The Backwave is a turn-based squad tactics strategy game set on PC in a near-future world where minds can be sent illegally back through time into leased bodies. Players follow Ray as he searches for his wife, who vanished during one of her mercenary jobs in the past. The experience centers on single-player progression through a series of jobs that gradually reveal the circumstances of her disappearance.
Gameplay
Core play involves selecting jobs from brokers to build trust and unlock new contacts and opportunities in the past. Each job requires assembling a squad by choosing leased hosts whose age and build determine health, aim, and movement speed. Hosts carry distinct traits that provide advantages or drawbacks, such as increased damage after kills or shaky aim on certain shots. Harsher traits lower the lease cost but increase the experience gained from the mission.
Combat unfolds in turn-based sequences where the squad moves between cover positions, sets overwatch to pin enemies, and flanks for better angles. Aimed shots target specific body parts: limbs to impair movement or accuracy, the torso for reliable damage, or the head for higher critical potential. When direct confrontation fails, players can engage in mind battles by identifying and challenging a target's core beliefs through dialogue and internal conflict sequences. Success breaks the belief and alters the person's behavior to aid the squad.
Teammates who fall leave behind implants that must be recovered before reaching the extraction point. Successful extractions return the squad's minds to the present via an archive system. Synthetic Mind Traces offer additional options for squad composition, as these constructs combine elements from multiple stored minds and can be rented or assembled for specific jobs.
Game Modes
The game operates entirely in a single-player format built around sequential jobs. Progression ties directly to broker relationships, with paid contracts providing resources and unpaid or high-risk jobs advancing the central mystery. No separate multiplayer or competitive modes exist. The structure emphasizes careful preparation of hosts, gear, and Synthetic Mind Traces before each jump, followed by tactical execution in the past and safe return with recovered implants.
Key Mechanics and Progression
Host selection forms the foundation of every mission. Players balance cost, traits, and performance stats when assigning minds to bodies. Gear choices further customize capabilities before the jump occurs. In the field, suppression and positioning matter as much as direct damage, while mind battles introduce a non-combat layer that can bypass or neutralize obstacles without expending ammunition or risking additional casualties.
The narrative advances job by job. Early contracts focus on earning broker trust and accessing better equipment or contacts. Later jobs tie more closely to locating traces of the missing mind, requiring deeper infiltration and more complex belief-breaking sequences. Controller support allows full navigation of menus, squad commands, and combat actions without a keyboard and mouse.
Is It Worth Playing?
The Backwave suits players who enjoy deliberate turn-based tactics with layered decision-making around squad composition and alternative resolution paths. Its single-player focus rewards planning host traits and gear for each job while managing recovery of downed teammates. The mind battle system adds variety to encounters that might otherwise rely solely on cover-based shooting. Since the game remains unreleased with no completed player feedback available, its value depends on interest in the described mechanics of time-jumping mercenaries, leased bodies, and belief manipulation within a mystery-driven campaign. Those drawn to strategy titles that combine positioning, targeted attacks, and non-lethal social options will find the most alignment with its systems.
