5 Free Steam Games To Play If You Like Terminator

For 40 years now, The Terminator has remained an icon in science fiction and its influences can be found all across the genre, regardless of medium. Video games are no exception. Even outside of direct Terminator adaptations or continuations, stories all about broken societies, futuristic wars, and advanced machines are everywhere. Steam alone features dozens of games that embrace the aesthetic, themes, and appeal of a dystopian world pushed to the brink thanks to the power of machines or artificial intelligence.

These games range from action-packed brawls to methodical trips through winding science-fiction narratives, each bringing a slice of Terminator-style magic that has made the franchise a cultural staple since it hit the scene in 1984. At its core, the story has always been more than time-travel or gunfights. Political unrest, uneasy relationships with technology, and the uncertainty of the future are all major aspects that give The Terminator its staying power. With that said, embrace the man vs. machine mentality and check these games out.

5 Scrap

Scrap is the most direct comparison to the big-T you'll find for free on Steam. The world isn't quite as grimy, but it shares multiple hallmarks in its world-building. A robot revolt has left humanity all but wiped out by machines that were meant to improve the world. Players take control of a Scrapper, a human out to regain control of the world from the robots who threw it into chaos in the first place.

You can take on the challenge alone, or tag in a friend to help you clear out the wasteland in this twin-stick shooter where you grow your arsenal, and take the fight to the robotic overlords. Swap out guns and equipment along the way, perfecting your loadout at each step to survive the grueling environment full of fast-paced battles.

The punchy visuals are the biggest departure from the Terminator similarities, but the theme of a broken Earth ruled by deranged robots ends up hitting the mark much closer than you might imagine from a distance. So much of Scrap's appeal is in taking back a world that no longer belongs to you. Every machine you come across in the game represents another step towards the goal of making things right and guiding humanity through its darkest moment.

4 Crossout

If the cynical worldview and bleak vision of the future is what draws you to Terminator, Crossout might just be the best free-to-play game on the market. It's a post-apocalyptic MMO that pits players at the helm of fully armored war machines, with the objective of duking it out with other players across a wide range of battlefields. Take to the ravaged city streets and fight on four wheels or soar high above the battlefield and engage opponents in open-air dogfights.

Customization is where the game really aligns with James Cameron's fantasy. Success is all about playing to the strengths of each operator and leaning into what makes your gameplay style effective. Each round of combat will provide new challenges based on the designs of the person behind the wheel. Crossout's minute-to-minute gameplay is more akin to Twisted Metal than a traditional Terminator game.

Players scavenge the world for materials to build armored crafts meant for high-intensity skirmishes, but there's a certain darkness to how Targem Games imagines the future here that's worthy of comparison to Cameron's epic, as well as the more direct inspiration of the Mad Max franchise.

3 RK Override

This pick is for fans who want more of the unconventional sci-fi that moves the gears behind the scenes of the Terminator franchise. RK Override is an interactive narrative game in which you control a mech pilot caught at the center of an endless war. For a game about such a grand conflict, it's extremely subdued in tone and in animation. There's a peaceful dreaminess to the animation as players navigate their mech into a war zone and learn more about the consequences of the battle they're fighting in.

Don't go into this one looking for over-the-top action. Battles move at a crawl, offering little in the way of difficulty. The various fight scenes are all in service to the narrative first and foremost. On the other hand, RK Override's story covers a lot of ground in its blink-and-you'll-miss-it runtime, which clocks in at just over an hour of gameplay. Maybe take a chance on this one if you're more intrigued by Cyberdyne Systems and the actions of SKYNET than by the gratuitous violence of the hunter-killers themselves.

2 Beyond The Breach

This is another game where the visuals and gameplay are drastically different from the Terminator franchise, but the thematic heart isn't too far off. In Beyond The Breach, you take control of a robot completing simple tasks in a dystopian world where failure is meant with extreme consequences. It's a story about breaking away from the norms, choosing to defy the powers-that-be and rescue those in need from the crushing weight of abusive power.

What Beyond The Breach lacks in hardcore action, it makes up for in moral and philosophical quandaries. It's a small-scale affair. Story beats are more intimate than grandiose, but it asks many of the same ethical questions as The Terminator, probing us to ask what happens when machines become self-sufficient and can make their own decisions in a human-controlled world. What really makes this game standout from the field is its unique perspective. Instead of humans asking all the big questions, this time questions are answered from the heart of a machine who just wants to be free.

1 Mecha Break

If explosive sci-fi action is the flavor you're after, Mecha Break should be at the top of the list. The machines in this game are seriously powerful. Each online battle is a show of skill and creativity between Gundam-esque mechs that are armed to the gills with weapons. You can join fast-paced 3 vs. 3 brawls, mid-range 6 vs. 6 showdowns, or take on an extraction-based PvPvE mode in Operation Storm. Each playlist offers a different feel and often requires players to think differently about the mechs they bring to the fight.

There's no human vs. Android war here. You won't find an AI uprising either. This is simple all-out warfare between the government's most advanced technology. They make T-800s look like Texas Instruments calculators in comparison. Like the other games on this list, it isn't a perfect match for the whole Terminator package. That's pretty much impossible to find. Still, this is a decent option to check out if all the future war stuff in Terminator 2: Judgment Day was up your alley.