Out of Time tasks players with the biggest problem ever: different eras colliding, causing collapsing timelines. Due to the event nicknamed The Shattering, humanity is trapped somewhere between past, present, and future, and the survivors must defend themselves against killer robots, ornery rams, mutant blobs, and more. Time-shifted people from all walks of life gather at the last stronghold of humanity, Infinitopia, ready to defend what’s left of society.
The Shattering also provided ample options to take the first steps of getting humanity back on track, with over 190 million gear combinations including nuclear “goo” guns, medieval weaponry, and Mad Max-esque deathbringers. There are no classes in Out of Time, so players will be able to utilize gear to customize their loadouts, whether they’d like to tank, heal, or DPS. While you can collect sets of gear, players can mix and match to their hearts’ content, and this extends to group composition. Players can fix the timestream solo or in groups of up to four, and Manticore Games encourages players to play how they want — if no one wants to tank and you have three other friends as DPS, that’s just as viable as a balanced team. Gear can be leveled with currency, which will increase its power level, an important indicator if you and your squad are ready for a certain era of time.
Infinitopia acts as a hub world for players, where they can upgrade their gear, permanently increase stats if they like a particular role, or hang out. As is par for the course, Manticore Games has plans to implement activities and mini-games in Infinitopia, though they were present previously. In Manticore Games’ words, players found them “too distracting”, which is far from a problem!
When you’re done tweaking your stats, finding a group, or hanging out with your crew, it’s time to choose an era. Out of Time will launch with three eras: modern, post-apocalyptic, and medieval fantasy. Manticore Games has many more interesting eras planned, which will be free on their release: prehistory, antiquity, three kingdoms (think Dynasty Warriors), and cyberpunk are all eras they were ready to talk about. There are four zones in each era, and you will unlock them as you work your way through the roguelike encounters.
Once you pick an era, you’ll find yourself tethered to your teammates, which you’ll want to make sure stays the case due to the significant stat boost you receive as a result. The tether isn’t just for stats, as players can choose abilities that will provide healing through the tether or electrify the tether, so coordination is key if you’d like to get the most out of your team. Your objective is to clear as much of the map as possible within 15 minutes, with a 75% clear, rewarding players with a boss encounter on normal difficulty. Experience is shared by the team, and it’s important to make sure your team gains enough levels to outpace the automatic leveling of enemies.
Random events can happen. For instance, in our hands-off demo, the Manticore Games team was tasked with protecting Sun Tzu while enemies attempted to ensure The Art of War was never written. This short mini-event was a question mark on the map, which you’ll find plenty of and are rewarded if you successfully complete that objective. As the round went on, a 75% clear rate was achieved, and we witnessed Manticore Games’ admittedly overpowered crew take on a Boss Ent Golem.
Manticore Games’ ambitions don’t stop there, as they’re planning on implementing more game modes like solo and team PVP arenas, a guild system post-launch, a new era with each new season, and a deep transmogrification system.
Out of Time arrives as an Epic Games Store Exclusive on September 25th. Out of Time will be available for pre-purchase for a limited time at $24.99 in a special pre-purchase bundle. It will then be priced as a hybrid model with certain free game modes (Like PVP). Out of Time will then be available on Steam and consoles after that.
