Can't post a review, Vol. II

Had a similar problem to this when I tried to post a review for Terminator: Resistance. Just to be clear, when I click "Post Review," I'm taken to the work's review page with the review unposted, a button mockingly asking me if I want to "Write a Review."

I carefully made sure there were no potholes in the title, then when it wouldn't go through I also deleted all the punctuation marks from the title. I don't know what the problem is at this juncture.

Here is the title, then the full text of the review in question for analysis.

A pretty good poor man's Fallout 3 that occasionally becomes mediocre, and a crappy poor man's Call of Duty that occasionally becomes alright.

Terminator Resistance is not exactly a masterpiece of the medium. Its gameplay is mostly functional rather than deep, and several points downright degrade into Trial-and-Error Gameplay. Worse, I started out on Hard Mode to emphasize the tension, but when it got so hard that the tension just became frustrating, Normal Mode proved a bit too easy for my money. And this makes the times when it's being a corridor shooter full of invincible allies even more difficult and annoying, because while I eventually got enough power-ups in me that these sections became bearable, that was towards the end of the game.

But with that said... as a budget title, it makes good use of the license, and got me a fair bit of that old Fallout 3 experience I liked. And not just because the lockpicking minigame is literally taken lock stock and barrel from that game. Several missions involve navigating a blasted urban hellscape, dodging and hiding from (at least at first) powerful enemies who'll take you apart in a straight fight, but can be bested with clever tactics and/or sneaky tricks. The game gives you a pair of overpowered goggles that can literally see enemies through walls (a property shared by many weapon scopes) very early on, but sometimes will just spawn enemies out of nowhere when you get close so don't get too comfortable.

Terminator enemies are deadly shots and immune to conventional small arms, but they're often accompanied by smaller drones that aren't, so you're still somewhat incentivized to fiddle with the normal guns once you unlock energy weapons and explosives. Energy weapons themselves have a fun customizability minigame that supplements a lot of the looting. By the end of the game, the same escalating weapons, supplies, and perks that make the corridor shooting bearable and occasionally fun also make straight-up combat more viable in the sandbox sections, although never quite enough that it's your first resort over sneaky tricks and traps.

Also, since it incorporates a perk and levelling system, there's a certain amount of playstyle customizability here, although by the end of the game I felt I was getting diminishing returns from lockpicking and I wish I'd gotten the first Crafting upgrade sooner, since it unlocks a ton of options. Stealth perks are... questionably useful, since you're pretty good at sneaking without it, but hacking (which is accomplished via playing a quick round of Frogger) is always great, especially when you can hack overpowered enemy turrets which will quickly mow through armies of tough foes for you on their own. Toughness is boring as snot and barely has an effect until you get to the end of the tree and unlock full regeneration. And no matter your playstyle, Weapons and Explosives are worth it.

The story's a bit undercooked, and the big twist is so obvious I debated just coming out and saying it here, but the characters don't know they're in a franchise built around time travel, so they didn't come off too stupid for not figuring it out. Speaking of, most of the characters are a bit undercooked, but they're likable enough and their stories and sidequests paint a portrait of what the Terminator setting is like. I wish at least one self-aware heroic Terminator showed up, since the beloved T-800 "Pops" is such a big part of the franchise, but I understand the decision to focus entirely on the human cast instead. It serves the purpose of providing a frame for the gameplay and the world.

The DLC is... it's fine? It's mostly more of the same. I enjoyed it, and it does have some fun deep-cut references to the franchise, but while if you enjoy the game enough to enjoy a couple more maps and characters, if you don't it probably won't change your mind.

Overall, as a mild Terminator fan (although I guess I'm in the minority on Genisys so grain of salt over here), I'd recommend it to other Terminator fans, mild to spicy, who don't mind a bit of first person shooting in their roleplaying games, a bit of leveling in their shooters, and the occasional bit of clumsy design in both. Also don't be afraid to turn the difficulty down if it's too frustrating.

Reviews have a character limit of 3000 (this is stated below the textbox), which that overshoots significantly.

Edited by Synchronicity on Dec 28th 2023 at 9:48:57 AM

Is this what currently happens when reviews overshoot? In the past, when the feature did work, I would be given a different notification.