I picked up the PC version at a flea market recently for $24 which I thought was a good deal especially given how much fun I had on the xbox 360 demo of it. The story in summery is an evil scientist went back in time and took over the world. According to your suit (also time travel capable) the year was 1939 which made me laugh and immediately take the story less seriously. I had no idea it would become an alternate World War 2. But given the weapons and mechs I figured I'd try to live with it.
Now onto the games main selling point and that is your ability to alter the flow of time. You can slow, stop, or rewind time at almost any point (rewind being limited in some areas) and you are limited in duration by a small meter just above the time power in the upper left corner of your hud.
Stop time and then take an enemies gun. It's a brilliant gameplay mechanic though it's mostly just for fun. The enemy will still try to go for any weapon lying around though but provided there isn't one he's just become helpless. These soldiers are not without vehicle support though, the toughest being an old gaming nemesis, the mech.
Unkillable early in the game and with very impressive firepower.
Graphics are impressive except in the city levels the distant city looks horrible, even reminding me of the city in Doom 2, Hell on Earth.
Seriously, a 2D city for a game that was released in 2007? What the fuck is this, Haze?
An interesting note on stopping time. Things will take damage but not react to it till time resumes. For example, as you can see this gentleman has taken a few rounds in the face. He stood completely still, even after I put some lead into his skull. The instant time resumed however the force of all the bullets hit him at once, propelling him though the air with delightful ragdoll physics.
Everything in the game will freeze when you freeze time such as the bullet seen here. Water also becomes solid because all molecules are held in place. This is proven most useful when the water is electrified.
Later on in the game you get to ride a zepplin which as soon as I saw the minefieled in front of us I named the Hindenburg. This is a simple turret section where you face rocket propelled mines and fighters and yet it's also a blast because you can still use your time bending powers.
As you progress through the game you will encounter a massive mech which I have no idea of the capabilities of aside from it's immensely destructive main gun mounted on its belly.
In two words, holy shit.
At times you do get to work with squadmates though as I learned in one level where I was with two of them they can be far too easily killed. Later in the game I became glad to not have them as they'd be slaughtered by enemies which are immune to your ability to slow time and they move at twice the speed of normal enemies.
Also on the easiest setting you will still get killed at a rate higher then I was expecting. Part of it is the way your time powers end up becoming quicktime events ("Concealed threat detected" was heard just before a train came out of a tunnel and I didn't stop time fast enough [Press F to not die]). No, stop, before you even say it I am not a noob, I've been gaming for as long as I can remember and have played plenty of first person shooters over the course of my life (the orignal doom games, Doom 3, Crysis and it's expansion, Far Cry Instincts, Far Cry 2, Unreal Tournament [including 2004, and UT3], Quake 2 and 4, and all that's just off the top of my head).
Anyway I haven't quite beaten it yet but it's a nice break from all the FPS games that are either modern war or fuck forbid world war 2 and it's time shifting abilities are really used to the fullest. I got it for $24 but I'm sure you can find it for $20 for the xbox 360 and for the money you get 24 missions each of a fairly good length and I'd say it's well worth the money.
Now onto the games main selling point and that is your ability to alter the flow of time. You can slow, stop, or rewind time at almost any point (rewind being limited in some areas) and you are limited in duration by a small meter just above the time power in the upper left corner of your hud.
Graphics are impressive except in the city levels the distant city looks horrible, even reminding me of the city in Doom 2, Hell on Earth.
An interesting note on stopping time. Things will take damage but not react to it till time resumes. For example, as you can see this gentleman has taken a few rounds in the face. He stood completely still, even after I put some lead into his skull. The instant time resumed however the force of all the bullets hit him at once, propelling him though the air with delightful ragdoll physics.
In two words, holy shit.
At times you do get to work with squadmates though as I learned in one level where I was with two of them they can be far too easily killed. Later in the game I became glad to not have them as they'd be slaughtered by enemies which are immune to your ability to slow time and they move at twice the speed of normal enemies.
Also on the easiest setting you will still get killed at a rate higher then I was expecting. Part of it is the way your time powers end up becoming quicktime events ("Concealed threat detected" was heard just before a train came out of a tunnel and I didn't stop time fast enough [Press F to not die]). No, stop, before you even say it I am not a noob, I've been gaming for as long as I can remember and have played plenty of first person shooters over the course of my life (the orignal doom games, Doom 3, Crysis and it's expansion, Far Cry Instincts, Far Cry 2, Unreal Tournament [including 2004, and UT3], Quake 2 and 4, and all that's just off the top of my head).
Anyway I haven't quite beaten it yet but it's a nice break from all the FPS games that are either modern war or fuck forbid world war 2 and it's time shifting abilities are really used to the fullest. I got it for $24 but I'm sure you can find it for $20 for the xbox 360 and for the money you get 24 missions each of a fairly good length and I'd say it's well worth the money.
