: Resistance since it was developed by the same team behind the maligned Rambo game years prior. However, Teyon proved that everyone has to start somewhere because they honed their skills and improved with Terminator, providing a one-off first-person shooter that quickly became a cult classic.
From accurate visuals and sounds straight out of the first Terminator movie to making the T-800s a genuinely ominous threat to go up against; Terminator: Resistance is arguably the best depiction of the Future War fans have ever gotten. It even takes some inspiration from Skynet, with levels being large maps to explore and later, the game was updated with the chance to play as a Terminator.