Time Recoil (PlayStation 4) Review

The year is 1987, and although things should be fine, they're not. An evil madman named Dr. Time has plunged Europe into darkness after he uses his time manipulation device to destroy Paris, allowing him to rule the continent with an iron fist. Fortunately, the resistance has received help in the form of a scientist who was once a colleague of Dr. Time, before he went mad with power. She has the ability to move through time without suffering from any of the alterations made, so the resistance uses her as a means to gather equipment, kill people tied to Dr. Time, and more, so that the resistance can fight back against the evil genius.

With this set-up in hand, Time Recoil reveals itself to be a fun yet challenging top-down shooter. Each stage will see the player guiding the heroine through different years in the past to find a way to stop Dr. Time. From the opening level, the gameplay explores its core concept of using time to one-up the opposition; whenever an enemy is killed, time slows down for a few seconds, allowing the protagonist to weave in and out of gunfire. As the stages progress, new abilities will be unlocked that can be activated once a certain number of kills has been reached.

Two kills let the player use a dash that can break through weak walls and instantly destroy most enemies caught in the crossfire. Four kills activate a more powerful dash that can damage additional opponents. Six kills let her unleash an energy blast, and getting eight stops time; when this happens, enemies can't move and bullets shot will stay in place until things resume. It's very satisfying whenever one is able to use these powers, but they're handled in a way that makes the game not just a shooter, but also a puzzle game.

Indeed, while there are a multitude of guns that can be used, including handguns, submachine guns, and armour-piercing assault rifles, among others, ammunition is at a premium, meaning until more bullets are discovered or a new weapon is obtained, death will be quick. Looking for explosives and utilizing the abilities smartly will make completing the stages a whole lot easier. Speaking of which, there are objectives that have to be accomplished in each level, and these generally involve killing certain targets, obtaining important intel, or rescuing people of interest.

While the act of slow-motion killing never gets old, what does get tiresome is the limited number of environments. Almost all of the game is set within office facilities that all feel the same and, visually, look quite bland. Technically speaking, the game looks fine, with the visual effects for explosions and bad guys getting shot being quite vibrant and gruesome. With that said, the character models look basic and are too limited in variation.