TimeShift is a sci-fi first-person shooter developed by Saber Interactive and published by Sierra Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released on October 27th 2007. I picked up this game for $5 thanks to Hollywood video going out of business (still lists for $20 at Amazon). How does the game stack up after 3 years? Very well actually.

The Plot

Scientists with a grant form the military set out to create viable time travel. You, the hero, are one of the researchers on the project. The end result of the project are 2 – 1 man suits, labeled Alpha and Beta. The Alpha suit has Time Point jumping capabilities only. The Beta suit is a military grade suit that incorporates the time jump as well as combat enhanced abilities, and an AI unit that is supposed to prevent the creation of temporal paradoxes. The project head (Dr. Aiden Krone) has lied to the military about the progress of the research. Krone steals the Alpha suit, sets a timed bomb, and then jumps to the past. When the theft and the bomb are discovered you enter the Beta Suit and attempt to follow Krone, making your time jump just as the bomb goes off. The explosion alters your jump coordinates and breaks the main time jumping device. You land in 1939 in an alternate time line where Krone has already taken control of the United States. The hero finds himself in the middle of a rebellion against Krone and agrees to help them in their cause to stop Krone.

The Gameplay
The typical controls of a FPS are present. Anyone who has ever played a FPS will not need a tutorial. What TimeShift brings is time shifting abilities (imagine that ). The beta suit has a more sensitive time altering matrix which allows the player to temporarily alter the passage of time. There are three different modes.

1. “Fast Forward/ Slow Time”. What you call it would depend on which end of it you are on. It causes time to slow for everyone relative to you, so from the enemies point of view you’re in fast forward  . This is not the same as “Bullet-Time” where the camera speed is slowed down for dramatic effect.  (I’ve been reading several books on relativity recently so that point is fresh in my head.)  The Hero moves at normal speed and all actions from the hero move at normal speed, while the enemy will still be moving they will be moving slowly.  All attacks you make on them will have immediate consequences (you’ll see them die in slow motion as your bullets are only covered by the suits powers until they contact the enemy.  The enemies will be heard saying “How’s he moving so fast!”  This mode lasts the longest and will be the most used power.
2. “Stop Time”.  Just like it says time stops completely.  This power allows you to by pass  environmental dangers.  There are areas where you have to cross water that has a live electric wire resting in it.  You can stop time and the water will act like solid ground  (i.e you can walk on it, without slipping), and the electricity will be stopped as well so you do not get electrocuted.  You can’t just use “FF” as electricity moves at the speed of light so you can’t cross fast  enough to not get electrocuted.  Only a complete stop of time can save you.  You can use this power in combat but it drains the power of the suit the fastest so using “FF”  would be better choice.  If you do use it in combat you will get no indication of damage on the enemy so you can easily waste ammo on some one that is already dead.  While time is stopped you can also steal weapons out of the enemies hands. The enemies will be heard saying “Where Did He Go?!” and “He Just materialized out of nowhere!”.
3. “Reverse Time”.  This allows you to rewind the movement of objects (including grenades) for about 4 seconds.   The main use of this power is to recreate destroyed bridges, as well as to get through time related puzzles.   It can also be used to evade timed explosions by giving you “extra” time to escape the blast radius.

The player’s time abilities affect the color of their environment. Slowing time produces a blue shift, rewinding it produces a yellow haze, and stopping time creates a white filter “haze”. The player must use them wisely to make its way through the game. In some parts of the game you can lengthen your time powers.

None of the weapons in the game are time related. They are plain ol futuristic guns, and modern crossbows. The crossbow was my favorite weapon as the bolts would explode on impact for an instant kill on most enemies. Each weapon has a secondary fire option. But you’ll forget they’re there as they don’t help as often as you think. An example is the standard Assault Rifle has a Grenade launcher attached.

This first video is what they wanted the game to be. The second is what it actually is.

TV Spot

The Verdict
First Person Shooters have never really been the greatest when it comes to story line, but with what they did in that TV spot this game would have a great chance of making an excellent movie. The game play does get repetitive like all FPS’s. Walk around, kill everyone that’s not you, walk to next room through loading area concealed as a winding passage, repeat. So really it’s no better and no worse than any other FPS. The AI for the enemies is fairly challenging. The ending scene is one of the most anti-climactic and yet best endings I have ever seen in a game.
Show Ending Spoiler ▼

Overall the game had a decent story, and the Time Shifting abilities gave an interesting twist to the FPS. The replay value is fairly good for the single player missions, and while I did not try multiplayer I can just imagine how interesting those Time Shifting abilities would be in a death match. So I would rate this a Keep It.

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One Response to “Keep It or Trade It? TimeShift (X360)”

1. RUMOR: Halo HD Remake Set for Nov 15th Release | G.A.M.E.S. on 04 Feb 2011 at 5:10 pm #

   [...] handled by New Jersey-based Saber Interactive which made Timeshift (see my review of that game here). Unlike the original Halo, the remake would have online multiplayer (the original was local play [...]

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