Home

News

Reviews

Games

Hardware

Downloads

TimeShift

User Rating:

ESRB: Blood and Gore,Intense Violence,Language - Mild
Publisher: Sierra
Genre(s): Shooting
Home Page: http://www.timeshiftgame.com/

Game index

System Requirements

Review

Preview

Screenshots

Downloads

By: Antti Summala Jan 15, 2008

Final Words

This on-rails Zeppelin ride is pretty hectic, so don't forget to use your time powers

Timeshift proves that you don't have to be terribly original to make an enjoyable game. The only thing that the game tries to do differently from Max Payne, F.E.A.R. or Stranglehold is that it presents time manipulation as a central plot element, not just a cool gameplay mechanic. It doesn't quite pull it off, as you only end up using your powers for combat and rather menial tasks. For all the talk of four dimensions, TimeShift's single player campaign only really has one: its plot is completely linear.

You can decide whether to fight certain enemies or run past them, but that's about all choice the game affords you. However, the game grows on you if you stick with it past the first mission: even though combat is repetitive, the game rewards the player with enough new beautiful environments, puzzles, enemies and weapons to keep interest up throughout a fairly lengthy game.

Because TimeShift's multiplayer hasn't yet gathered the critical mass to provide a fun and easily available online gaming session, the game's value is in its single player campaign. If you're fond of Half-Life 2's fighting rather than its story elements, love Bullet Time and would like nothing better than to tear a Gothic building to pieces with machine gun fire, TimeShift won't disappoint.

Summary of YouGamers Hardware Testing

The publisher of this game state the following specifications for their minimum and recommended requirements:

Component	Publisher's Minimum	Publisher's Recommended
Processor	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or AMD equivalent	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ / Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Memory	1 GB	2 GB
Graphics Card	ATI Radeon X700 / NVIDIA GeForce 6600	NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB or equivalent
Graphics Card Example	Not specified	Not specified
Free Disk Space	8 GB free space	8 GB free space
Net Link	Broadband for multiplayer	Broadband for multiplayer

To learn more about how YouGamers performs its hardware testing, click here. Through our extensive gameplay and hardware testing across the full spectrum of PC configurations, YouGamers suggests that one should use the following guidelines for an appropriate minimum and recommended setup:

Component	YouGamers Minimum	YouGamers Recommended
Processor	AMD Athlon 64 3800+ / Intel Pentium 4 540	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ / Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Memory	1 GB	2 GB
Graphics Card	ATI Radeon X1650 256MB / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB	ATI Radeon X1950 256MB / NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT 256MB
Free Disk Space	8 GB	8 GB
Net Link	Broadband	Broadband

Scores

To learn more about our scoring methodology, please click here.

Gameplay	77	TimeShift takes a bunch of good old ideas and puts them in a decently polished package that'll keep you occupied for a few nights. Lack of dedicated servers and, currently, players sinks the multiplayer.
Graphics	84	Even though the graphics were supposedly redesigned from scratch, TimeShift retains many of the Steam Punk stylings of the original concept art. Lots of variety and impressive shader effects make it a treat for the eyes, although some cutscene animations are clunky and over the top.
Audio	79	The game's music and voice acting are never intrusive, and sound effects are generally good quality. It's hard to tell where unseen enemies are by sound alone - you'll have to use the radar instead.
Technology	81	TimeShift's proprietary 3D engine supports all of the important DX9 features, and the game is technically solid overall. It also scales fairly well over different hardware configurations.

OVERALL

TimeShift is a bag of old tricks that won't surprise the audience but will entertain them. It's also an encouraging example to game developers (or anyone else for that matter) struggling with a delayed, seemingly hopeless project. Good job pulling it off, Saber!

If you wish to comment on this review or talk about the game further, then click right here (registration not required).