TimeShift [PC]

This is the time when I wish that I had a time machine to propel myself back in time in order to check out TimeShift again. The game, developed by Saber Interactive and being published by Atari, was actually shown back in December under embargo until the game actually had a title. I guess "Time Guy" just didn't cut the mustard. In any case, a month later, the game's premise is still sharp in my mind, even if some of the smallest details aren't. This is mostly because I actually found it pretty darn intriguing. Upon seeing the demo video before we were shown the actual game, I can't say I was impressed. The time effects looked gimmicky in the video, almost to the point that I started to discount it. Then I saw the live demo and now I really want to play it. It's hard not to want to get a crack at the interesting way they're going about implementing the time powers. I'm hooked and need to know more. Hopefully we'll get more soon, but for now, I'll share what there is.

TimeShift is a first-person shooter. It could even remind make a person think of what a more detailed version of Unreal Tournament 2004 might look like because of its art style. Regardless, the engine is a new one built specifically for this game and all of the environments, lighting, and characters are very good, even at such an early stage of development. But it's also strangely innocuous. At first glance, it actually looks like it might be similar to any other FPS on the market. Run around, shoot things, go home.

But that's simply not the case thanks to the focus of the story and the gameplay. The focus, in this case, is time. The main character of the game is an agent that comes into control of a suit that allows the manipulation of time. That means the ability to rewind, pause, or slow everything down. But the difference from a game like Prince of Persia is that all of these changes only affect everything in the environment except the actual player character. For instance, when time is paused, you can move around in the environment and hide in a different location while the enemy is unaware of your actions.

The reaction of the AI and their knowledge of your whereabouts actually makes using these powers very clever solutions to combat and puzzles. Let's say you're running into a room full of guys. Suddenly, they all see you and start firing. You can, if you want, pause time and shoot them all. You could also rewind time and run to a hiding place in the room so that they can't see you. This would erase any memory of the AI actually seeing you at all since, technically, those AI enemies hadn't seen you yet in the progression of time. After that, you could start killing enemies until they find you at which point you could pause the game and move to another location. Or if there are too many of them, you could kill most of them, and then hide in the room, let time begin again, and watch the bodies fall and the enemy AI try to puzzle out what's happening. Another idea might be to use the slow effect to simply run into the room and lay waste to everybody while dodging bullets and firing your own weapon. Or you could run in, let them see you, stop time, shoot a couple of them while running behind others, release time, shoot others in the back, watch them all finally find where you are, pause time again, run behind the remaining guards, release time and shoot them some more just for kicks in order to keep the AI confused as to your whereabouts. It's really up to you and your creativity with the powers given with the suit.