TimeShift Preview: Introduction

Mariyana Vasileva March 19, 2008

In every generation of FPS games there are titles like Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and Crysis, which push the envelope and set the standards. I will admit that the good graphics, the difficult missions and the exciting action of these games spoiled me. Unfortunately, by definition, not every game can be new standard. This is not the first project of the company Saber Interactive (published by Sierra) but it is the first one that I know first hand. Shortly before the release of the PC demo, I watched the official trailer and first thing that came to my mind was: „This is the new Half-Life 2“. But with different plot, better graphics, and more life-like physics. Well, not really. The graphics are not better than HL2 but they are comparable. The physics is on good level and the objects react and interact with each other realistically. However the year of the game release is 2007 and not 2004 so this is not saying much. At least the plot sounds very intriguing.

A group of people from the future are working on a project for a time machine. In the process of the development, they created two suits: Alpha and Beta. One day, Dr. Aiden Krone (the project leader) wears the Alpha suit and undertakes a travel somewhere in the past. He is not coming back in the designated time and you get the Beta suit and go to the same time to look for him. The year is 1939 and the place is called Alpha District. Soon you will find out that the good doctor has turned into a villain.

The concept a high-tech suits is also used in Crysis. In TimeShift however, these suits are major gameplay concept and their functionality is completely different and original. The Alpha suit is a prototype and is somewhat limited. The beta suit have timeshifting abilities and an integrated artificial intelligence. The protagonist (using his or her Beta suit), can pass through the space-time continuum. The suit's display provides readouts of all weaponry and equipment, displays the surrounding areas and the player's current status. On-screen text alerts are informing for changing battlefield conditions. Other options of the suit are base-level diagnostics such as body temperature, heart rate and brainwave activity. The Strategic System for Adaptable Metacognition (S.S.A.M.) of the beta suit provides instant tactical aid, updates of the current objective, and medical enhancements to increase reflexes and awareness. The suit's Auto-Return function can be activated when the player wants to go back to the original time stream. Unfortunately, the single-player demo does not show completely these functions. It can stop, rewind, fast forward or slow the time (while you can move with your ordinary speed outside the normal time) but all these options are limited in duration.

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