Getting the
first chance to play, skepticism reigned. As a shooter, Timeshift would
rank average to high marks solely on gameplay. Although it stuttered at
time, it was otherwise stable, fast paced and intense. And difficult.
That’s where time kicks in.
The basic outlay is simple enough.
Three different modes allow you to use time to your advantage, since
the overwhelming odds wouldn’t be justifiable otherwise. Rewind, pause
and fast forward are the three options, each with its own
characteristics.
Rewind makes everything go back. That means if a
bridge just collapsed in front of you, quickly hit rewind and the
bridge is back, and the explosion that took it out goes in reverse.
Pause
does exactly as it says, but what it allows is to steal the enemy’s
weapons. Fast forward is just like rewind, except movement turns
incredibly fast and fluid. Using these correctly is key, though which
to use when is still under scrutiny.
The time commands obviously
make gameplay very easy, so the team worked to balance the issue, but
it still needs some tuning. Finding cover to recharge time powers is
pretty easy, and once time is going any which way or not at all,
there’s no stopping you. What was mentioned previously was the use of
rain to make it difficult to see when pausing, but so far that hasn’t
impacted the game enough to be noticeable.
As
of now, Timeshift looks like it’ll make a fine game, but is not fully
there. With the October 30th release date on the 360 and December for
the PS3, there is still time for polish and bug fixing, which is all
that is required. Add another title to the must have list for this
winter, and another 60 out of your pocket.
Find this article at: http://www.strategyinformer.com/xbox360/timeshift/preview.html