TimeShift (Windows)

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Description

In the nearby future scientists develop a so-called Quantum suit that allows the carrier to travel through time. Two prototypes called Alpha and Betasuit are ready for testing when Aiden Krone enters the lab, steals the Alphasuit and makes a time-jump before he blows up the building. Luckily you were there and had the chance to jump into the Betasuit and activate the time travel before the building was destroyed. But it took the suit a second too long to jump so the explosion hit it and your jump didn't go as planned. When you wake up in an alley in the future you quickly realize that Krone has already declared himself leader of the world and transformed it into a totalitarian state with him as the dictator. Shortly after waking up, you are found by some rebels and you join their task in order to stop Krone and fix the timeline since your suit was too badly damaged by the blast.

Fight your way through hordes of enemies with futuristic, but also conventional weapons like pistols or shotguns. Your suit isn't rendered totally useless. It still allows you to slow down, rewind and forward time for a short period. This not only allows you to overcome obstacles like fire but you can also trick your enemies. Players can slow down the time and then steal the weapon out of the hand of an enemy - if he hasn't a too strong grip on it. This feature is also used for small time-related puzzles.

There are notable differences with the time manipulation element from the Prince of Persia series. Manipulating the time won't affect yourself and when you are too badly wounded and die, you can't just rewind. You remain dead and have to reload. The game also doesn't feature medipacks. Instead the hero just needs to rest for a second if he is wounded and will then be fully healed again.

Manipulating time is also part of the multiplayer-experience. Besides the normal game-modes Deathmatch, Team-Deathmatch, One-on-One and Capture the flag, the game also features King of Time and Meltdown Madness.

In King of Time there's a Time Sphere in the center of the map which makes you impervious to all time effects. To win the game you need to rack up kills while you have the item. Meltdown Madness instead requires of you to throw Chrono Grenades at the opposing team's machine to prevent it from functioning. Once a machine of a team has completed his countdown, that team wins.

The Chrono Grenades are also part of all the other game modes in addition to the Time Shield and the Time Resistance power-up. While the Chrono Grenades come in the three flavors and slow down, forward or rewind time in the area of the blast. The Time Shield not only makes you immune to time manipulation but also slows down every foreign object in a specific area which is good for dodging enemy fire. The Time Resistance power-up grants immunity against all time effects for a short period of time.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Chronos" -- Development title

Part of the Following Groups

• 3D Engine: Saber3D
• BPjS / BPjM indexed games
• Covermount: Fullgames
• Gameplay feature: Time Manipulation
• Physics Engine: Havok
• Theme: Steampunk
• Theme: Time Manipulation

User Reviews

By the book FPS, move along	MichaelPalin (1420)
A Solid shooter, worth playing. [Rew. <<] . . worth playing, but is a bit of a missed opportunity.	Nick Drew (412)
Sweet shooter with a hint of puzzling	SifouNaS (1326)

Critic Reviews

4Players.de	Nov 01, 2007	82 out of 100	82
Computer Bild Spiele	Dec 05, 2007	1.96 out of 6	81
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Nov 14, 2007		80
Gameplanet	Dec 19, 2007		80
Gamernode	Nov 04, 2007	7.5 out of 10	75
Gaming Target	Jun 24, 2008	7.2 out of 10	72
UOL Jogos	Dec 20, 2007		70
Hry Sme	Dec 18, 2007	6.9 out of 10	69
ActionTrip	Nov 12, 2007	61 out of 100	61
Thunderbolt Games	Jan 19, 2008	5 out of 10	50

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Trivia

German version

There are a number of changes in the German version:

• All blood and gore effects were removed.
• Corpses disappear faster.
• Ragdoll effects on corpses were removed.
• Enemies and corpses can't be set on fire.
• Some script sequences were removed, e.g. the execution of an ally in the second level.

A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Platforms

Initially, TimeShift was in development for Windows, with Xbox and Xbox 360 versions announced soon after. The Xbox version was eventually cancelled, as the developers wanted to fully concentrate on the new generation of consoles. Instead, development on a PlayStation 3 version was started.

Publisher

The game was originally going to be published by Atari, but the publishing rights went to Sierra on April 20, 2006. Information was scarce, and the project seemed to be cancelled until April 10, 2007, when the publisher announced the game was given a complete overhaul. The most notable change was a complete re-imagining of visual style, moving away from a steampunk theme.

Related Web Sites

• Wikipedia: TimeShift (Article in the open encyclopedia)
• X360A achievement guide (X360A's achievement guide for Timeshift.)