I’m back with another auto shooter survival game. I can’t seem to get enough of these. Like the last one, this one also has a unique approach to the genre. This time, I’ve been playing TerraTech Legion. Instead of playing a warrior or mage, you’re in control of a vehicle with the intent of surviving waves of enemy foes. Putting you in control of a vehicle is a fun approach. But what makes this game stand out is its vehicle customization. While it does take away from the pacing that makes these games great, it’s still very addictive.
Mining on Alien Planets
In TerraTech Legion, you serve as a miner on strange planets. Like other games in this ever-booming genre, the planets you visit have plenty of alien foes. The mission structure is your standard survive for X minutes. While collecting resources, you’re killing aliens along the way.
A few things stand out here. The first is the game’s focus on vehicle customization. It deserves its own section, so I’ll cover more of it later. The other is that each planet has a series of missions for you to complete. The missions are key to unlocking extra content. While a few are your standard “complete the mission” or “reach level X”, a few are more specific. You might have to complete a few tasks with a specific character on a planet to collect the reward.
This adds to the game’s replayability because the missions get harder as you unlock them. On top of that, there character-specific mission. Since you only start with one character, you will need to complete tasks and upgrade skills. At the moment, there are four playable characters and four planets to visit. After about 8-9 hours of playing, I managed to unlock all the planets, but I still need to unlock one more character.
The vehicle customization is key
Each playable character starts with their own unique vehicle type. The first character’s vehicle is on the smaller side but packs a punch with its weapons. Meanwhile, the second character has a bulky vehicle that doesn’t start with any firepower. Instead, they use a drill and their size to mow down enemies at the start.
As you play, you will collect XP and the occasional box lying around. For the latter, those boxes contain items you can open to get items to upgrade your vehicle. You do all upgrades and customizations when you trigger the level-up screen. Collect enough XP shards, and you’ll level up your character. Upon leveling up, you’ll have anywhere from 1-5 boxes with rewards. These rewards vary. Some will improve your vehicle’s defenses. Others will improve your offense. But you may also find add-ons that make your vehicle larger. Doing so will enable you to support more upgrades. The possibilities are endless.
You will spend a lot of time upgrading your vehicle. Outside of the randomizing of what you pull from the crates, the game gives you complete control. Your placement of items will go a long way in determining how successful you are in combat.
Don’t go too crazy with the upgrades
But vehicles have limited space, so you can’t assume you can add and use every weapon. You will also have to collect and use upgrade blocks to increase the size of your vehicle. This added layer forces you to think about vehicle design. Finding an item that gives you an increased boost can be as important as one that improves your range.
As I mentioned before, vehicle customization is open-ended. If you want to build to the sky, you can. Or, if you want to go with a wide-load vehicle, that’s also an option. There are restrictions, and balance/physics do factor into car design. I never got to a point where my vehicle was so high or wide that my performance took a hit. But I’m certain there are ways to make things difficult to manage while in combat.
I can’t believe how much time I spent in the vehicle customization menu. At certain points in a run, you may want to reset your vehicle and rebuild it from scratch. This does hurt pacing. But the customization is such an integral part of the game.
I couldn’t tell if there is a quick build option. If you’re someone who wants to skip the vehicle building, I don’t know if that option exists. But if you’re not keen on customizing, then I don’t know if this game will suit you.
Another fun auto survival game worth checking out
I’m having a blast with TerraTech Legion. It’s yet another in the growing list of survival games that you can get lost in. The vehicle tooling might not be for everyone, but it’s what makes this game stand out. We’re bound to get clones of this in the future. Someone will come up with a spaceship or an underwater equivalent. For now, this is at the top of the list of games in this genre and one everyone should give a go.
