Timeshift Xbox 360 demo: first impressions

  

Before anyone tries to stop or reverse time, we secured Sierra Entertainment‘s Timeshift‘s Xbox 360 demo that recently went live. The effort rewarded us with topnotch First Person Shooter action, puzzle solving, and flying limbs. If run-and-gun is becoming too stale for your tastes, then look no further.

Our protagonist, coming from the distant future ruled by a mad dictator, is equipped with an equally futuristic suit that can mess with time. In a game like Timeshift where players get plenty of abilities, intuitive controls are heaven sent. Just a few minutes in and we were already manipulating time like Einstein’s biggest nightmare.

After a brief intro cutscene, enemies were thrown at us non-stop with only a trusty carbine to defend ourselves. Fortunately, ample use of time-defying feats made combat easier. Using an ability depletes time energy, but the gauge fills up automatically.

Read more after the jump!

 

Before anyone tries to stop or reverse time, we secured Sierra Entertainment‘s Timeshift‘s Xbox 360 demo that recently went live. The effort rewarded us with topnotch First Person Shooter action, puzzle solving, and flying limbs. If run-and-gun is becoming too stale for your tastes, then look no further.

Our protagonist, coming from the distant future ruled by a mad dictator, is equipped with an equally futuristic suit that can mess with time. In a game like Timeshift where players get plenty of abilities, intuitive controls are heaven sent. Just a few minutes in and we were already manipulating time like Einstein’s biggest nightmare.

After a brief intro cutscene, enemies were thrown at us non-stop with only a trusty carbine to defend ourselves. Fortunately, ample use of time-defying feats made combat easier. Using an ability depletes time energy, but the gauge fills up automatically.

The time suit is context sensitive, which is especially helpful in sticky situations. However, it’s easy to pick a specific power and use it on the fly. One button press opens up choices, while the next lets you pick which ability to use. “Slow’ puts the game in bullet-time state, allowing only the player to move at normal speed. “Stop” freezes everything, as you would’ve guessed. The latter takes up more energy, but very effective when used properly. “Reverse” rewinds all events that happened a few seconds back while still letting the player go on with his business.

Weapons are varied and fit for different circumstances, though there aren’t much to choose from. Most situations can be handled by the machine gun, but the shotgun with faster firing rate than your usual pump-action is ace in close combat. For sniping, there’s the bowgun that shoots explosive bolts from long range.

 

Objectives are pretty simple – defend this place, go there, meet that guy – but pacing is good overall. There was never a dull moment as we moved from one tactfully placed checkpoint to another. Plenty of hurdles came up every once in a while, providing a window for puzzle-solving elements. For one, there’s a hallway that will crumble and leave you under a big pile of rubble; unless you reverse time and pretend nothing happened, of course.

Even with god-like abilities, the game does a good job of bringing the fight to the player. Enemy AI is nothing groundbreaking, yet skilled players still need to be more cautious. Time energy refills slowly, preventing too much use of powers.

Timeshift‘s setting doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it’s one of the best looking sci-fi games to date. Environments are packed with detail, albeit small and somewhat linear. While walls crumble and many objects are destructible, finding cover isn’t hard for the most part. There’s a good amount of blood and gore, bodies get blown into pieces, but only extreme conservatives would be bothered.

We stumbled upon various tricks as we played with time, like attaching grenades to enemy soldiers or shooting rockets down after freezing them in the air. It’s also possible to steal weapons from unsuspecting enemies when time is halted, since we all love pumping someone with lead using his own firearm.

TimeShift‘s demo is fun while it lasts. The many ways to exploit time open up new ways to play an FPS. Action is always right around the corner, and it looks good when things start going crazy. For the hardcore, it’s not uncommon to find dismembered bodies and detached limbs on the floor. Take our word: this 500mb download is worth it.