Tempus is a single-player adventure game with stunning graphics, playable on Meta Quest 2 with virtual reality. You are stranded in a time-travel portal on a small island, 200 years in the future, and must restore power to the portal to uncover the mystery. Explore various scenarios filled with puzzles of increasing difficulty, as the scenery changes over thousands of years.
Reviews
- The game features stunning visuals and a beautiful atmosphere, making exploration enjoyable.
- Puzzles are generally straightforward and logical, providing a relaxing gameplay experience.
- The sound design and music enhance immersion, contributing to the overall aesthetic appeal.
- The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs, glitches, and an unstable framerate.
- Some puzzles can be frustratingly difficult or poorly designed, leading to confusion.
- The VR experience is clunky and not well-optimized, with control issues and a lack of quality features.
- graphics32 mentions
- 69 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their aesthetic appeal, featuring beautiful environments and a dreamy art style that enhances the overall atmosphere. While some users noted issues with graphical artifacts and clunky VR controls, the visuals remain a standout aspect, contributing to a relaxing and immersive experience. Customizable graphical settings, including the option to toggle motion blur, further enhance the visual experience, although some players suggest waiting for a sale due to the game's pricing.
“Overall, it's a pretty good game with great visuals and intriguing (although sometimes confusing) puzzles.”
“While it is low-poly, it is still beautiful with a dreamy art style all of its own.”
“Lots of graphical artifacts, especially around objects that are close to glass, such as a stairwell near a window.”
“Cons: no story + polygonal graphics (it seems like an Oculus Quest game) + grabbing things doesn't work perfectly + can't start directly within VR + hands don't fit with real hands + some minor bugs.”
“The graphics don't need to be S-tier to make a beautiful environment, and this game proves it.”
- story24 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game features minimal direct storytelling, allowing players to construct their own narratives from the environment and visuals, which some find engaging and mysterious. While the lack of a traditional storyline may disappoint some, others appreciate the freedom to explore and interpret the game's setup at their own pace. Overall, the aesthetic and visual storytelling elements are praised, despite the absence of a clear plot.
“You are getting a great story and experience at an amazing price.”
“I also like that the story of the game isn't spoon-fed to you, and you can make your own observations and enjoy the game at your own pace.”
“Slowly, but surely, you see what happens over time and you start to form a story of what happened in your head.”
“There's basically no storyline, except for a little a-ha!”
“This time, the developer decided not to focus on a story and opted to let natural curiosity set off the metatextual plot.”
“The story is not given, so you can just make your own from the setup.”
- music18 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with many players praising its quality and how well it complements the atmospheric environments. The chill soundtrack enhances the exploration experience, fitting the game's post-apocalyptic and futuristic themes. However, some players noted frustrations with certain music-related puzzles that felt disconnected from the gameplay.
“Stylish environments depict overgrown beautiful post-apocalyptic ruins and futuristic buildings, while chill music fits the mood really well.”
“Exploration is critical, interesting color palettes, music is appropriate to each age and an imaginative concept.”
“The environment, visuals, and music are solid; nice work there.”
“Some of them are borderline frustrating, like the non-optional music puzzle or that one that requires you to open a door with an item that has nothing to do with doors.”
“The music can be quite repetitive and doesn't add much to the overall experience.”
“The soundtrack feels out of place at times, failing to match the intensity of the gameplay.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is consistently praised for its beautiful visuals, relaxing ambiance, and effective sound design, creating an immersive experience. While some reviews note that the gameplay may feel unpolished and less exciting, the overall atmospheric quality remains a highlight, enhancing the enjoyment of the puzzles and the time-traveling theme.
“A simple, atmospheric puzzle game with phenomenal spooky sound design.”
“I was enjoying the puzzles, beautiful atmosphere and music.”
“Short relaxing game with good visuals and atmosphere.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay experience is generally enjoyable, though it is described as unexciting and somewhat unpolished. Players find the slow walking speed detracts from normal gameplay, but appreciate the opportunity to explore the atmosphere at a leisurely pace.
“Gameplay experience was great.”
“The walk speed is far too slow for normal gameplay, but I did enjoy walking from time to time to enjoy the scenery.”
“So while gameplay is not very exciting and a bit unpolished, the atmosphere is quite nice.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches reported by users. Players have experienced problems with saved games, often requiring them to replay levels due to these technical difficulties, which detracts from an otherwise enjoyable experience.
“There are quite a lot of bugs and glitches.”
“The only issue is technical: it's buggy as hell.”
“I also had to replay a lot of the levels as reloading a saved game seemed to cause glitches when puzzles had already been solved.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game is consistently described as poorly optimized, with multiple users noting that it does not perform well.
“The game is poorly optimized.”
“The performance issues are a result of the game's poor optimization.”
“I experienced significant lag due to the lack of optimization.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the new toggle feature for walking and running, which significantly reduces the tedium of exploration and enhances the overall experience.