Terminator Genisys: Future War Delivers Grit and Meaningful Multitasking to the Mobile MMO Genre

Source: Terminator Genisys: Future War via Facebook
Two years after the release of Alan Taylor's　Terminator Genisys, it looks like Arnold has made good on his "I'll be back" promise and returned in the new free to play mobile title, Terminator Genisys: Future War.

The game, which released　May 17, gives players the option to fight with the T-5000s or human resistance. After choosing which side to align yourself with, the action immediately kicks off as a tutorial walks you through the basics of building and maintaining your own base. A cursor will point you in the direction of what you want to choose while an NPC explains why the choices were made. Gradually the tasks become more complex, but it's always clear why specific tasks were done. After about five minutes, the tutorial ends and　Future War finally gets a chance to shine.　

Right away, the player is in full control of their base. Military units can be created, ammunition can be manufactured, and factories can be upgraded – but the choice is up to you and it seems there are no wrong answers on how to play. For example, sometimes scavenging materials is more effective than creating them. If your army outnumbers an opponent, you're　able to collect a fair amount of material without losing much. On the flipside, if you choose to build up　resources with the one day of VIP access you get after starting the game (this allows you to speed up processes in the game that would normally take much longer or gave a steep discount on desired goods), you could build up your　level and warehouses more quickly. This might mean you　have far fewer units, but in the first day of play, there isn't much of a chance to get attacked anyway.　

Either way, it's all up to the player's discretion, which is a nice change of pace from the handholding that many MMO strategy games (especially those on mobile) tend to bog themselves down with - one video game trait that a gamedonia article says developers should do away with. This also makes the player feel like they play a bigger role in the game at large right out of the gate. By giving full reign of the game, immersion comes that much more naturally in a style of game that prides itself on progression by way of learning.　




Source: Terminator Genisys: Future War via Facebook

And thankfully the immersion doesn't stop there. Future War's art style　evokes the same dark, dystopian　feel that the movies strive to accomplish time and time again. Taking a brief look at the game's website shows exactly what the game has to offer, with the　iconic Skynet robot staring down Arnold Schwarzenegger's　T-800. Scorched deserts, shells of bombed out buildings and neon lighting combine to create the gritty world that really makes Terminator unique.　

When the player builds up enough units and resources, they can then venture out into the online world to gain points toward the online leaderboard. This is the basic goal of the game. The player with the highest dominance is the best player in the world. But when you're the best player in the world, more people have a reason to want to take you down. This is nowhere near　a foreign concept among mobile games, but developer　Plarium　handles the familiar leaderboard system　well, dividing the top players from the top clans as well as the player's personal ranking. It's nothing special, but it gets the job done.　　

Overall, Future War　is quite fun and has enough gameplay diversity and daily quests to keep things fresh for a few hours each day. Not only that, but the game runs smoothly on bootup and controls intuitively, a trait than any mobile game worth a darn is sure to have according to Forbes' formula for making a 　successful mobile title. Properly managing your base for an optimal return of dominance will be what separates serious players from the casual lot, but both types of players will be equally satisfied with what the game offers them.　So if you like the Terminator franchise or are interested in mobile MMOs, this game is worth a try as it's free to play.

Terminator Genisys: Future War is exactly what a mobile game should be. It's immersive, it keeps you tasked, it's free and it gives you the option to pay money for a boost in play. If you happen to give this one a chance, you might just find a new obsession.