Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance Reviews

I enjoy playing terminator defiance and the role-playing choice that pop up that does effect the campaign. Really gives a different view of terminator universe and gameplay. Definitely has a lot of potential as long devs listen to players. I haven't finished playing it yet, however I am looking forward to finishing it, playing legion DLC and Definitely looking forward to newest DLC coming out.

A RTS that incorporates resource management from a grand campaign perspective. Unit customization, persistent forces/armies a dynamic campaign what more could you ask for? Honestly this game is great and for the price how could you say no if you're a fan of the aforementioned content!

Very good game, with good mechanics and graphics.

Among the best games on steam, easily 9.5/10. That missing .5 is because they made it weirdly linear for the genre this game fits into, not a big deal esp since it's a narrative driven game but its exclusivity loses out on a lot of replayability that most games of this genre aren't worried about (Total War titles for example). (Yes I know they have the DLC that addresses this but the DLC is dog water filled with Walmart coupons that were dragged through a game of monopoly, I'm pretending the DLC never ever existed after trying it)

Honestly a good game. I enjoy the RTS nature of it and story. My only compliant would be optimization such as being able to run on mutli core instead of single core, no lag during mission checkpoint/completion, and somehow better FPS during large battle which is surprising because I thought my hardware, a 2025 gaming laptop could handle it. It's a good game, but it could be a great game if the Devs took some time to optimize it.

Ah, it's always nice those rare times you get a game that falls into the category of "how the f*ck is a tie in of a movie series actually good?!" (Especially because it's... Dark Fate, not the worst one, but... like, yeah, it *absolutely* lives up to the modern Terminator movie stereotype). This game was supposed to be the random spinoff, instead, this game is genuinely the *real* star of the show. I confess these are not usually my type of strategy games. For me it's usually Total War or a city builder, and while I did have fun with Dawn of War, even that game's greatness did not match the Total War games to me. This game is different, however, in one key way, one that made Dark Crusade, and Homeworld great as well: Persistent units, (Well, for Dark Crusade it was buildings, but same point). Every battle you fight, every soldier you lose, is a tangible resource you have to learn how to deal with the consequences of even after the battle. Your beloved tank takes a nasty rocket to the side? Guess what, you're allowed to repair it no problem, except for the rest of the fight that part of the tank that took the hit will have weaker armor, and repairing it costs resources. But what makes it great is it isn't a universal type of resource you have to spend 5 minutes watching the top left or right side of your screen as it *slowly,* *AGONIZINGLY* ticks up for you to use, it's a specific one tied to each individual vehicle. Your soldiers essentially repair it with scrap, and every vehicle carries a different amount. Heavy duty ones like tanks have the great benefit of having well over 1000, meaning you can keep fixing it over and over again, while humvees and technicals carry about half of that, but make up for it... (kind of), by being lightweight and mobile, and great for mowing down regular infantry. But once that scrap runs out, you are SOL, be *very* careful, because you are not repairing those vehicles until the battle is over... if you even have the supplies for it, because guess what? The campaign, as mentioned, is persistent, and part of it is you have to learn how to manage your armies and your supplies. So while it sounds easy enough, just wait until the fight is over and you'll get it back automatically, obviously right? No, you're gonna have to spend precious supplies to make sure that vehicle is fueled and the scrap is replaced so you can use it again next battle. Except those supplies are also how you move around the map, no supplies, you starve, but also, no supplies, no way to rearm your vehicles and infantry. So now you have to have this delicate balance of what are you willing to spend to maintain combat effectiveness without starving yourself? Are you gonna have to get rid of precious soldiers? Because guess what? You also have extra soldiers. Your infantry squad or tank crew is down to one man? You'd better hope you have the manpower to replace them, because if you overextend and get too many guys killed, your reserves of extra guys can run dry *fast* if you aren't careful. That, to be blunt, is the absolute beauty of this game. Just like with XCOM or Frostpunk you are in this perpetual cycle of each resource naturally feeding into each other and organically promoting the mentality that you are fighting as a resistance. You *CANNOT* afford to just blob troops up like it's Starcraft because the ammo and soldiers you'll lose can absolutely cripple your campaign, but sometimes you have to take risks and take immediate losses now, to soften up an advance later. Even militia soldiers, the most basic, replacable units genuinely feel painful when you have to decide whether or not you're gonna use them as meat shields to cover for Founder soldiers or vehicles, because that is another resource you're gonna have to replace, and, ironically enough, meat shields like them, when you have to use them that way, are absolutely invaluable in a campaign. Oh, and I didn't even mention unit experience, *why* you bother keeping your men alive. The more battles you fight, you can add abilities for each of them from infantry to vehicle crews, and they can be *game changers,* without being cheesy, boring stat increases that just break the game. Even militia units can be shockingly independent and unique from each other based on what abilities you give them, making them serve a legitimately vastly different purpose compared to other ones. This game is about leading a resistance, and it sells it f*cking *PERFECTLY.* Every man you lose is painful, every victory you gain is monumental. That said, it is also a game that will teach you *very* quickly, the value of the pause button, because this game can and will absolutely crush you if you're not prepared. Make a mistake, and you will be punished *heavily* because of the potential resources you'll lose. In games like Battlefield, or again, even Dawn of War a lot of the time, never cared much for vehicles, always loved the bread and butter of a good infantry charge. This game? My M1 Abrams might as well be a child to me, because I get so excited every time I get a new top notch vehicle. And the urban warfare aspect of it helps make it so great. Watching said Abrams roll alongside a building so it can blast a hole into a building as all of the glass in it *shatters* from the impact is exhilarating, the environment breaking down around you as you push on and fight makes it feel like a genuine battle every time. This game is an absolute blast even for someone who has never been too big into the Dawn of War or Age of Empire types of RTS'. That said, not a flawless game. It can be mind numbingly frustrating at times watching a javelin completely out of view fly out and blow up your humvee or burn your tank forcing the crew out, with what sometimes feels like no way to properly retaliate. Light infantry vehicles like humvees can also be frustrating because a random infantry unit with AK's can damage the engine super quickly and overwhelm it even if you have a plasma machine gun mounted on the top. And yeah, that might be decently realistic, and it is nice how you can do the same to them, but it also makes those light vehicles extremely situational, because even as scouts, they can get annihilated way too quickly sometimes. And that is the thing, I'm *definitely* not the most skilled player, but it still doesn't make it any less frustrating sometimes when you run into a wall that just feels artificially difficult at times. Now, granted it actually has felt pretty fair for me by and large, and as I get better a lot of those problems will become far more trivial, but be prepared if you're inexperienced at these games for a couple moments that genuinely feel crushingly unfair, quick save a *lot* too, because autosave is not implemented the best. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting one every 10 minutes for this type of game, but when I get done watching a vehicle drive for multiple minutes on end listening to dialogue in the middle of a mission, only for the game to not autosave once it's done, it's painful if you have to reload that save). That said, obviously, as you can tell, super obvious recommendation. I love how well they implemented their mechanics, and while apparently at launch, difficulty was a lot worse, right now, for me it's the perfect blend of punishing enough where you can't cheese and screw around, but fair enough where you can actually experiment with your strategy instead of relying on a couple cheesy tactics to exploit the game. Also, use your vehicles *with* your infantry, tanks *especially.* Isolate them, and you will not have a fun time.

Great RTS with tactical pause. Interesting missions, tactical depth, unit customization. Now with Uprising DLC with a conquest mode this is one of the most compelling RTS games in recent years. Highly recommend.

This game is pretty good, need bigger maps 4vs4 5vs5 or option to set like for example 2vs5 or any endless set up, and for any map, small or large or any size . And more options in scrimmage like mirco tweak of the supply level for all or option not to use no plasma weapons for your AI players or players or be able to remove an AI player or add more instead of what the map is forced set at. Please more Free options instead of just restricted options. I will be looking forward for these changes ,so it will brings me back to this game , to play some more. Thanks in advance

i never thought id see a terminator game where time travel is actually a gameplay mechanic (save scumming)

Hands down one of the best RTS games that got released in recent times. I can't even remember when was the last time we got anything good story-wise from the Terminator franchise. And I certainly wasn't expecting it to come from a niche genre like RTS, but here we are. However, more than the story or writing, what was more unexpected was the choices/multiple ways to complete missions in my RTS game that do have consequences! And it's implemented brilliantly, in my opinion. The gameplay is intense, micro-management intensive & more tactical oriented with no base building, unlike the classic C&C style RTS games. All the mission levels are truly varied & unique. So, it never feels the same. This game is challenging from start to finish & I can't recommend it enough honestly!