TimeShift Preview: Continued

The game uses the well-known Havok physics engine for this game. Havok is widely used in many great games like Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, Halo 3, BioShock. Besides Havok includes the so-called ragdoll physics. It simulates a set of rigid bodies, connected together. It can be used to simulate the realistic movements of many composite objects in the game. Take for example the bodies of the computer characters. There is a set of restrictions that defines the bones relative movement toward each other, which makes the simulation nearly perfect. For example, when a dead body collapses on the ground, the muscles are relaxed and the possible movements are more than when the computer character is alive. Of course, this technology have its priorities and shortcomings. In the end, in th TimeShift the objects behavior corresponds almost exactly to the these in the real world. The people (it can be seen even better with activated time slow option) jump in different directions, squat, move, shoot and turn over into the air with motions that we come to expect only from the movies.

Saber uses custom 3D engine to form the appearance of all objects in this game. The light and shadow effects are on good level. The weather effects are mixed bag: the lighting flashes are really good but the rain seems slightly disappointing. In the distance you can see tall buildings on fire but they lack perspective and look like 2D representations. From a short distance objects as tables, walls, staircases, bars, armchairs, cabinets, beds and others seem acceptable. And yet sometimes the sensation of 2D about some items can not be ignored. The complexity of objects and their behavior are not very high and their variety leaves more to be desired.

In the demo, the giant headless robots make biggest impression from the mobile targets. They appear three times and shoot with missiles from a distance. At first it seems strange to have robots in 1939 but emerying is possible in SciFi (as long as it has logical explanation). Most probably they has been teleported by the evil doctor.

Almost all AI characters wear helmets and uniforms, and they seem like twins. The city, where the player gets into the beginning, is compound from half-demolished and burning constructions. On the streets there are dead bodies and debris. And the rooms look like as if a tornado has passed. The idea for deserted, abandoned, and chaotic cities is so overused in the modern games that it is hard to come up with a game without this element. FPS games like F.E.A.R., Half Life 2, Doom 3, BioShock, Stalker and others use this type of “infrastructure” as a stage. Another striking similarity between Half-Life 2 and TimeShift is the face of the antagonist appearing from many TV screens. Even the title of the villain is the same: Dr. Breen in Half Life 2, and Dr. Krone in TimeShift.

The game's expectations were high because the game release was delayed for a long time. In 2006, Sierra Entertainment acquired the rights for TimeShift distribution and it looked like the game will be released very soon. Then the game delayed once again and a lot of people at that time were not sure whether it will appear on the market at all. A year later Sierra announced that the time is spent on fixing bugs, improving graphics, and making changes in the game script.

TimeShift Preview: Introduction	Page 2 of 3	TimeShift Preview: Conclusion and Game Summary