Timeshift is a game that has one of the most unusual roads to completion for any game in recent memory. It was first announced in late 2004 by developer Saber Interactive and publisher Atari and it was almost ready for release in spring of 2006 (an early demo for the PC and Xbox was even released around that time). Then Atari, looking for some extra cash, sold off the rights to Timeshift to Vivendi Games. The game was then set for release in the fall of 2006 but at the last minute an edict came down from Vivendi management; the game just wasn't coming along well. At E3 last week we got a chance to check out the revamped version of Timeshift for the first time which is now schedule for release for fall 2007, nearly three years after it was first announced.

As explained by the game's producer during our demo he was given a chance to work with Saber Interactive to make Timeshift better with a year's worth of extra development time. The decision was made to ditch the game's storyline, the art style, the Hollywood actors who had already handled voice work for the previous version (including Dennis Quaid and Michael Ironside) and almost everything else from the original version. The new Timeshift still retains the time bending aspects, however. Your character gets into a suit that can stop, slow or reverse time in order to go after another person who has his own timesuit. Our E3 demo showcased a level where the bad guy has already used it to alter time and create an alternate timeline.

The timeshifting powers are quite handy to have. Stopping time for a few seconds allows you to shoot several enemies at once and watch them fall dead to the ground once you go back to normal time or even steal a weapon from a enemy's hands and watch him stare in amazement and bewilderment when he notices the gun disappear in his eyes. Slowing down time allows you to recover health (your time is normal when this happens. Reversing time is helpful for some of the game's puzzles. At one point in our demo we saw a corridor that was bombed out but we needed to get to the other side. Reversing time allowed us to go back to before the bombing took place and allowed us to get to where we needed to go when we went back to normal time.

You don't just have your timeshifting powers; you will also have a number of manual weapons including the typical assault rifle, shotgun, grenades and a sniper firing crossbow. You will need them since the enemy AI we saw in our E3 demo was pretty darn good at hiding out and shooting instead of the typical run and gun style. Timeshift uses Saber Interactive's own graphics engine and the demo impressed us greatly with some pretty advanced visuals, including impressive rain and water effects, per pixel damage to environments and more. While we didn't see multiplayer during the demo we were told the time shifting effects will be there in the form of "time grenades" that will allow you to throw and create bubbles in time that players can get trapped in. You will be able to slow, reverse or stop time in these bubbles and any people or weapons in that sphere of influence can be affected. It should make for some very original frag fests.

Right now Timeshift is looking great and playing great. While other games (particularly the Price of Persia series) have used time as a gameplay aspect before it looks like Timeshift will use that theme in new and unexpected ways. It doesn't hurt that the game is one of the best looking first person shooters of 2007. Look for more info and hopefully more hands-on time with the game before its October 2007 release date.

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