TimeShift has just recieved the demo treatment and as you take control of a man with the power to manipulate time means that this first person shooter is more than meets the eye. Wayne , Fraser and I take a look at the demo and see if TimeShift is worthy of your time.
FRASER
The TimeShift demo throws the player straight into the action, allowing the use of time control abilities from the word go however it doesn't take long to get used to them. Before the game starts we are treated to a well produced introduction movie which highlights how effective the time control abilities can be but doesn't seem to give much of the story away. Considering this is a demo then this is acceptable. No doubt the first thing players will notice in regards to the visuals is the rain. It definitely helps the atmosphere of the game and makes it feel cold and gloomy, which suits the game's back story; a revolution against what seems to be a totalitarian government. Although the graphics do not have a large wow factor, it's hard to complain. The character models are detailed and in my opinion based on other first person shooters I have played, TimeShift may well have the most detailed guns shown on screen; however I was impressed with the Halo 3 Beta's detail on weapons also so they are comparable. TimeShift is obviously going for a dark atmospheric look but this interferes with gameplay at times. Although the lighting is good, sometimes everything is just so 'grey', that it's difficult to see enemies in the distance - and yes before anyone asks I am playing in High Definition.
TimeShift plays like a generic shooter, which might sound bad but if it's done right then it's a potential treat for shooter fans. The time control abilities make killing enemies a lot easier, sometimes too easy however with a little creativity some fun can be had with it such as just pausing time then running behind some guy and blowing him apart with a shotgun, just because you can. On my first play through I only really used the time control abilities when they were necessary to progress because you can get on fine just playing it like a normal shooter; in fact I didn't feel any incentive to use them, however no doubt on harder difficulties or in later parts of the game it will come in handy. For the times that it is required to use the time control ability to progress it feels very scripted , but I will reserve judgment on that until I've played through the full game to see the variety of puzzles and obstacles where time control is required. It's hard to say whether I would recommend this to a first person shooter fan as standards are rising all the time however going from the demo it is enjoyable, just don't go expecting something revolutionary. Bioshock has made big waves amongst gamers lately but it's unlikely TimeShift will have as large an impact as that. Some games do become memorable to fans of the genre for just being solid games. For some reason TimeShift reminds me a little of Red faction, not a ground breaking game but a solid shooter which is why I liked it. I am definitely interested to see how the multiplayer turns out and with well designed maps it could be fun as the gameplay feels as though it will suit multiplayer.
WAYNE
After recently just completing the demo of TimeShift, I am left somewhat unimpressed. While the shifting of time concept is intriguing, it's very rare that we see shooters take this path. I was originally looking forward to TimeShift, what with the impressive looking trailers which I'm sure most of us have seen, but after my time with the demo I was left somewhat under-whelmed. TimeShift plays like a generic shooter, albeit with the shifting of time thrown in for good measure. The textures look rather bland and nothing really sticks out as being visually impressive, it really is quite the opposite; considering the Xbox 360 has some rather impressive looking shooters, the TimeShift demo does little to impress.
Exploiting the use of time manipulation also makes the game or at least the demo, far too easy. Though there are some more interesting moments where time needs to be tampered with to actually proceed further. Walls and other objects in the environments are destructible. Feel free to keep the interior intact by rewinding time and killing those annoying enemies before they get their chance to put big holes in the walls, again. The demo also offers several weapons, speaking of weapons whilst time is being shifted you can approach an enemy and steal his weapon.
One thing I despised from some of the previous games on Xbox 360 is a little thing known as screen tearing or v-sync issues. Sadly these things are apparent in the TimeShift demo and are more noticeable in the video footage in the demo. It's not quite as noticeable during gameplay but these issues should hopefully be addressed come the retail release of the game later this year.
TimeShift also promises multiplayer modes in the full retail release of the game. It will be interesting to see how well this works as the game's main emphasis is on time manipulation mixed up with good old fashioned, blowing stuff up.
ROB
Playing the TimeShift demo for the first time on Xbox 360 after the abysmal demo that appeared on the PC last year was a breath of fresh air for me and I guess I breathed a sigh of relief once I started playing. When I first heard about the game (a long time ago) I thought the game's premise was rather neat but with games like F.E.A.R and the then in development Stranglehold both boasting and utilizing the elements of time in their gameplay I wondered if the team could pull it off. Well it seems that the extra development time afforded to the team (Sabre Interactive) has paid off because as it stands TimeShift looks and plays very polished for the most part.
The main unique feature of the demo are those time abilities which really make what could be considered a generic and linear first person shooter , into an interesting concept. Let's see, well as a super soldier who has an uncanny resemblance to Grey Fox a la Metal Gear Solid, it's clear that with abilities such as stop time, slow time and rewind (activated by holding the LB button) makes for some pretty cool action sequences during combat.
During my first play of the demo I hadn't fully got to grips with the system as each ability depletes a meter at different rates; so for example using the stop time ability is going to last for a very short time whereas the slow time lasts that little bit longer. Naturally if you refrain from using time abilities then the meter refills and you can use them again. It's this mechanic that really dictates how different the combat becomes from your regular shooters. Playing the demo again and being smart about using the time abilities opened up one big can of possibilities.
A great example of the stop time was being able to run up to enemies grab their weapon and the leave them defenceless. This provoked one of two actions as far as I could tell with one being to run off to the nearest weapon left lying around from perhaps a fallen comrade. The other being to simply give up and stand there with arms raised. If you point your weapon at them for a prolonged time then they might drop to the floor in fear. Now imagine if you will, several disarmed enemies in a room simply standing there useless for their cause as you freely move around them unnerved. That's all well and good for the humane amongst us but what use is having time abilities if you don't put them to the test? Cutting a long story short a few innocent explosives in slow mo towards their direction put an end to their miserable lives and was incredibly satisfying! I found this aspect intriguing as it was also possible to just leave those guys behind unharmed and not very dangerous. I wonder if there will in fact be an achievement related to this?
Moving on, using the abilities to engineer a path so as to navigate an area seemed interesting but also a little unpredictable as at one point I was flattened by falling debris and promptly died whilst left scratching my head. A depleted time meter meant I was unable to rewind time to clear the debris as the game prompted and as I said resulted in an untimely death. I do hope that there's not a lot of these trial and error moments as they will no doubt ruin the pacing of the game if the end result is as harsh as a game over screen.
One thing I did find pretty stupid was the fact that there are some obvious scripted scenes that look like you can interact with them. At one point in the demo there was a guy with a hostage (you know, whining dude with a gun pointed at his head at point blank range). I thought it would be great to step in there and save his sorry ass but you know what? The game simply scripted out this moment regardless; well you know what happened to the poor guy - honestly I did try and save him, my god did I try and after attempting to stop time, shoot the gun wielding maniac about six times with the shotgun at point blank, my futile attempts were simply moot. This is a shame but I'll keep my fingers crossed that there will be some other moments in the full game that will allow you to step in like the hard nut character you are.
For the most part the graphics look very cool indeed and reminded me of those seen in FEAR but somewhat more detailed. However there were a few hiccups with the frame rate (stutters) from time to time. Hopefully this will be ironed out prior to release but I won't hold my breath as they really were too infrequent to affect gameplay too much.
In general the demo is rather good and I had fun goofing around with the rather cool cross bow type explosive weapon in conjunction with the slow time. One moment a guy leapt over an object and during his flight I stopped time, hit him with the explosive, paused and then watched the body parts fly. Priceless. The game is pretty graphic as Gib's fly all over the place and I think for the sadistic gamer this will fulfil that undying need to see gore.
From the demo at least it looks like TimeShift isn't going to break the mould as a first person shooter as it seems to follow the expected formula. However the time abilities do add a little sparkle to the combat and for this I feel the game most certainly has some solid potential. The demo is well worth the download but I suggest you experiment with the abilities first before unleashing the full ferocity of your inner beast...fzzz. your inner beast...fzzz... your inner beast...fzzz. I think you get the point.
