Time Treker - Early Access [Impressions]
A non-existent difficulty curve mars promising survivorslike Time Treker.
Time Treker. Credit: 2P Games / Fuse Game
2P Games and Fuse Game’s Time Treker is a bullet heaven survivorslike. While the core is strong, it currently suffers from late game balance issues that result in a lack of challenge.
From Steam:
After a strange race of alien bugs conquered Earth in what was known as the Great Catastrophe, what was left of Humanity had to escape and find shelter in remote parts of the galaxy. The scattered rests of human civilization are now betting everything on their last hope: sending you, the best of their elite forces back in time to infiltrate Earth right before its collapse with the most advanced mecha technology, in a desperate attempt to save at least one timeline from destruction. If you fail, another timeline will be left behind. You will keep fighting, over and over, until you can find one where we can end this war and save Earth for humanity…
Time Treker. Credit: 2P Games / Fuse Game
In Time Treker, you pick a pilot—all but one locked at the start—to don a mechsuit to save the timeline. The campaign consists of a series of levels that last only a few minutes, each with either one or two goals to complete in order to succeed. Every required level you finish opens up the next one plus an optional level randomized by a wheel spin.
You start with just two weapon slots and a few add-on slots to augment those weapons. As you play, you pick up crystals, currency you must use to unlock new slots and stat levels. Each weapon or add-on gains a level if you combine it with an identical item of the same level, until add-ons reach a max level of three and weapons a max level of five. Some add-ons will have completely different effects depending on the weapon you augment, creating some neat gameplay variety.
Time Treker. Credit: 2P Games / Fuse Game
Everything you gain during a mission carries to the next level of the campaign. The result is a run that’s far longer than the 20 minutes typical in the genre, especially since failing a single level doesn’t mean game over—unless it’s the final mission of the campaign.
Time Treker isn’t well balanced at the moment. I was able to reach the end of the campaign by only unlocking slots and leveling up my gear without buying any stat boosts. Healing weapon add-ons and passives will far outpace damage you take under most circumstances. I played through the game with three of the characters and had the same results. Each character has a unique special move, but aside from that I didn’t feel a difference playing as any of them because I used the same strategy to win. The result is a campaign that feels repetitive and dull.
I enjoyed the game’s mech upgrade mechanics, but Time Treker needs to do more to build a game around that to make progression feel hard-won and rewarding. Right now, it takes little to no effort to win. There’s definitely promise here, and I look forward to checking the game out again when it reaches 1.0.
Time Treker is available for PC on Steam via Early Access.
Played on: Steam Deck
