Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch
Ah, 1991. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was in cinemas, the world wide web was born, and the video game arcade was booming. Halcyon days! If you fancy going back to before that middle one ruined everything, Terminator 2D: No Fate is practically a two-for-one, repackaging James Cameron’s searing sci-fi flick into an action packed, pixel-perfect arcade outing. It’s a modern blast from the past – and unlike Arnie, you don’t even need to be naked to enjoy this particular bit of time travel.
Developed by retro specialists Bitmap Bureau, No Fate combines the run-and-gun shooting of Metal Slug with the melee brawls of Streets Of Rage, throwing in stealth and on-rails vehicle sections for good measure. It’s all gorgeously realised in ridiculously detailed pixel art, presenting key locations from the film in beautifully layered 2D environments that help this feel like a real piece of lost ’90s media.
For fans of the film or this gaming era, No Fate is an engaging trip back in time.
You’ll play as several characters, including Sarah Connor, a grown John Connor in the war-torn future of 2029, kid John in the ’90s, and of course the T-800. Each has a slightly different play style – for instance, where Sarah can punch out enemies, old John throws grenades, and the T-800 bodyslams like a slab of Austrian muscle. Truly channelling the design ethos of its inspiration, you’ll need to learn level layouts, enemy placements, and attack patterns for bosses, and with everything but the easiest difficulty having a strict number of continues, No Fate can deliver the most old-school gaming fate of all – a game over screen.
An initial playthrough of story mode hews closely to the events of the film, but also skirts around the edges and fills in some gaps – you’ll play Sarah’s assault on Cyberdyne that landed her in Pescadero State Hospital, for instance – which adds more substance for anyone familiar with the source material. However, No Fate also branches out with alternate endings, unlocking extra game modes depending on which one you reach.
Those “what if?” scenarios add some replayability, since most levels are only a few minutes long. It’s another throwback to the decade it’s aping, challenging you to make it through unscathed, as quickly as possible (and a ‘pure’ Arcade Mode strips things back even further, testing players’ skills with a truncated run and no continues or saving) but can make the game feel a little short-lived.
That brevity and challenge may be too retro for some, but for fans of the film or this gaming era, No Fate is an engaging trip back in time. A love letter to both Terminator 2 and classic arcade gaming, this might feel like weaponised nostalgia in places, but it masterfully blends its influences into one of the best Terminator games in years.
