Retro Side-Shooter Fans Should Be Excited for This New Title

Summary

The Terminator franchise remains strong with a new retro side-shooter game announced.
Terminator 2D: No Fate is an upcoming officially licensed entry in the series drawing heavily from T2: Judgement Day.
Developers describe the game as a love letter to the classic era of 80/90s arcade action titles.

As one of the most iconic action series etched into the pop culture zeitgeist, Terminator and its legacy remain strong, even while complicated by the sheer number and sometimes wavering quality of entries within it over the years and across all forms of media. But Terminator continues to be a popular franchise, and has never stopped producing projects or appearing in various other IPs since its inception in 1984.

Recently, fans got some promising news, as indie developer Bitmap Bureau and publisher Reef Entertainment just announced a new Terminator game. Terminator 2D: No Fate is an officially licensed upcoming title that will be a throwback to the classic 90s arcade era of gaming, taking what is probably the most recognized and liked film, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, as a point of entry for its gameplay and story.

Terminator 2D: No Fate is scheduled to release on September 5, 2025, for Nintendo Switch, PC (Epic Games Store and Steam), Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.

Skynet, Terminator 2 Arcade, Mortal Kombat 11, Terminator Resistance

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By Melody MacReady

Terminator 2D: No Fate Looks Like A Retro Side-Shooter Dream Game

Terminator Has Been On the Rise Recently

While some of the modern-day films haven't been as well-received, the older movies, particularly Terminator 2: Judgement Day, remain a touchstone and a rich source of material for adaptations and spin-offs. Last year's Terminator Zero animated series on Netflix was highly rated and brought positive attention to the series. On the videogame side of things, Terminator has crossed over or been featured and referenced in a range of properties, with more to come from some later this year:

Call of Duty
Mortal Kombat
Fortnite
Broforce
Gears of War 5

Aside from appearing in the above, the latest official game, 2019's Terminator: Resistance by developer Teyon, was an FPS RPG-lite telling a story set between the events of the first film and Judgement Day that saw generally positive reactions. And prior to Terminator 2D: No Fate's reveal, Nacon announced an open-world survival MMO, although Terminator: Survivors was delayed from its planned 2024 launch to sometime later this year. Still, the iron has been hot for Terminator, and the streak is set to continue with No Fate.

Terminator 2D: No Fate Aims to Meld Old School Style With Modern Sensibilities

Bitmap Bureau has been very clear about how Terminator 2D: No Fate will pull from the past while applying modern polishes to create an engaging retro experience. Design director Mike Tucker describes it as "a love letter to 80s/90s arcade games. My mission was to create the T2 side-scroller we should have had in our youth."

Terminator 2D: No Fate will have players controlling Sarah Connor, Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800, and John Connor as they battle against Robert Patrick's chilling liquid metal T-1000 in intense side-shooting action in the vein of classic Contra games. It will feature versions of many of the memorable scenes and set pieces from Judgement Day while expanding on existing elements, like showing more of the Future War side of the conflict and the adult John Connor leading the human rebels against Skynet's relentless AI army.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one of the most successful and enduring sequels, and translating it into a side-shooter that harkens back to the days of 90s arcade games seems a perfect fit. Combined with the resurgence of similar retro games in the indie space at large, Terminator 2D: No Fate's vibrant and crisp pixel visuals and tight-looking gameplay are poised to deliver fans an incredibly fun experience that shouldn't be missed.