Developer: Payload Studios
Publisher: Mythwright
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC
TerraTech Legion – Review
It seems like every other week we feature a Survivors-like title, and while we really enjoy playing most of these games, there are so many clones or mediocre entries in the genre. It’s rare to see a title that truly manages to impress us, simply because it feels like we have played it elsewhere before or because it feels like a generic cash grab. This is where TerraTech Legion comes in, a title that’s been on our radar for a while now, thanks to its unique visuals and cool shtick where you have to build your own vehicles. The game has recently been fully released on Steam, and while we enjoyed what was on offer, we hoped there was just more content to go around.
Story
There is absolutely no story to explore in TerraTech Legion. There are different characters, and you’ll be going to different planets, but that’s pretty much it. It’s a shame, really, as the game’s concept lends itself well to a proper storyline to play through. That being said, most of these Survivors-like games come without stories to play through, as they are all about the gameplay.
Graphics
Graphically, TerraTech Legion is one of the best-looking Survivors-like games out there. The sci-fi theme and the building component allow the game to get away with more simplistic shapes, but even so, the enemies look great, there is a lot of diversity in the building parts, and the attack animations are quite impressive. After a while, your screen will be filled with attack effects and hordes of enemies. We didn’t really experience any slowdowns, even during more hectic moments. At times, it was not that easy to locate our vehicle if it was blocked by one of the huge boss enemies. We also played through a few runs on our Steam Deck, and the performance here was also quite good. The graphics took a hit, and the upgrade menu did look a bit squished, but other than that, the game ran without any issues.
Sound
The sound design of TerraTech Legion isn’t bad at all, even though we eventually did turn down the volume, as things can get a bit overstimulating after a while. Nonetheless, the soundtrack is decent, the sound effects are rather satisfying, but things can become a bit much if you play the game for longer periods of time.
Gameplay
TerraTech Legion is a Survivors-like with a strong focus on building vehicles rather than just gaining random power-ups every time you level. Don’t get us wrong, as the building components you get are still very random, but you’re in control of the build you want to go for. The game follows the same format, where you pick a character and a level, and then you’ll have to survive as long as possible and kill the boss when the timer runs out. Most of your attacks happen automatically, but you can also ram into your enemies to deal additional damage. The building component is a breath of fresh air here, but other than that, everything feels par for the course.
As stated above, TerraTech Legion follows the same format as many other Survivors-like titles. You’ll gain experience after blowing up enemy vehicles, and with this experience, you can level up. Levelling up is done by going to the level-up drop zone, where you’ll be able to expand your vehicle with the level-up crate you got and the others you found while still gathering experience. This is basically the game’s shtick, as levelling up will allow you to further expand your vehicle with new parts. The building system is pleasant, and it’s fun to fit everything onto the chassis of your chosen vehicle. You’ll sometimes have to choose between choosing shiny new upgrades and basic blocks that allow you to fit more items onto your destructive chariot.
While TerraTech Legion is in many ways one of the most polished Survivors-likes out there, it does suffer from a severe lack of content. The game only has four playable characters and four planets to choose from. Of course, you can replay levels on higher difficulties, but it still feels very limited. Even the 200+ building components start to feel limited, as you often simply get offered the same ones over and over again, with only a handful of rerolls at your disposal. We saw most of what the game had to offer within roughly eight hours, only having to complete a few levels on a higher difficulty level and grinding money to unlock all the skills left waiting for us. We did encounter a bug with the Triarch Warden, where our vehicle would get stuck underneath, causing our untimely demise after being stuck for too long.
Conclusion
TerraTech Legion is a great Survivors-like game with fun building mechanics, but sadly, it suffers from a severe lack of content. We loved the general gameplay loop with the different characters to try out, building blocks to experiment with, and enemies that we got to blow up. The audio-visual presentation was also spot on for a title such as this, and if there was more content, this would probably be a game we’d return to often. As it currently stands, we saw most of what TerraTech Legion had to offer in an evening or two, not feeling the need to come back any time soon, if no new content is added. That being said, the game is still very much worth checking out, but don’t expect the same replay value as some other titles in the genre.
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