Thanks to Sierra, we finally get to see and play this game, for which the outlook was grim after ATARI dropped their commitment due to the mild response to a somewhat hopeful demo released in 2006. Well things change, and the new developer took the core strength and updated gameplay as well as visuals to finally release an innovative seeming product for the 2007 christmas season. Was it worth the wait? I think so ...
IN A NUTSHELL
Timeshift takes first person shooter elements and adds time to your weapon arsenal. While the first contact may feel a bit like F.E.A.R.'s concentration mode (slow-motion), it's taken a bit further as time is not only slowed down but can also rewind while you're progressing. This promising concept allows to steal weapons from enemies in hopeless situations, or simply go past obstacles by rewinding time to before it occurred (i.e. collapsed pathway). So in essence, TimeShift offers a refined version of Prince of Persia (rewind) and F.E.A.R. (slow-mo) to give futuristic shooters a slightly different twist.
Novelty time control aside, the game manages to create a similar atmosphere like Half-Life 2 with a futuristic city in despair while calm-voiced propaganda is being aired 24/7. In fact, the voice of the propaganda broadcast as well as the lighting and overall design probably reminds the most of the famous Half-Life 2 (and that would certainly be a good thing). All similarities still don't make this a wanna-be, but rather a well crafted albeit not unique game. One stand-out visual effect that sets TimeShift apart is the frequent rain that not only looks fairly realistic but also sports splashes on the ground in a convincing manner.
Overall, TimeShift may not be ground-breaking beyond the time controls, but it's a visually appealing shooter that shows off good hardware while working with both WinXP and Vista (unlike the lackluster Halo 2). The developer avoided the sometimes ambitious trap of attempting to redefine gaming, and in the end delivered a solid shooter that fits right in with 2007 releases like Unreal Tournament III, Gears of War, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock and F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate.
DETAILS
Game Play: [****-] Parallels to Half-Life 2 don't stop at the looks, but you also just happen to be a highly regarded scientist who is thrown into violent happenings. In the end you put your books aside (right at the beginning) and pick up whatever gun you can find to make your argument. You don't get the pretty side kick, but otherwise follow standard procedure of fighting your way through ruins and ongoing battle to achieve your objectives. Of course you're mostly a "problem solver" as other fighting groups typically have a tough situation that your special abilities help to resolve. TimeShift makes heavy use of controlling time to overcome otherwise hopeless situations. This is what makes this game worthwhile and some situations require a bit of rethinking compared to standard shooter approaches.
Graphics: [*****] Given that this is a DX9 game, the visuals are simply stunning with one of the best rain simulations to date and excellent fire and particle effects as well as global lighting. The time control effects are nothing short of stunning themselves and complement the game greatly. The original demo for TimeShift wasn't bad looking either, but the revamped looks of the actual game certainly makes it worth the long wait. HDR (high dynamic range) and DOF (depth of field) are nicely implemented without overdoing the effects, and textures and models are detailed. One slight problem is the similar rendering of friends and foes which sometimes require to point your gun to see if its green or red (friendly fire affects your comrades!).
Physics: [****-] TimeShift deploys the software physics engine Havok mostly for improved realism in effects and object manipulation. It's not used for game play with the exception of the environment being semi-destructible, which in this case means that certain structures disintegrate under heavy fire and basically loose the function as a cover. There are no physics puzzles to solve, but overall reaction of objects is fairly realistic. Due to Havok, the PhysX hardware in my computer doesn't get a chance to contribute, but it's hardly noticeable to tell the truth. (TimeShift doesn't use extensive cloth effects or other complex physics applications.)
Controls: [****-] While following the typical WASD/Mouse control scheme, TimeShift uses a few unorthodox controls which are less important in gameplay (i.e. press "X" to respawn). The mouse of course helps to look around, aim and shoot, while the keyboard is on duty for the typical movement and inventory. Response to the mouse is great (at least in my configuration).
Progress: [*****] One would think that PC gaming by now the F5/F9 Quicksave/Quickload is standard, though TimeShift generally provides this feature (thankfully) but also initially places it on F6/F9. This and typical menu saves make it enjoyable for PC gamers that get frustrated with the checkpoints (as forced down our throats from the consoles). I wish more developers would follow (like Infiniward's Call of Duty 4).
Sound: [*****] TimeShift supports and recognizes Creative's EAX-HD without a flaw. Especially for Windows Vista that's not always guaranteed since hardware sound has been "officially" dropped from Microsoft's agenda in favor of letting the CPU do the work. Anyway, TimeShift supports up to 5.1 sounds which also translate well to headphones via Creative's 3D simulation. Weapon sounds and explosions are well crafted. Voice acting is good, but (at least on my system) sometimes a bit quiet.
Weapons: [*****] So this is the future and of course weapons evolved too. Generally you will find all they typical sci-fi versions of today's handguns, rifles, rocket launchers and grenades in your arsenal. Standard fare with a futuristic twist are also the available grenades and mines. Turrets give some much needed fire power, but are stationary and part of certain tasks only. The suit in itself is not a weapon, but only because of it's abilities, you even stand a chance to overcome obstacles.
Artificial Intelligence: [****-] Enemies don't just sit there to be taken out one by one, or mindlessly rush at you as soon as you hit a trigger spot. Overall, AI feels very responsive (though the typical trigger points are still there as you sometimes have to hit a certain stage in order to have enemies appear that you didn't see from a higher stance just a few seconds ago. Once spotted, enemies are quite aggressive and simply hiding behind a wall won't keep them off for long. That doesn't mean enemies can't be overcome or tricked, but it sure feels very adaptive.
Extras: [***--] There are basically two extras with the Quad four-wheeler being a convenient means for transportation in the vast forests. The other is basically just a result of the Single Player game where certain achievements (progression in the story) allows to access unlockable content like videos, music and concept art.
Multi Player: [****-] I am generally not a big fan of online Multi Player games if there is nobody I know online. That aside, TimeShift offers the typical Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. More specific to the game are King of Time and Meltdown Madness which both are a race against the clock and variable ways to influence time's progression (in your favor or against). The One-on-one is just what is says. A new feature are the game modifiers which allow to customize MultiPlayer by defining parameters like armor values, health regeneration and so on.
HARDWARE
Load times are comparably short despite detailed graphics and relatively large environments. Graphics pauses pretty much only upon section load and stutters are virtually eliminated with my graphics card. Overall gameplay is very responsive at 1600x1200 and everything set to near maximum.
Time shift deploys SecuROM copy protection which in my case yielded the error message claiming that I used a copy instead of the original. The troubleshooting suggested to enable DMA for the DVD drive, but it turned out that somehow my NEC drive didn't work with this protection while the Sony drive did.
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