Written by: Alex

 

 

 

Shoot um ups are slowly eating their own tail and becoming increasingly niche. With the ever-increasing need to differentiate themselves from the morass of series in this fan reliant genre new mechanics and gimmicks are needed to spice up the tried and tested formula of fly to the left and shoot.

 

Brightside Games new offering "Zeit²" does just that. Offering control over the flow of time Zeit² manages to add enough of a twist to make it stand out from its piers, though at times the visuals and variety fail to make the most of this innovation.

 

 

As far back as Space Invaders shoot um ups have had a loose, unnecessary, story to frame the action around them. Be it just a few throw away lines, or simply the setting that whizzes past the ship; there is some implied purpose to the action. Zeit² does away with any such pretence, relying instead on the promise of gameplay and scores to encourage play.

 

 

The absence of a story takes away nothing from the game itself, but does make the experience feel a little odd, especially when experienced in conjunction with the barren environments of the world that leaves an empty feel to events with no sense of place. It's a strange feeling that at times steels the drive to progress in the absence of friends populating the leader board.

 

 

Lack of story aside Zeit² brings a lot to the table. Numerous mechanics litter the game layered on top of the usual avoid/shoot gameplay of similar titles. Most striking among these is the time manipulation, which allows time to be fast forwarded or reversed using the trigger buttons. While the forward power is primarily used just to amass extra points (scores are higher when time is accelerated) the reverse ability introduces a great deal more and is essential to successfully navigate the game.

 

 

A blue shield constantly surrounds the small glowing object that is Zeit²’s main craft. This shield expands or shrinks the more energy is amassed or damage is taken respectively. Killing enemies and collectible health gathers more energy, but being hit or (and this is key) allowing opposition craft to pass reduces it. Thus it quickly becomes essential to master reversing time to drag back on to the screen any enemies who have slipped passed attacks to prevent them draining energy.

 

To compound the difficulty of mastering this mechanic there are other craft that are only vulnerable when time reversed as well as special shots that function in conjunction with the echo of past ships which remain after time is rewound.