Who remembers Timeshift, the sci-fi FPS with a ‘timeshifting’ twist that was slated for a Spring 2006 release? It was that far into development that a single player demo was released on the Live Marketplace and advertising had started ready for release. The game received a lukewarm reception; it was yet another 360 FPS but offered something unique, along with bland graphics and the X-factor seemingly missing, nothing more than an average to decent blaster was anticipated generally. However, timeshift to summer 2007 and things have changed. Forget Timeshift of 2006 and get with the program, for it spent that year in a cocoon and has emerged as the regenerated butterfly fluttering impressively before our eyes now. And now is what matters of course, unless you have the ability to timeshift that is.
This revamp is almost a remake and is certainly a lot more than a simple tweak. Originally under the stewardship of Atari, the game was an Xbox title. Its transferral to the more powerful 360, as is often the case, left much evidence of its old generation roots and as a result looked dated compared to rival titles built from the ground up for the system. Upon its sale from Atari to Sierra Entertainment, a brave, admirable and seemingly good decision was made to extend development by a year. The result is quite staggering, which is a credit to developers Saber Interactive who’ve defied the ethics of countless lazy developers by scrumpling up anything they regarded as not up to standards or outdated. Out the window has gone the entire script along with most of its characters (though Professor Krone, the main villain, has dodged the axe), accompanied by the entire soundtrack, old graphical style and all voicework has been recorded. It’s not just cosmetic though with the physics engine being injected with a next-gen booster and all motion capturing being re-done. Though we’ve yet to get our hands on the re-emerged form, I think even the biggest cynic of the original will be awaiting the verdict on its core quality after seeing the new screenshots. The old graphical style, as well as being unimpressive, was an acquired taste. Reminiscent of Perfect Dark Zero, it was all very bright and colorful and not to the taste of those expecting a gritty experience. While still not on a par with Call of Duty, for example, in terms of grit, it now possesses a fair amount that I’d expect could melt a significant amount of black ice on a winter’s day. Players are treated to a much more realistic setting, based on Earth, though the basic enemies generally seem a tad generic.
While players don’t take the form of a an-ex Colonel with a troubled past now, but rather an anonymous character (developers want YOU to be the main character, not for you to play somebody else, cool eh?) you still don the all-important beta suit that grants you your timeshift abilities (of course, otherwise we wouldn’t really have a name for the game) and there is still a story to the action. You will be battling hordes of enemies fighting to maintain the rule of the evil Krone who’ll be well equipped with vehicles as well as guns to take you down. Fortunately for you, (you’re the hero in this game remember) the beta suit’s abilities will provide a key to success. Allowing you to slow, pause or rewind time while you maintain normal speed, the suit will provide solutions to various puzzles and enemies. This has also been revamped, though we don’t yet know all the details. We do know at least that the suit has it’s own AI – S.S.A.M, which is expected to act as a sort of assistant, perhaps a little like Cortana of Halo, and instead of the different timeshift techniques being assigned to different buttons, S.S.A.M. now makes only the relevant one for the context available. Developers have pledged that implementation of timeshifting is also much improved upon that of the old version – promising for some thought-provoking puzzles in the form of both special enemies that require timeshifting and obstacles.
Unlike in some games where such features are emitted from multiplayer modes for fear of over complicating things, timeshifting makes an appearance here and has the potential to provide a great twist on the standard experience. The functions of timeshifting are activated using special grenades, presenting the possibility of freezing an enemy just before they capture the flag, for example and toying with foes as they watch bullets approach them in slow motion inches from their face.
