With all of the recent talk of time bending shooters, thanks to Project Origin finally hitting shelves and Singularity being on the way, I thought it would be worthwhile to take TimeShift for another spin.

This time manipulating FPS was developed by Saber Interactive and saw a release in late 2007: Right around the time when most shooter fanatics were occupied with Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4. As you would expect, it wasn’t very high on the priority list for most gamers, and sadly, the game was overlooked by many.

While it’s quite a few yards off from being one of the best FPS experiences on this generation of consoles, I tend to think that most fans of the genre would definitely get some enjoyment out of this title. It was criticized for not offering much of a story, but in my opinion, it doesn’t need an overly intricate plot. The fun comes from mindlessly blasting away at legions of enemies in slow motion, so at least in this case, an in depth story isn’t really necessary. TimeShift is more about what you’re doing, rather than why you’re doing it.

You’re given the basic premise, though: Scientist Dr. Aiden Krone develops “The Alpha Suit” and uses it to travel back in time in order to put his advanced technology to good use by taking over the world, in a very Hitler-esque manner. His actions will alter the course of history. Bad news. Good thing he left behind another time-traveling suit that you can use to go after him. You don the conveniently available second “Beta Suit” and use it to pursue Krone. You’re henceforth known as “The Suit Guy” and your mission is to eliminate Krone and correct the course of history.

And that’s about all you get as far as story is concerned. There isn’t much of a narrative going on at all throughout the game, and what few cinematics there are don’t offer much information to progress the story. But this is alright in my opinion. Not every game requires a back story as intricate as Halo, and TimeShift’s lack of narrative allows you to jump right into the main attractions (such as shootin’ and time-bendin’) with little interruption.

As far as the campaign is concerned, it delivers a solid time. The alternate reality presented in TimeShift is bleak, yet engrossing, thanks to the beautiful visuals and excellent sound. It seems for the most part to be yet another “generic shooter” and this is true in many ways. It doesn’t really bring anything overly unique to the table, but it does what it does well. This of course, is providing some satisfying FPS gameplay where you can manipulate time.

Our hero, The Suit Guy, is able to slow down, stop and rewind time. You’ll use these abilities in a variety of ways to mow down enemies and solve puzzles. Albeit repetitive, the format can be fairly addicting. Especially when you use your time powers in a creative manner to torment your foes. For example, you can stop time, attach a clutch grenade to a solider and start time again to watch him writhe in confusion before he messily explodes (complete with some old school giblet effects). Or you can steal his weapon after stopping time so you can get really sadistic with your now unarmed and defenseless foe. And of course, nothing beats blasting away at advancing soldiers in slow-mo… especially because the game is so gory. Blood splattering on the screen is always a nice touch.

If you’re looking for a solid, fun, and somewhat mindless shooter, look no further and give TimeShift a shot if you missed it when it first arrived. Although it didn’t receive much critical acclaim, most FPS fanatics agree that it delivers a very satisfying time. You’ll really enjoy the final boss battle as well, where you take on a giant sentinel manned by Krone, that can best be described as a Scarab on steroids. It’s extremely rewarding to take it down.

My only minor complaint about the game is its repetitiveness. TimeShift is a classic example of game that offers thirty minutes of gameplay, repeated for ten hours. But it will be a fun ten hours at least. Additionally, some players may find the puzzle solving via their time powers to be tedious at times, especially when re-playing sections.

Minor gripes aside, TimeShift is an experience that shouldn’t be missed by fans of the genre, and is absolutely worth a peak if you’ve never played. It only costs around twenty bones new, so it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add this one to your FPS collection.