Fanboys beware: Halo 3's reign as Lord of the Next-Gen Shooter may soon be contested. Fortunately for would-be Spartans everywhere, it won't be by Timeshift.
Developed by Vivendi Games, Timeshift is the newest addition to an increasingly overpopulated genre-the first-person shooter. You play as an enigmatic scientist who dons a suit capable of time travel in order to stop a crazed rival from destroying history.
The game's release date is unfortunate, sandwiched between Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4. With such stiff competition, any game that isn't absolutely revolutionary tends to fall by the wayside. And while fairly well-constructed-and a vast improvement over its beta-build-Timeshift just doesn't reach its full potential.
Many elements of the game are either borrowed from, or strongly inspired by, other titles. Your character's suit has a regenerating shield system identical to Master Chief's, you wield an explosive crossbow ripped from Gears of War and the dystopian setting features a main bad guy, egotistical dictator/physicist Krone, with a penchant for wide-screen propaganda a la Half-Life 2.
Even with these "similarities," the game should still have an ace in the hole with its unique exploration of time distortion game play. The mechanic is built right into the story with a truly compelling opening sequence and, by adding the power to pause and reverse time, the developers actually created game play that feels fresh... at first.
You as a player are really allowed to enjoy the power that comes with time manipulation-freezing enemies in mid-shot, reversing time to avoid grenades-and those elements are very well-designed. Unfortunately after a few hours you notice that the enemies lack variety, and most fights devolve into the same slow-motion gun play we've seen in older titles, albeit with near-seamless transitions and stunning visuals.
There are even light puzzles, such as slowing time to cross moving propellers or reversing time to fly up an air shaft, that seem to break the action in an interesting way. But again it isn't too long before you notice that alternate time streams and advanced technology mean almost every level has some giant, inconveniently placed fan or ridiculously inefficient elevator timing that would surely spell doom for anyone not sporting digs capable of manipulating space-time at a subatomic level. You might as well sit back and watch Krone's empire crumple under the weight of millions of personal injury lawsuits.
In the end, things just get repetitive. It doesn't matter how pleasantly gritty the controls feel, or how gorgeous the action looks, if you are basically doing the same thing a hundred times. Eventually you just feel bad for the nameless henchmen who don't really have a chance.
At such moments players look to the story to keep them intrigued, but this is where Timeshift really cements its mediocrity. Enticing memory fragments hint at a deeper plot, but the narrative is never really fleshed-out. The potential is there, with a dark and rich subject matter, but the game ends without ever utilizing the deeply compelling setting or even giving your character a name.
With solid visuals and generally enjoyable game play, Timeshift is at least worth renting. But players hunting for a reason to put down the plasma sword will just be wasting their time.
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