Timeshift

When Sierra took the responsibility to publish Timeshift they realised that along with their other FPS titles, there would be great anticipation and pressure to deliver. Developer, Saber Interactive, who have previously never worked with Sierra and have only one notable game to date for all you collectors out there, base their studios in St. Petersburg, Russia and Timeshift aimed to not only strengthen Sierra’s portfolio, but place the Russian prospects on the map.

Timeshift in short is a masterpiece. The environments are superb, the weapons are extremely varied and best of all the time control innovation proves so effective in what are 24 levels juicing with mass militias. The entry level sees you in an outside environment with beautiful visuals of storming rain creating an immersive atmosphere, throughout is fantastic lighting and at times you are breath taken by the long distance surroundings leaving the whole game a joy to spectate. Enemies are ruthless and accurate as they take up strong positions to shoot from distance, where CQC often seems them attacking in great numbers. To overcome their dominance you have to manipulate the Beta suit aka ‘time control’. The Beta suit is an immense advantage, unique and enthralling as it possesses three functions: ‘pause’, ‘slow’, ‘rewind’, each of which has a different time duration making it very challenging and choice-vital. One essential part of Timeshift is ‘Undisputed Airspace’, a level where you control the 360 turrets of the Zepplin, completely impossible without the ability of time manipulation due to the huge bombardments of air mines and bombers. This can leave you in awe as the break from ground to air activity overshadows the similarities found in GRAW2 or COD4 respectively. Timeshift is a nostalgic, gripping, linear FPS that captivates you from the beginning. It is an essential purchase for veterans in the field who will instantly write home about weapon feel and enemy numbers. Online, it is powered by GameSpy and lag is barely an issue, it’s an enjoyable, fast paced experience pleasing for Unreal followers. If you aren’t afraid to test your capabilities (and even if you are, just play it in Easy) and you want to revisit the greatest days of campaign mode FPSs with immaculate graphics then look no further than Timeshift.