TimeShift - User Review

TimeShift
Master Time To Become The Ultimate Weapon

Reviewer: Riavan/Sargath
Platform: 360 & PC
Genre Catagory: Sci-fi FPS
Date of Release: 30/10/07 (International Release 1/11/07)
ESRB: MA15+
Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Saber Interactive
Rating: 9.0
Official Site URL: www.timeshiftgame.com


Introduction
TimeShift is a sci-fi FPS, which contains a rather unique and well polished game play element, the ability to bend time itself. It's got a nice mix between standard action and puzzles, alike to Half life 2.

Story
As a nameless protagonist scientist, you have chased your mentor Dr Krone to an alternative time stream, actually located in the past 1940's. Where he has taken over and pretty much runs the world in a very communist sort of way. From the start you meet with a resistance movement and go about trying to take down Krone. Some of the back story is formed in between/during missions when you're suits intelligence S.S.A.M. jogs you with memories.

Controls
The FPS controls are generic in a good way, you won't be struggling because certain buttons do completely different things than what they do in other FPS games. The manual time bending controls are a bit hard at first, but by the end of the second level, they're quite easy to have downpacked.

Game play
The gameplay is quite linear, with say a wall being blown out by a giant mech, or a helicopter crashing into a gate allowing you to move onto the next area. In TimeShifts defense, most fps games are linear, don't expect this game to be like Oblivion. You can view your next objective by pushing back and you can see where you need to go by looking at the TimeShift logo on the radar. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a pain when you're on the logo and you're not quite sure what to do.

The combat is where the time bending element of the game really shines. Pausing time and pulling the weapons out of your enemies hands so they go "Where'd my gun go" or "Hey did he just warp?". It's not just for amusement though, there is no way you could clear some of the levels without using it. Often you need to slow time as completely pausing it eats up your power and therefore does not last as long. A lot of the heavy combat situations play out like this, activate slow time, shoot 3 people, dodge a rocket, jump back behind cover and wait for your time bending to recharge before repeating, otherwise you will die.

Later on in the game you start to fight enemies that have time bending powers themselves. they however, normally only have one, so you can use one of your 3 time bending abilities to counter theirs to a lesser or greater extent. For example, there are enemies that slow time, so they run around in a full motion blur shooting you and taking cover. You are able to either pause time and they are stopped completely, or slow time and they run at normal speed. This is just one example, theres quite a few different time bending enemies.

The puzzle areas are sometimes actually quite hard, most of the time they are actually fun and you feel quite accomplished working them out and getting past them. A few of them I had to attempt multiple times and found quite frustrating. The puzzles range from rewinding a train backwards through a tunnel, getting past security cameras without them seeing you, dodging moving lasers that slice you, mine fields, getting past electrocuted areas and walking on water, just to name a few. They're spread out and you don't ever get stuck with the feeling of doing the same thing over and over again.

There is only one actual controllable vehicle in the game, a quad bike. It is pretty fun to drive around as it has NOS and your time bending abilities work while driving it. Just don't try to run someone over while you've paused time, as you hit them like a brick wall. There is an assortment of turrets around the place. In one particular mission you have to guard a very cool looking zeppelin while airplanes and air balloons are trying to shoot you down, being able to freeze time while in a turret and shoot down a missile is quite self gratifying.

Sound
There is some music here and there a mix between guitar and techno. The actual environmental sound effects are of a good quality and make the experience feel much more realistic. There is the dictator telling everyone over the speakers that they should give up or if they spill his munitions they're in big trouble as well as natural environmental sounds such as the thunderstorms in the city or blasts of wind up on the high mountain peaks.

Graphics
The graphics are relatively good, it does not feel quite as polished as the unreal 3 engine but it's pretty damn close. Obviously they did not use the unreal 3 engine as it wouldn't be able to cope with the time element. The effects when your bending time are pretty astonishing and the rewinding of time, that plays everything backwards exactly, you can watch an enemies guts go flying back together and the rocket come out of his stomach.

There is quite a bit of a gore factor which is what earns the games MA15+ rating. Blood does splatter against walls and over you're suits mask at regular intervals. Peoples body parts do go flying off when you blow someone up with a sticky grenade and they are identifiable, they're not just chunks.

In terms of level setting. Other than the 1940's city, there is also snowy mountains and grassy plains. You're not stuck looking at the same thing for the entire game.

Multiplayer
So far I have not been able to play multi player, as the game isn't out internationally yet. I did load it up and have a walk around though. Basically you're time bending abilities are directly translated into chronos grenades. Creating an area of effect bubble of whatever time effect you select.

There are 14 multi player levels with many Unreal Tournament-like mutators, allowing you to customize the multiplayer experiance to an extreme degree. In terms of size I'd say the levels are around the same as Halo 3. I did note a lack of the quad bike in any of the levels I tired, but they did have mounted turrets. The levels are varied just like the single player game, some of them being heavily sci-fi, some open plains.

Conclusion
A heavily tactical shooter, with a very unique game play element that I'm sure we won't see very often. The storyline is actually particularity gripping, personally I've found it much more enjoyable than the majority of other FPS titles. For the overall raiting I give it a 9.0, it's not quite a half life 2 or halo 3, but it's damn near close. The graphics are great, the multi player offers future replayability. This game is definitely worth a place on everyones shelves, let's just hope it does not get overshadowed by the other super hyped games coming out in November.

9.0/10

Nice review, but...I'm still not sure about this. I like the idea of the time controls, but it all feels too fiddly. The game is far too easy with the time powers, even with the little meter that limits how much you can use it. It just feels really cheaply made, and the whole atmosphere is really dull. However, this is just judging from the demo, and as Blue Dragon taught me, a bad demo does not equal a bad game.karriston

Hmm, the time controls feel a bit hard at first, but it's pretty simply, hold RB, select power, go. Trust me, the game is not easy with time powers, I'm playing on casual and I die alot more than I did in halo 3. The first level they may be "for show" but pretty much after that If you don't use them you're dead.

Shame it just does not seem to be reviewed by any of the major sites, I am interested in this having played the demo but would like to read a few more reviews to be sure.

Good work that man.

is it worth a buy if only for the singleplayer part?hat123456

The single player part is the best by far.

IGN AU have reviewed it, gave it a 8.5, they gave halo 3 an 8.9. (just to show you that, thats a pretty good score from them.)

Heres the intro movie by the way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuwjXJeriiQ

Good review. But I'm still undecided on this one.

BioShockOwnz, please tell us what you think of the game when you get it.

I just find it insulting how Clive Barker's Jericho didn't get a rating above 8.5 and most of the arcade games are like 9.0.
Anyways, great user review.Alpha172

Yeah, but you have to understand that a retail game and an arcade game aren't comparable.

I was just playing the multiplayer then, it feels alot like quake 3 arena (maybe not quite as fast), but with time spheres you're trying to avoid :|. It's got the commentator style voices too "headshot" so forth :)

Right on man! Picked it up at lunch time, can't wait to get home and play. Traded in Jericho to get it at a better price. Jericho sucked.

ILLETE 702

Good review - detailed enough to give us a good idea of what the game is like, but not so detailed that it spoils it.
And it's nice to see someone who isn't slagging TimeShift off. Personally I really liked the demo, and I can't see why others disliked it so much.
LUK3isH3RE

I was "ok" with the demo, wasn't totally sold with it, but I decided I'd pick it up from EB and just take it back within the 7 days it was bad. Obviously I'm not going to take it back, it's of a quality far higher than most of the shooters we get on the 360.

And I mean c'mon, what other game is going to let you bend time itself? It dosn't seem like something that will pop up too often in our over-generic FPS medium.