Customer Reviews

Timeshift

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

How games like this get overlooked while mediocre games like Rainbow Six Vegas get all the hype, I'll never know. What a little gem of a game. If you're a fan of Sci Fi shooters, you'll like Timeshift. First the bad. The story is almost non existent. But what it lacks in story, it makes up for in gameplay. In the beginning, I found using the time shifting abilities a little cumbersome. But once you get used to it, boy does this game get fun. The graphics are excellent, the guns are cool. The environments are varied and challenging. The enemies are smart and will flank you fast. The game never feels redundant. One of Timeshift's greatest assets however is the checkpoint system. I HATE games where if you die, you have to repeat the last 6-10 minutes of gameplay you just finished before you died. This can ruin what might be an otherwise decent game. That never happens in Timeshift. The checkpoints are perfectly placed. It becomes apparent that the developers put autosaves just before really challenging parts. A huge plus! All I can say is don't let this game pass you by. I am a fan of shooters like Resistance, Halo, Call Of Duty franchise, and in my opinion Timeshift is just as worthy a shooter.

I checked the other reviews first before buying this game and wasn't sure what to expect. The beginning was okay but then the game opened up into a real good time. This isn't just a shooting game but a thought game at the same time. Learning to use the suits power to adjust time to proceed are fun. The weapons get better and better as the game progresses. I'm playing it for the second time and it's even better.

In short, I've never seen a game look better, run better, or play better on the PS3.
It runs with my DualShock 3? Rumble on the PS3? This has to be a first.
More? It has at least 22 hours of Single Play, some of the fastest multiplay, and the best framerates I've seen to date on this platform. What is interesting is that in a side-by-side, often folks seem to think the PS3 looks better than the Xbox 360. How often do you hear that?
Lastly, after hours and hours over the past couple of days on the highly configurable (over 40 choices for play-types, and settings) multiplayer ripping and playing well at both low and high pings?
I'm a fan. Thank you, TimeShift. There's finally a shooter (that works and works well) with PC Shooter pacing and console playability on the PS3. Happy Boy Here.

Let me start of by saying that we've played them all: Halo 1-3, Gears of War, Black, Call of Duty 1-4, Lost Planet, Doom 3, Resident Evil (all of them) Rainbow Six Las Vegas 1 and 2, and on and on. So it goes without saying that we are FPS shooter fans first and foremost, and are hard to please when it comes to this genre. Given the reviews of this game, we weren't expecting much, but thought, you never know. Well surprise, surprise, this really is a very good FPS...The storyline may be derivative of games like Half-Life, and is certainly not it's strong point. Nonetheless, the graphics are great, the weapons unique (the crossbow with exploding bolts in particular), and the environments great to get around in. The game really shines, however, with the ability to manipulate time. This is a feature that no other game that we have played really has, and it adds a cool dimension to the combat sequences. It's great to sneak up on an group of enemies, plant a grenade, sneak out without them noticing and then watch the whole lot of them blow up in real time. This feature also gives one the ability to destroy enemies in a variety of different ways over and over again, thus making what is essentially a linear game very multi-dimensional.

It may not be Halo or Gears of War, but few games are that caliber, that being said, it's a lot of fun and well worth the price.

A madman betrays his fellow scientists and steals a time-jumping super suit, leaving a timed explosive in his wake. In a last-ditch effort to save himself, one researcher jumps into the other prototype suit that they have and chases after him. What he finds is a world where the use of future technology has allowed said madman to become an unstoppable fascist dictator. That's the plot of Timeshift, a first person shooter for the PS3 that combines Half Life 2's dystopian future with Prince of Persia's time-changing abilities.

The main abilities in the game focus on the suit's time-warping, which can slow down, stop, or reverse time for short periods. Slowing time will increase your reflexes and agility, boosting your fighting ability. It also has a fairly long effect before it runs out of juice, so it's a good one to use during regular firefights. Stopping time has two different effects: one, it allows you to move among the enemy even less impeded than in slowed time, allowing you to literally grab the guns from their hands as they stand frozen in place. The other effect it has is on physics and the world; teetering boards that in other games would lower if you stood on them can be frozen in place and used as a solid walking platform, and water can be run across like solid ground. Reversing time is useful only in certain situations; unlike Prince of Persia, the player character is not moved by the reversing of time (so you can't pull yourself out of dangerous falls or whatever). What you can do, however, is undo damage done to, say, a bridge, so that you can cross before it gets destroyed again. You can also use it to free yourself from a sticky grenade that has caught onto you. The effects from these are pretty cool, and also tie into the health system (which regenerates over time); you can use time effects to surprise your enemies, run to cover, escape an ambush, or just plain beat up your foes. The time effects are definitely the best part of the game.

The FPS part of the game comes from the guns used by the player. However, they're almost all textbook weapons - pistol, rifle with grenade launcher, shotgun, sniper rifle, and so on. There's nothing particularly noteworthy in the field of firearms, and they're mostly there to give you something to shoot with when you freeze or slow time. The controls are weird and unintuitive, and they can't be changed except for a single button switch.

The graphics and sound in the game are nice, but not excellent. The sound especially is fairly mediocre, though there are some interesting enemy responses to your time-shifting ("He just appeared!" "What just happened?!?"). The characters are bulky and odd and don't seem natural for whatever reason. None of the designs are particularly good; all of them have the same "future trooper" motif.

As a whole, this game has one neat element and a lot more mediocre ones. If it had been more developed, then it would've been enough, but it doesn't feel like the inclusion of one cool thing is enough to carry the game.

5/10

Pros: Most advanced graphic system ever with heavily use of havok effects (water effects are gorgeous, deformations, explosions, particle systems etc), story is great - keeps you playing and playing and playing...

Cons: Frame-rate gets choppy when you wouldn't expect (some will say it runs smooth, I'll say you'll notice the difference when it drops from 60fps to 25fps in the middle of action)

I would recommend this to everyone, in fact I could safely say this is the best PS3 game I've played so far (this is the first PS3 game I finished as well).

This is just an AWESOME game...Sorry, did I say that already? I'm usually pretty TOUGH on game reviews, but TimeShift is just a shining example of what a GREAT PS3 GAME can truly achieve when ALL of the parts come together like they were meant to...BRAVO SIERRA (BS, no pun intended) for sticking to the plan and coming up with a VERY ENJOYABLE GAMING EXPERIENCE that I rate right up there with the likes of BIOSHOCK, RESISTANCE 1&2 and CALL OF DUTY 4. TimeShift is just as good as those games and perhaps even exceeds them in some respects...

It takes a little getting used to initially and until you get your time-warping super powers, it's purely a shoot-em up show. In a way I think this was probably BY DESIGN. First you get to go through the "normal" experience usually associated with a shooter...Then the developers take you to a "hole nother level" by giving you the power to pause, slow down or reverse time (your choice) to battle your way through the rest of the game. The result is clearly SUPERIOR GAMEPLAY when compared to the run of the mill shooter game...Just absolutely BRILLIANT!!

One of the things that still sticks out in my mind is TimeShift is the gift that keeps on giving. No less than 3 times I actually thought I was at the end of the game only to find there was MORE & MORE & MORE...How great is that? Usually games give up the ghost right when I'm getting good at them and wanting more...Not TimeShift. Finish this game and you'll really get your money's worth!

Want some specific reasons why this game is so much FUN?

1) You can carry more than one primary weapon (actually 3) and choose what you want to use when you need it. I still don't understand why some SHOOTER game developers stick to only ONE primary weapon...I mean, it IS a shooter game so give the player some things to shoot with why don't you?

2) The graphics are just plain out wicked GOOD! For example, there's a scene in the Munitions Factory when you're searching for the core and there are enemy soldiers being "manufactured", complete with LASERS being used in the process...It's just DAZZLING to stand there and watch. It's like being on a factory tour inside a video game! I appreciate such attention to detail when something like this could've just been glossed over. Again, BRAVO SIERRA!

3) The controls are just so natural and once you get used to the time shifting controls and how to use them in conjunction with your primary weapons, you are a force to be reckoned with! Unlike Kill Zone 2, these controls were well thought out and TESTED before this game went to market.

4) Not much else matters if gameplay sucks...But TimeShift just has EXTRAORDINARY GAMEPLAY overflowing! There are puzzles to break the monotony of just always shooting. The AI is pretty good ON BOTH SIDES...The enemies will take you out if you're sloppy and your buddies are pretty good at taking them out. This is really HOW IT SHOULD BE! There are BOSS battles that are pretty challenging. But like most games, if you choose the wrong weapon or wrong course of action, then you're DEAD MEAT. There's a variety of scenery, for example, going from New York City to Alaska. The voices are good and the storyline falls a couple of steps shy of "compelling"...But it's UNIQUE and easy enough to follow with help from the cut scenes. The music is really good and there's one song that sounds like it's straight off the Orange Box soundtrack. Ammo is PLENTIFUL and all of these things just come together so well in the finished product that you simply have to PLAY IT to BELIEVE IT!

Like I said before, I'm pretty tough on game reviews so I'll throw out a few slight flaws in TimeShift. First, once you acquire the Thunderbolt, you basically become UNTOUCHABLE for the rest of the game. Defeating enemies becomes almost mundane with this exploding crossbow weapon. You can't pin them to the wall like in Half-Life 2...But if you have Blood & Gore turned ON, then you can zoom in and watch your helpless victims literally EXPLODE right before your eyes...Including decapitations and limbs flying everywhere. Just a DEVASTATING WEAPON when used with your time shifting powers. Perhaps TOO devastating. But this is really a minor "flaw", since you'll actually need this weapon's full power in some battles.

Obviously I'm having trouble finding true flaws with this game. But there were 2 glitches that did occur. Twice the sound went out approx 25% through the game. Easy enough to save and reboot the PS3, but a glitch nonetheless. Near the end I also received a couple of messages indicating my hard drive was FULL and there was a problem "saving user data"...Well, my hard drive wasn't full and the data was saved anyway. But those inconveniences are in no way "deal breakers" and they went away as quickly as they appeared. Near the end some weird stuff happened that I guess was by design. The cut scenes were like "flashbacks" that were quick and odd. Also, you'd sometimes "wake up" and be doing something like manning a gun in the middle of a high speed pursuit...But there's not much time to question why since you'd soon get your head blown off.

I'm just AMAZED that TimeShift has sort of slipped under the radar when it is such a COMPLETE GAME! So, if you love shooters, then do yourself a solid one and get TimeShift...You'll thank yourself later, or maybe earlier if you reverse time!

Okay, why did I give it 4 stars? The game actually deserves 5, but the storyline video clips throughout the game make no sense at all. They're like 4 seconds long and they actually throw off the gameplay.
Now, the good points. Graphics are great, and the enemie's AI (in Elite mode) is outstanding. You're not going to find the foes just standing around stupidly while you shoot them dead. They take cover, ambush you, and literally do anything they can to bring you down. If it wasn't for the time slowdown feature, it would be an impossible game to finish. Even with the slowdowns its kind of tricky, since they run out pretty quickly.

The weapons are nice, specially the crossbow explosive, the bloodhound and the hell fire. Certain enemies will only be brought down with certain weapons, so you have to choose wisely.

Overall, a worthy game to play.

And a plus, you get to watch the foes blow up in pieces in slow mo, all the way to the ceiling.

Well, after playing this game for a few hours, I have mixed feelings about the game. First, I must say, I tend to like it a bit better than Resistance: Fall Of Man, mainly because it's a bit different with the overall features. You wear this nifty Time-Shifting type of suit that can enable you to manipulate time. Which, is a really cool idea, and it can be quite fun blasting bad guys when you're using these features. A LOT OF FUN!

The graphics are awesome, it's really fast-paced, and is a blast to play.

BUT, after some time of playing, I got a bit bored with it. Simply because it's constant shooting...shooting....and more shooting...which normally I wouldn't mind, but, I would like some other challenges, or other things to do besides just shooting, shooting, shooting, and dodging ballistic missiles & projectiles. Maybe that's what I'm not crazy about...I guess I like games a bit more on the slower-side. Things in this game get a bit to crazy, and hectic all at the same time, and sometimes you just don't know what to do, where to go, or what's going on, and 2 seconds later you're dead!

I love SHOOTER-TYPE GAMES, but, I like them a bit slower, and with other kinds of challenges....What I mean by this is: In other Shooter type games (ala: Sniper Elite, or SOCOM series of games)...While they are all shooter games, you have to incorporate stealth, and other means of combat, to complete missions. I guess I like that stuff more than your more traditional kind of shooter game.

I guess I just get bored shooting the same thing over & over again... :) I guess I'd like to see more of that kind of thing in other shooter games.

Conclusion: Don't take this review the wrong way....I really dig this game, and I think the replay value will hold up for me, I do however, appreciate other elements in a game to make a game more interesting.

But, overall, on a scale from 1-10, I'd probably give it a solid "7".

Here we go, another kinda-futuristic shooter. That's not bad, because I love futuristic shooters, but Timeshift is basically run-of-the-mill.

It definitely has its strong points. You can save anywhere (why doesn't everyone do this?????), there's no frame rate problems, graphics and enemy AI are very nice, and the craft design is especially good. I love the future-past blimps. Weapons also work well and are mostly appropriate, although it often takes half a clip to kill someone if it isn't a head shot.

The time shifting, the game's big selling point, is pretty cool. I wish the "stop" function lasted as long as the "slow" function, but you can't have everything. The fighting situations encourage you to use them, too. Often enemies are way off, and you don't get a sniper rifle until later (and when you do it's best to ditch it soon after the initial use is over for something more appropriate to what's coming), so your best bet is to slow or stop time and move to closer cover. Not bad, but I like to hang back and take them out from a distance. And playing with time is nothing new, so that hook for this game doesn't dig too deep (ugh, sorry for the bad analogy).

Luckily, the "crossbow" gun (no, not arrows, just the way it looks), is especially cool. It has a zoom scope and fires explosive pellets. The moment I got it I kept one on hand the entire rest of the game. It makes the conventional sniper rifle almost completely unnecessary.

Otherwise, though, there's nothing really new or special in the gameplay. The controls are bizarre at first, too. There's certainly nothing bad about Timeshift, it just doesn't advance the genre in any way. It's a very well done but unremarkable shooter and little more. If you just plain like shooters, it's worth having. If you're looking for something to really impress, this isn't it. In it's defense, a thought just occurred to me, though. Just how many more ideas for a first-person shooter are there? Maybe I'm expecting too much......