TERRATECH LEGION
- Hubert Spala
- May 7
- 5 min read
Bullet Heavens might be one of the most oversaturated subgenres out there. It’s nobody’s fault… If you don’t gaze too hard at the meteoric success of VAMPIRE SURVIVOR, that is. See, I get the appeal, and from both ends of the spectrum. Players like this formula. Numbers going up will never cease to tickle some neurons in many people brains. And I can see the appeal from the development standpoint, because technically speaking, those are rather simple games. You don’t have to worry about story of any kind. Hardly any advanced movement or physics needed. Level design often can just be a lovely flat arena. Simple, straightforward… No wonder we have such a deluge of games in this subgenre!
Of course, this means that to stand out from the throng of similar games you need to do something zesty. Something with a whiff of originality! A new mechanical layer, a clever twist, some ingenious bit and bob that makes your game feel different. In case of TERRATECH LEGION the whole gimmick lays in your Tech – which is the name given to your self-assembled vehicle. And let me tell you, it is a deliciously fun gimmick to play around with!
The game is as standard a fair as you can expect from modern bullet heavens. Hordes of varied enemies. Robust meta progression with slow burn grind to unlock upgrades to your pilots, find new building blocks. A list of quests to check off your to-do list. A mix of randomness with player agency, roguelike formula of single life runs… I mean, gosh, you likely know what you’re getting when you jump in the saddle of a survivor-like.
But in TERRATECH LEGION the way you grow stronger is uniquely fresh. Each of the four pilots start with a unique baseline rig, which is an open canvas of connective blocks to build upon. Every champ has some unique abilities, sure, a leaning towards a particular style… But those are not enforced. You can build any kind of death machine you want – if RNG blesses you, of course. The cleverness of the system lies in limitations of space, firing arcs and size of your machine.
See, you can’t just drop your newly acquired pieces of tech all willy nilly. Weapons have their firing arcs and range, so putting them in proper places is crucial. Especially that your components aren’t ethereal to each other, so it is very easy to block line of sight for your killer turret. Have a mighty gun with a 360 degrees arc? Better construct an elevation for it, if you want it to swing freely. Maybe putting all your guns to the front isn’t smart either? Having some firepower on the broadsides or attached to your rear bumper might be fun – dealing damage when running away from a horde of mechanical menace is always a good notion.
On top of a huge variety of weapons with lots of different types, you have a bucketload of supporting systems. Threads and wheels that impact your speed, handling, turning factor. Small components that modify your boosters, damage type upgrades or attachable components to weaponry to buff their damage or rate of fire. More esoteric tech, that debuffs enemies or suck in experience tokens from afar. And even corrupted pieces that over a colossal boost in might for a hefty price of some devilish limitation!
It is hella fun. Each time I complete a run I cannot stop myself from taking a screenshot of my little doom engine, because the ways you can assemble them are nigh limitless. One time I had a frontloaded ramming stick, with plenty of spiky, churning, grinding tools of scrapping metal to smash into enemy hordes. Another time I build a tall towel bristling with energy weapons, pretty much a classic Tesla tower on threads. And yet another run was all dedicated to being a quick elusive shell with plenty of summonable drones doing the fighting for me.
To add to the excitement, every time you open a crate and spot that gleaming yellow of a legendary item you feel blessed. And it never disappoints, as those pieces are fantastically powerful and fun – my eyes went wide when I got a giant, four barreled rotating cannon array called “The Four Horseman”. Killer stuff.
The combat itself is pretty great, too. See, just slamming into enemies do not damage you, so go hog wild with the ramming and side-checking. Every enemy has a slightly delayed attack animation with clear area display on the ground, so with some clever driving and micro-boosting you can avoid getting smashed even when skimming close to the masses of mechanical monsters. And there are plenty of the legion machines to smash! Your classic chungus tanks, swift harassers, auto-turrets. Units that buff other units, exploders, fliers, you name it. Elites are always fun to fight and the bosses each have a unique set of moves to tackle – nothing extraordinarily special, but well-crafted, nonetheless.
I must add that I am a sucker for the game presentation. Everything is fun, bright and kinetic here. Deployment to a mission? You’re being literally shot from a spaceship into the surface of a planet. Encountering and smashing enemy bases always feels like a grand engagement. UI itself is very snazzy without losing its clarity of provided information – always a lovely achievement to celebrate!
But the most important bit for me is how the game feels in its moment-to-moment gameplay. And for me, TERRATECH LEGION is possibly one of the best bullet-heavens out there. I just cannot put it down, every time I finish a run – be it in triumph or failure – I instantly want to start again. Devs nailed the fun factor here, because my brain is sizzling with ideas for next builds, for discovering new powerful pieces of kit. For trying to do better, smash more, destroy faster. It’s an addictive loop, polished to a gleam. If there is a nitpick or two from my end, is the scope – the number of components and weapons is superb, but with only a few arenas and just 4 pilots to pick from, the grind might lose some of its fun sooner rather than later.
Overall, TERRATECH LEGION is a damn good time. Well worth its asking price and then some, for sure! If you’re a fan of the genre and are looking for another fill of your sweet gaming addiction, you will not be disappointed – with great presentation, fun combat and the blissful tinkering with your mobile fortresses, this game delivers just the kind of experience I was hankering for. So let’s put way too many giant guns on a structurally dubious pillar of blocks and smash some mechs for the glory of space capitalism!
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