Rise of the Machines. Terminator Genisys: Rise of the Resistance Review

INTRODUCTION

 I recently completed Terminator Genisys: Rise of the Resistance's 7 mission campaign. The review is based on a solo playthrough with two characters: John Connor and the Sentinel (a reprogrammed T-800... hi Arnold).

 There will be minor campaign spoilers in places, such as describing the objectives of some missions.

CUBES

 To begin with, the game uses three types of dice:

• Action Dice: 4 regular D6s of the player's chosen color of blue, red, white, or yellow. They are cast at the start of a character's turn and are distributed across action slots.
• Attack Dice (see photo below): 4 custom dice that characters use to attack enemies and vice versa. 1 hit on two faces, a terminator skull on two faces, a double hit on one face, and a fist-symbol of Resistance on the last face of a hit (required to activate special abilities).
• Reinforcement Dice: 2 regular D6s, which you use to check if new Skynet units will appear on the field.

GAME PROCESS

 Terminator Genisys: Rise of the Resistance is a cooperative tactical game with a campaign mode and a dice placement mechanic for 1-4 players.

 Each round you choose in which order to activate the characters. This is important because of the enemy activation mechanic (more on that below). Here is the sequence of moves:

• Roll 4 action dice.
• Distribute the dice to the slots on your character card, weapon cards, equipment cards, and your class to activate the corresponding actions.
• Roll the dice and check whether enemy reinforcements will appear on the field.
• Activate enemies targeting you.
• Activate the boss, if there is one.

 First you roll 4 dice for your character. Their number does not change from mission to mission. Some abilities allow you to borrow dice from other characters, but as a rule, there are only 4 of them.

 However, as you progress through the campaign, you'll have new options for where to place your dice, and this is the main way you level up your character. At the start, the following actions are available to you:

• To move – place a cube in the movement slot, move the corresponding number of dots. Characters usually have 2 movement slots.
• Interact — rummage through boxes, open doors, hack computer terminals, etc.
• To rest - to remove a wound from a character or bring a comrade who has lost consciousness.
• Attack - some characters (Guard, for example) have an attack written directly on the character card, but, as a rule, to attack, you need to place a cube on the weapon or equipment card.

 After completing all actions, you pass a check for enemy reinforcements. The number of dice rolled depends on the current scenario; 2. For each result corresponding to the entry point of the enemies (it is placed on the field during the layout process), you take one enemy from the pool and place it on the corresponding entrance.

 The pool of enemies is prescribed in each scenario. You line them up according to the picture in the script layout description. The colored stand rings help distinguish which enemies target which character.

 Then you activate all enemies of the corresponding color character. First everyone moves, then attack the nearest character if they can. You will then activate the boss if there is one. Unlike regular enemies, bosses are activated every turn of each character, making them much more dangerous.

 Since you know which enemies are activated during each character's turn, this plays an important role in planning each round and making decisions in which order to activate characters. For example, in the photo below for the beginning of a new round. If John Connor (blue) is activated first, 5 enemies are activated at the end of his turn.

EVALUATION OF THE GAME

AESTHETICS AND RULES

 Probably the main claim to the game. The miniatures are of acceptable quality and quite thematic, but I've seen much better minis. Granted, I don't paint them and don't obsess over them at all, so it's not a negative for me, but others may not like it. In my opinion, they are of an acceptable level and are much better than tokens or cardboard. The cards are cute and will probably last a long time, but they are a bit flimsy. And the tiles are slightly bent; most likely, you will have to straighten them with a glass of books. Otherwise, the components are excellent.

 The rule book is detailed and vividly illustrated with pictures and diagrams. However, the tiles and obstacles described three times in the mission layout did not correspond to the image. I decided to go by the image and, judging by the forums, I did the right thing.

 In general, I would rather give 0.5 points than 1 point. The listed disadvantages are not critical, but they spoil the assessment a little.

GAMEPLAY AND MECHANICS

 Since each mission has its own layout, and since you need to place crates, obstacles, doors, and terminals at certain points, the layout takes a lot of time. Plus creating a pool of enemies, shuffling decks... In general, the layout takes 10-15 minutes. In my opinion, it's not too much for a game like this. Various playing fields, mission objectives and enemies are one of the main advantages of the game. As I mentioned, sometimes the image of the components does not match the description of the script, so be careful.

 What makes TG: RotR stand out from other similar games? As difficult tactical situations arise each round, you will have to make interesting and sometimes difficult decisions. Is it worth risking the possible failure of the Sentinel so that Jon can be the first to appear and complete one of the mission's objectives? The game has enough variety of solutions to make it interesting to play and at the same time everything does not slide into analysis paralysis. Every round is something to think about. Should I run to the other side of the field? Should I attack this terminator before moving? Is it worth spending precious actions to walk up to that crate and open it? Can I afford to ignore approaching enemies and engage the objective? Since the gameplay and mechanics are harmoniously combined, these solutions do not overload your brain. You have many options, but not too many, and the decisions you make are important.

 The gameplay is generally intuitive and the rules are clear. By the middle of the first mission, I hardly consulted the rulebook, and when I did, the information I needed was very fast.

 I haven't checked the timer, but I think they last 1-2 hours. Even the long missions did not cause a feeling of drag. Time flew quickly.

FAN

 If bonus points could be bet, this game would definitely get them. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I find it hard to finish campaigns even in fan games because to be honest the campaigns take a lot of time and effort, but here I completed a campaign with 7 missions (total of 9 games) in 6 days. In the last mission, he even stayed up late; it was so interesting.

 I especially liked the fact that I managed to quickly remember the rules and get used to the mechanics, so that I was no longer distracted by technical moments, immersed in the atmosphere of the game.

TOPICS

 I'm a big fan of the Terminator movies. For me, T2 > T1 > Let the savior come > T3 > Dark Fates. The atmosphere of the movies is perfectly transferred to the table. It feels like you're a desperate Resistance fighter trying to defeat Skynet's relentless soulless machines. The characters are interesting and diverse. There are tons of futuristic weapons and gear that will be available throughout the campaign. Also, during the campaign, each character will receive three class cards (after missions 1, 3 and 5), which will give access to additional abilities, wound slots, equipment, etc.

 My campaign featured a lot of last-minute wins, epic moves where 4-5 enemies were killed at a time, desperate attempts to stall vehicles and complete objectives, and memorable moments like this:

SOLO MODE AND RE-PLAYABILITY

 The rules recommend controlling two characters in solo mode and playing as if there were two players. So I did. It is easy to manage two, there was no feeling that too much was piled on you. For one character, the passage would be too difficult, and even after losing consciousness to them, you would instantly lose. Controlling three or four characters is probably cool, but I suspect it might be too much for one person.

 Since the game is co-op, it's solo playable by default, and the gameplay is no different from normal mode. AI's moves are calculated quickly and easily, and it is not easy to defeat it.

 Although some moments in the campaign like the one described above are strongly remembered, I think that if you wait a year, you will be able to go through the campaign again, forgetting most of the details. In addition, the Terminator Genisys: Fall of Skynet app was released for the game with new characters, weapons, equipment, enemies, as well as a full campaign and random mission generator. If you have the base + expansion, you can record hundreds of games, but the game will still be varied.

CONCLUSION

 Terminator Genisys is a great Terminator themed board and one of the best campaign games I know of. If you are a fan of "Terminator" and campaigns, then I recommend it. The game is gorgeous.