NC's Free Shooter Time Takers Returns to Steam This November

Did you miss the first round of Time Takers' Steam Playtest? Good news: you're getting another shot this November.

NC and developer MISTIL GAMES have announced that their free-to-play, 3-player survival shooter Time Takers will hold its second Playtest on Steam. The test kicks off November 13 at 7:00 and runs until November 16 at 7:00. All you have to do is head to the game's Steam store page and apply to join.

Alongside the announcement, the team dropped a fresh intro video walking through the gameplay improvements made based on feedback from September's test. So if you played the first round and had thoughts, it sounds like the devs were listening.

So what's actually changing in November? Three key areas: combat balance adjustments and stronger character personalities, improved movement feel, feedback, and visibility, and a revamped team composition and matchmaking system that takes player skill into account. If you found the first test a little rough around the edges, these tweaks are aimed squarely at you.

For those who haven't tried it yet, Time Takers is a multiplayer competitive shooter built around limited-time survival. It's a hero shooter at its core, but the twist is its "time energy" system. You drop in as part of a three-person squad, and each player starts with a set amount of time energy that acts as your life resource. That energy constantly ticks down, so you can't just camp and wait. You'll need to scavenge resources around the map or take down enemies to top up your time energy, and the last squad standing wins.

It's a neat spin on the genre, mixing the hero-shooter formula with a resource-management pressure cooker. Every second counts, and every fight is a chance to extend your life or lose it.

The game is planned as a free-to-play release on Steam and other platforms, so there's no barrier to checking it out during the Playtest window.

Will you be jumping into the November Playtest? What do you think of the time energy twist? Let us know in the comments.