Active Target Time Projection Chambers (AT-TPCs) are state-of-the-art tools in the field of low-energy nuclear physics, particularly suitable for experiments using low-intensity radioactive ion beams or gamma rays. The Fudan Multi-purpose Active Target Time Projection Chamber (fMeta-TPC) with 2048 channels has been developed to study $α$-clustering nuclei. {\fcb In this work, the focus is on the study of the photonuclear reaction with the Laser Compton Scattering (LCS) gamma source, especially for the decay of the highly excited $α$-cluster state.} The design of fMeta-TPC is described and a comprehensive evaluation of its offline performance is performed by ultraviolet (UV) laser and $^{241}$Am $α$ source. The result shows that the intrinsic angular resolution of the detector is within 0.30$^{\circ}$ and has an energy resolution of 6.85\% for 3.0 MeV $α$ particles. The gain uniformity of the detector is about 10\% (RMS/Mean), tested by the $^{55}$Fe X-ray source.