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 TimeShift
(Playstation 3)
This is a fairly engaging shooter that allows players to manipulate time
as they battle through an oppressively bleak alternative reality. The game
allows you to freeze, slow-down or reverse time at the flick of a button.
While the level design and maps are fairly straightforward, the game's
mechanics keep things interesting. There are some interesting puzzles as
well that give TimeShift a layer of strategic play that gives it a unique
feel all its own. These time-bending abilities are also applied to
TimeShift's multiplayer online modes, creating some intense battles.
Above-average visuals and intuitive controls add to the fun, making
TimeShift an solidly entertaining title. |
TimeShift starts off with an interesting
premise that allows for some innovative gameplay mechanics. In the game,
you are cast as a rogue scientist, Dr. Aiden Krone who has developed an
experimental life suit that allows you to jump through and manipulate time
itself. Unfortunately, when the suit was tested, it suffered a major
malfunction and transported you into an alternative dimension where the
world was under the throes of a dangerously fascist government. Trapped in
this world, you decide to help the resistance and your special suit's
powers to help them battle the forces of evil. The game is set in a dark,
post-apocalyptic world saturated by rain where hostile soldiers lurk
around every corner, along with other obstacles such as fire and
electricity. Each of TimeShift's maps is fairly large and complicated,
taking the player through various maps and stages will cause you to
encounter many obstacles. With your suit at the ready, you can join the
battle. Most of TimeShift's gameplay is fairly standard FPS conventions,
and you have a number of weapons, such as the expected sniper rifles,
grenades and machine guns at your disposal. One of the more impressive
aspects of your suit is that it offers you some protection from damage,
and can recharge itself after a few moments. This system makes it easier
to get through the game without having to reload from the beginning. As an
added bonus, when you're in Time shifting mode, you are impervious to
damage from both fire and electricity, which allows you to travel through
impassable areas without getting hurt.
 The
energy regeneration feature is fairly cool, but the really impressive
ability of your suit is the way you can use it to manipulate time. During
the game, you'll have a small amount of energy that you can use to either
reverse, pause or stop time. Using the time system is fairly simple, you
press the R2 shift button to activate the controls and a quick menu pops
up where you can select which time effect to use, and the amount of energy
you have stored for that action is displayed on your HUD. When this effect
is turned on, you can move around the level, shoot enemies and collect
items without any effect on you. This is especially effective at avoiding
bullets or moving past guards undetected. You can also use this in other
ways as well. The problem is that your energy is limited to and once it is
used up, time returns to normal. Your energy recharges after a few
moments, but you can't really use this continuously, so you need to be
strategic in its implementation. You can use this ability to take out
enemies who won't be able to block your shots, get out of the way of heavy
fire or missiles, which makes it much easier to get through some of the
areas. However, when you are reversing time, you cannot fire a weapon or
pick up objects, since that would disrupt the timelines. If you try and do
so, the effect will come to an end immediately. The system works
remarkably well in practice and is nicely integrated into the gameplay so
as not to feel excessively gimmicky or cheap. It definitely helps the
gameplay in many ways, some of which are more subtle than you might think.
In addition to using your powers to warp
the otherwise standard fighting mechanics, TimeShift also presents a
number of tricky areas and puzzles for you to solve as well. For example,
in one area you have to cross a bridge that's about to be annihilated by a
large opponent ship. Since you can't cross fast enough in real-time, you
have to pause the action briefly and run across the path before it's
demolished. In another section, you'll have to get through a series of
locked doors. Pressing the button makes them open, but very quickly, and
the only way to pass through them is to slow-down or pause the action
briefly after hitting this. These sequences definitely bring a different
style of play to the proceedings, and give TimeShift a layer of strategy
elements that many FPS titles to date have lacked. Most of the puzzles are
fairly easy to get through, but there are a few that are quite interesting
in their construction, which helps to make the game's single player
missions more challenging than they would have been. Timeshift's pacing is
excellent and the action comes at you almost immediately and doesn't let
up, while each level presents its own problems. For example, there are
areas where you need to run through quickly as the forces are tracking you
and the other fighters and are literally ripping through buildings as you
make your escape. This sense of constantly being hunted and chased adds to
the game's urgency and excitement in the earlier stages. Timeshift's
multiplayer modes are also interesting in their implementation. While the
game includes the standard team, deathmatch and capture the flag modes,
these are all enhanced by their use of time-warping Chrono grenades, which
allow you to use the same time manipulation techniques against other
players when you them with one. You can counter these moves by using
special player enhancements or collecting Time Shields that allow you to
change or repel these attacks. These matches require more strategy than
you'd expect, and the map designs are almost as impressive as the main
game's levels. Both of TimeShift's play modes offer plenty of variety and
depth for both the single and multiplayer gamer.
 From
a visual standpoint, TimeShift impresses with its richly detailed,
evocative urban environments. The rain-soaked world is quite realistic and
gritty with some very cool lighting and weather effects that make the
experience feel more intense. While the maps are a bit linear early on,
things open up in the later stages and this allows you to have a much
greater freedom of movement, which helps the gameplay immensely. The
game's animation is smooth and suffers from little slowdown.
Unfortunately, there are some long load times between levels, which hurts
the game's momentum, but the tradeoff comes with high-quality visuals.
Timeshift delivers a surprisingly robust graphics engine that moves along
at a good clip without sacrificing detail. While it's not as impressive as
the visuals seen in other PS3 games like Call of Duty 4 or Unreal
Tournament III, this is still a solid looking game. Obviously, its time
shifting and bullet time effects are impressive and allow you to see
bullets and soldiers suspended in mid-action as you move around them.
TimeShift's music is decent as well, and the game's engaging plot line and
characters are interesting enough to keep you playing for some time. The
production values are excellent for the most part and help to create an
engaging and interesting storyline. While some of the game's basic
elements aren't anything innovative or special, the use of time shifting
is more distracting than exciting.
- Michael Palisano
Grade: C
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