That 16-bit Terminator 2 throwback doesn’t feature Arnie’s likeness, but it did license the guy who played adult John Connor for 30 seconds in the film’s intro

I was seriously impressed by Terminator 2D: No Fate when it was revealed earlier this year. I love the idea of a tie-in that’s authentic not only to the events of the film, but also the era of gaming in which the film was released. Developer Bitmap Bureau seems to have largely nailed the authenticity on both counts, too, showing some excellent 16-bit adaptations of the film’s characters, and playable recreations of key scenes that are mechanically suited to the depicted events.

There is one big thing missing from No Fate, however, and that’s Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though we see the T800 punching bikers and blasting cops with tear gas during game sequences in the trailer, publisher Reef Entertainment recently revealed that it wasn’t able to nab the rights to Arnie’s likeness in-game. Hence, depictions of the T800 are limited to the character.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t in the game it’s just a T800,” Reef said in a statement to IGN. “What we have is the right to use the characters. So like Sarah, John, T1000, T800, and then certain actors will also provide image rights to Studio Canal, which is included in the agreement.”

If you’re wondering what the difference is, Reef explains it thusly. “For example; Linda Hamilton is Sarah Connor, which is why you can see Linda at the beginning of the trailer. Whereas our right to use the Terminator itself, it doesn’t include Arnold. When you see the character artwork for that, you’ll see it’s like the Terminator itself rather than Arnold. It’s basically the endoskeleton that we have the right to use.”

As I understand it, what this means is we won’t see any close-ups of Arnie’s leather-clad T800 characters as seen in the film, whereas we do see close-ups of Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick. It’s a bit of a shame, but since the game has a 16-bit aesthetic where you can’t really see character faces in detail anyway, I don’t think it’ll make a vast difference to the moment-to-moment experience.

It’s worth noting Reef has been thorough with likeness rights elsewhere. Alongside Hamilton and Patrick, No Fate also acquired the likeness rights for Michael Edwards, the actor who plays adult John Connor during the film’s opening sequence set during the future war. Granted, Edwards is only seen in the film for a minute (if that), but since the game will likely expand upon the future war sequence (because of all the ‘splodes), it’s neat that they got Edwards involved.

With or without Arnie’s involvement, the game looks rad as heck. It’s out relatively soon, too, hitting Steam on September 5. It isn’t the only Terminator game currently in development either. Nacon’s co-op open world shooter Terminator: Survivors is also due to launch later this year, though this one doesn’t have a set date at present.