Let’s face it; this month could easily be considered the most competitive time to release an FPS on the PC. Games like Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War, Crysis, and Call of Duty 4 were all set to come out, and amongst the pack remains one less known title. TimeShift, which has seen development changes and delays, finally decided to release itself amongst all the chaos. Even so, the game has a unique charm about it that you won’t want to miss.

The Time is Now

Don’t expect to get too much out of the story in TimeShift. Most of the information is given to you in sporadic cutscenes, and even if you do put the pieces together there isn’t a whole lot to digest. Essentially, two suits were developed that allow time travel. The evil Dr. Krone acquired one of these suits, went back in time, and took over the world with giant metal spider robots. Your goal is to also time travel in order to stop him. Luckily nobody else has access to these time powers, which gives you a major advantage on the battlefield.

Your special time suit allows you to slow down, stop, or reverse time. If you’ve played any Matrix-style game with the bullet time effects then slowing down time won’t be new to you. This ability comes in handy because it’s impractical and sometimes even impossible to take out a fleet of enemies without manipulating time. When time is slowed, you still move at the same speed while everyone is virtually immobile. Because of this, you can take out your shotgun, slow down time, and then proceed to run up to a group of soldiers and blast them all in the face. Even though they can still shoot you and toss grenades, the rate at which they do so is slow that you can avoid most of the damage if you’re quick.

The only downside about this is that the whole system is easily abused. It makes the most sense to take cover, slow down time and take out as many guys as possible, and then run back to cover before you run out of time slowing juice. Your shields and ability to change time regenerate after a little bit of time, so by repeating this process over and over again the game won’t be overly difficult, even on the hardest setting. The only time you really run into trouble is when you run out into an open area and find yourself surrounded by enemies with nowhere to turn. Outgunning even just three enemies at full speed can easily spell disaster, so you’re rewarded for being cautious. This doesn’t mean that the majority of the game is just target practice though; often times your source of cover will be destroyed so you have no option but to fight back. In addition, some enemies later on in the game can still move incredibly fast even when time is slowed down, so it’s not a cakewalk by any means.

While slowing down time lasts from ten to fifteen seconds, you also have the ability to stop time for about three of four seconds. This certainly doesn’t give you the same amount of freedom to go exploring, but if you see one guy standing alone this is the most entertaining feature to utilize. When time is stopped, all forces are accumulated until time is resumed. Knowing this, you can throw grenades and blast your shotgun for a few quick seconds and then enjoy the show. Stopping time is really only useful when you have to solve certain puzzles or when facing certain enemies that have shields that disappear only when time is stopped.

Rewind is the lamest feature of the bunch because it’s hardly ever used. It’s more practical to stop time to get out of the way of a grenade then to rewind after being hit. You aren’t allowed to fire your gun or impact any objects when reversing either, and the only time you ever need to use it is to solve some tacked-on feeling puzzles. You’ll hardly ever find yourself going back in time, and it’s a shame considering how creative the developers could’ve gotten with this idea.

As far as puzzles go, there’s a mix between creative scenarios and tedious tasks. Every now and then it seems like the developers throw in situations just to waste your time because they hardly require any thinking. Whether you have to press two distant buttons at the same or make it through a door before it closes, a lot of these instances feel very unnecessary. On the other hand, it feels very rewarding to overcome a seemingly impossible situation by using time. For example, in one area a giant fan prevents you from moving forward, but by reversing time you’ll actually be blown in your intended direction. It would’ve been great to see more of these above-and-beyond puzzles, but unfortunately they are outnumbered by the less creative ones.

Even though it didn’t live up to everything that it could be, TimeShift still delivers a great single player campaign. The wide range of environments from cluttered cities to open fields challenges use to get the most out of your arsenal, and even turret missions and ATV rides are well incorporated. While the guns you’re given right from the start could easily last you the whole game, weapons like the Hell Fire pistol or Surge Gun are a blast to play with. Despite the somewhat repetitive battle tactics you may develop, firefights are from dull. Enemies usually come in huge swarms, and there’s never one “right” way to take everybody out. While the game does follow a linear path in the big picture, it’s open-endedness in firefights is a definite plus.

Think in Four Dimensions

The multiplayer combat is fast-paced, and Saber did a solid job at incorporating time shifting aspects into the online world. All time manipulation is controlled through chrono grenades. Anything caught within the blast radius of said grenades will be put under its effects. This lets you enjoy all your standard game types such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, and CTF without having to sacrifice the premise of the game. One especially fun game mode determines a king that controls time while everybody else tries to kill him. The arena combat here, while not as complex as some of the other upcoming titles, offers familiarity for beginners while still adding an entire new dimension to the formula.  

In terms of presentation, the visuals look incredible, especially considering how TimeShift isn’t a total resource hog. The levels all carry fitting atmospheres and the destructibility of most of the objects is fun to mess around with. Perhaps the most enjoyable thing of all is seeing how badly you can mess up your enemies. If you stop time and just unload bullets and grenades, not only will blood splatter on your screen but the victims will be ripped to shreds. After walking past the scene of a crime, expect to see legs, arms, and torsos scattered about.

There’s nothing too notable in terms of sound, but there isn’t anything wrong either. The background music always kicks in when soldiers are nearby, and aside from this being a good indicator it adds to the overall drama. One comical addition lies within the character dialogue; if you stop time you can steal an enemy’s weapon, so if you decide to let them live it’s funny to see how they react.

Conclusion

While TimeShift is far from perfect, most gamers should have a great time with it both offline and online. Although it might be hard for those on a budget to justify a purchase now with all of the other top notch titles soon on their way, chances are you’ll get a kick out of TimeShift if you pick it up sooner or later.