Out of Time, a multiplayer action-roguelite from Manticore Games, is landing at an interesting time. With huge juggernauts in the genre arriving, it takes a lot for a new game to stand out. Luckily, Manticore has crafted something new and different within the space. Despite having only a few hours with the game, I can already see some promise in what the developers are going for.
In Out of Time, players must take the role of a survivor of a calamitous event. Precisely what happened is unknown, but time and space have become entangled, creating a mishmash of eras and technologies for players to explore and utilize.
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While not the newest concept, Out of Time has a lot of fun using its premise for visual and gameplay design. Seeing your character ride a hoverboard, while firing a machine gun and wearing plate mail, works surprisingly well, thanks to the cartoony aesthetics. Guided through the initial tutorial by Joan of Arc, the game looks to lean into its premise in fun ways.
The world is well-crafted, but the most striking element of Out of Time comes from the scale of its encounters.
The world is well-crafted, but the most striking element of Out of Time comes from the scale of its encounters. Generally, roguelites will pit players against small numbers of enemies, testing their precision and approach. Healing is typically scarce, forcing a methodical approach to the action. This strategy gets thrown out the window here.
Hordes of enemies swarm at the player throughout each run. Delivering an almost Musuo-like game experience, enemies fall like wheat before a scythe as each character’s standard auto-attack feels the weakest among them with ease. Skills gained from equipment and weapons contribute to the carnage, creating a power fantasy-style gameplay not often experienced in this genre.
But despite how greatly Out of Time empowers its protagonists to slaughter their foes, damage will get through. Support abilities allow players to heal and shield themselves, providing the staying power to force their way through each stage until they can come face-to-face with the area boss. This creates a more “death by a thousand paper cuts” experience that helps the combat loop stand out.
Each run through Out of Time’s various levels also offers side missions to attempt.
There is a surprising balance to the way the combat plays out amongst the swarms of foes. With basic attacks happening automatically, and abilities on cooldowns, there is a surface level of thought that goes into Out of Time‘s encounters you wouldn’t expect from watching a trailer. Timing AOE attacks and making sure you have healing available when you’ll need it are all key to survival.
Further layering of tactical decision-making is achieved by upgrading abilities. Over the course of a run, players gather experience from fallen foes that they can periodically spend on upgrades. Abilities can be fine-tuned in multiple ways, giving a fair amount of choice in how kits come together. Also mixed into the options are global buffs that affect every instance of something for the player. Whether improving a single ability is more important than buffing all the healing you get can make for tricky choices in the middle of an excursion.
Each run through Out of Time‘s various levels also offers side missions to attempt. Slimes can appear that, if beaten fast enough, will spill out rewards of various types. There are also time capsules located throughout the level. If the player can accomplish one of several tasks, like defending it or retrieving parts for it, the capsule will escape, leaving a set of upgrades behind for the player to improve their skills/stats.
The runs are timed in Out of Time, so be aware of your time and keep an eye on the clock.
Another key element of Out of Time is that runs are timed. While slaughtering waves of minions and doing side objectives, a countdown is running. If the stage boss isn’t beaten before the timer runs out, the world collapses into temporal chaos, and the player loses.
The timer isn’t incredibly tight, but it is short enough to keep you aware of how far you still need to go. To summon the boss, a certain amount of the map must be explored (75,85, or 95% depending on difficulty), meaning that so much ground must be covered before the final confrontation occurs. So being aware of the time is important.
The summoning mechanic is also capable of creating surprises that can alter how a boss battle plays out. Since there are side paths to explore, you may not reach the necessary exploration level in the same space every time. Having a boss spawn in a big open area or on a bridge can have a big impact on how challenging it can be to slay.
Equipment is also broken into sets that work together both mechanically and thematically in Out of Time.
This variety of place, however, is the only truly interesting element of the boss battles I experienced. The bosses are large, slow-moving opponents that exhibit several different attack patterns. While these encounters can sometimes be challenging, they never feel exciting. The low enemy count of these battles, combined with the slow pacing, creates largely forgettable moments, though they do drop the best loot.
When a run ends, whether in success or failure, the player returns to the hub city with all they have acquired. Gold, crafting materials to upgrade equipment, and even new armor or weapons can be brought back to strengthen future runs. Leveling items is easy, and each piece of equipment is clearly marked with a pair of swords, a cross, or a shield to denote if it’s focused on DPS, Support, or Tanking.
Equipment is also broken into sets that work together both mechanically and thematically. Equipping a full set promises additional bonuses, but at the cost of limiting your focus to a particular thing. This can only be done if you expect to play in a squad.
Exploring the variety of equipment loadouts is also easy, thanks to Out of Time’s generous approach to customization.
During my time with Out of Time, I was unable to find a match with anyone. As such, to survive my journeys into monster-infested lands, I was unable to focus so specifically on a certain role. While I could sense how much the game wanted me to have teammates divide the roles, I found great satisfaction in discovering the right balance of equipment for my solo runs. How much healing did I truly need? Is having footwear that provides a dash necessary, and other such questions created plenty of engaging choices.
Playing multiplayer does sport a clear advantage beyond a wider array of abilities within a run. When close enough to each other, players are connected by a tether that allows them to share ability bonuses and healing. It can also harm enemies, giving teams another means to clear the large mobs the game spawns.
Exploring the variety of equipment loadouts is also easy, thanks to the game’s generous approach to customization. By allowing the player to bring back all the resources they find, they can experiment with equipment, build it up a few levels, and then discard it if it doesn’t work for them, without feeling like they wasted a huge amount of time. Unwanted equipment can also be broken down for resources, further helping the economy empower playtesting.
Out of Time is doing something different with the action roguelite genre.
Providing plenty of visual variety for players to test their kits in is a world that takes advantage of the mashup concept of the setting. Combining elements from various time periods and themes, these regions provide fresh visuals and maps for players to explore. Each area has a different boss as well, so there is always a new experience at the end of each level.
The journey through these regions, however, varies mainly cosmetically. While some enemies employ different attack styles, the large numbers thrown at the player can make it all seem like noise to a point. A couple of noteworthy foes will come to stand out, but it’s largely a proverbial avalanche you have to weather through.
Out of Time is doing something different with the action roguelite genre. Its approach to enemy counts and its willingness to empower the player from early on give the experience a different energy than many of the other genre offerings. Despite some clear bumps along the way, it feels like the game could offer something special if it continues to expand the available strategies as players delve deeper into its world.
Out of Time is available to play now on the Epic Game Store.
