Time Recoil Review

“Kill to slow time!”

Pop goes a soldier,
Slow goes the time,
Pop goes another,
Slower goes the time.

Written by an anonymous person, in 1281, just before being diagnosed with schizophreniawitchcraft and burnt at the stake. He was mumbling about a “woman from another time”.

10tons Studios is very busy these days, it seems. Time Recoil, Tesla vs. Lovecraft, Neon Chrome, Jydge… More than we’ve ever hoped for. We wanted more Crimsonland, and surely more Crimsonland we have now. IT’S TWIN-STICK SHOOTER PARTY BABY! I can finally stop playing Crimsonland for the bazillionth time, because all of the above titles offer the same chaos, yet with unique gameplay mechanics. And I think Time Recoil is my favorite, even if Tesla vs. Lovecraft has Shoggoths and Tesla coils in it.

Time Recoil is, as we’ve stated above, is a twin-stick shooter with a unique gameplay mechanic: When you kill somebody, the time starts to slow down. And for every kill, time becomes slower and slower. This stacking of kills grants you some abilities like dashing through walls, dashing through walls with an arc and kill everybody within it; or kill everybody within a circle without having to dash through a wall. Well, it may seem that these powers are very similar, but do not let that feeling cling onto you. Because both the powers and the shooting is crazy satisfactory.

And heed my words, for I was playing this game on a bus. As you can imagine, using a mouse on a vehicle is an act of lunacy, especially if you are playing a shooter; but Time Recoil gave me such a gratifying experience that no recent shooters was able to give… Especially on a bus. I also tried playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on a bus, believe me.

Quantum rebellion

Time Recoil’s story is a “story of rebellion and revenge” as 10tons state, but basically; it is a story of a lot of time travel. The very fabric of the universe trembles under our foot, for we both travel through and bend the time like chewing bubble gum. Paris is destroyed (by an immediate push into the 100-year future) by a man called Mr. Time, who is the man we also seek revenge from… But who needs a story anyway? Did you ask for a story in Crimsonland? I think not. Of course, everything becomes better served with a story, but I won’t count the lack of powerful story in a twin-stick shooter as a major negative.

The visuals and sound effects are also satisfactory. About the visuals though –they become repetitive after a couple hours, as you can tell by looking at the screenshots. A little bit variety, different colors and settings would be tasty. But the game ends around 4 hours, so that won’t be a major problem I guess. In the other hand, music is the perfect selection for the the action from wormhole to wormhole, it’s absolutely kick-ass.

At the end of time

Followers of the top-down shooter god, 10tons, unite! We have a new member to the community, and it offers a unique action with more than satisfactory shooting mechanics. Time Recoil delivers what it’s supposed to deliver and more. It has some issues here and there, could take a bit longer than it is now; but looking at the price tag, it fulfills its destiny to become a great experience. Don’t miss the chance to pop slower and slower… slower over time.

Time Recoil was reviewed using the Steam key provided by the publisher.