In terms of gameplay, gamers can manipulate time in various ways. You are presented with a combat suit that has the capability to reverse, stop, and slow time (ala Max Payne, FEAR, and Stranglehold) altogether. When players strive to alter time, they are shown a meter at the top right corner of the screen. This meter signifies how long they can adjust time. After the meter depletes, you are unable to utilize the time abilities. Waiting for the meter to replenish is the best course of action at that point in time (no pun intended). Gamers can accomplish all sorts of tricks with that handy suit. For example, slowing down time will make an adversary as immobile as a cow. As the game is in slow motion, you can pilfer weapons from opponents with ease or simply shoot at them. Furthermore, you can use the slow motion effect to perform evasive maneuvers such as dodge incoming enemy fire. When the game slows down, foes that are equipped with jetpacks are drastically less arduous to defeat. For instance, a missile can be blown up with a grandiose explosion without too much trouble. Things are just plain more gratifying to watch when they are broken down frame by frame. The enemy artificial intelligence is challenging. They will go from cover to cover, and they will do their best in flanking you (ala Gears of War).
The precociousness of the opponents themselves are somewhat offset by the time skills you possess. A great junk of the gameplay entails you to activate a time power and pulverize foes in the game with ammunition. In a nutshell, this is intrinsically a rinse and repeat gameplay tactic that suppresses the difficulty in the game. Once the time meter is exhausted, you can just wait for the meter to refill within four or five seconds. The other two attributes in the game about stopping and rewinding time are primarily used for light puzzle solving. One puzzle might require you to stop time in order get to a specific location. Another puzzle will have you rewind time to ascend on an elevator. The puzzles are rudimentary and can be completed with little to no effort. I felt like the puzzles were just like an afterthought the game developers decided to put together for no apparent reason. Integrating time powers to resolve puzzles seemed fine, but none of the puzzles are ludicrous. There is no logical explanation as to why there are puzzles in this video game at all.
The gameplay is not the best among first person shooters; however, I thought it was still engrossing. The graphics in the game are brilliant. Visually, the soldier models are represented in a fairly realistic manner. There is an amazing amount of attention to detail with the physics and blood in the game. Moreover, the online multiplayer is unique enough too keep players interested. In total, there are 14 playable maps. The online multiplayer plays differently from the single player mode. There are time grenades that replace the time meter in the top left corner of the screen. This adds some depth to the gameplay. Overall, TimeShift is a game that is not necessarily the best nor most original first person shooter. Nonetheless, the game does have its moments.
