This is the most all around solid shooter I’ve seen in years. It has all the graphical glitz of a 360 game that takes full advantage of the consoles capabilities (ex. Gears of War), challenging but not overly frustrating game play, fun weapons, and of course the sweet time shifting abilities. I’ll tell you why I don’t give it a ten. If you have time shift abilities, why, when you die, do you have to wait close to 30 seconds (I know, long time, hah) to reload a level? Why doesn’t it just timeshift you back? Ok so that said I’ll go over everything I like about the game.

First of all, the time shifting is so very well done. There is a nice integration of a number of puzzles in the game, none of which I needed help with, however were just tricky enough to require some thought to get through. This is really the first game that had puzzles and didn’t drive me batty or require an FAQ. Overall, I do utter my share of profanity on every game, though I found the frustration level on this game to be medium to low for the utterances… that is the sign of a superior game. Sierra was very smart to delay the release of this game another year, because they have achieved near perfection. I think the console is really what holds them back (I might actually wait to buy this till it comes out on ps3, if it has the full hi def support). I say this because realizing that the 360 games don’t take advantage of the hard drive because there’s still a model that doesn’t have one.

Other things I love about time shifting for the same reasons are the ability to pause time and reload, move out of the way, allow your shield to recharge, take a zoomed aim on an enemy, the list goes on. sierra also did a great job of leveling the game so the intermediate level is perfect for a first play through, with some sections requiring (at least for me) upwards of 5-10 or more tries. They also did an awesome job with the save points, with the exception of a very few. They always save your game immediately after completing a puzzle or difficult section, which is sweet.

Although I do give this game a near perfect review, I can’t help but mention some things that would make it even better. One thing (among few) that I liked about Halo 3 was the airborne and vehicle fights. I think they could have done better w/the air levels, but the quad riding sections were par-etty saweeetA! The airborne stuff was boring, though slowing down or pausing time while you’re trying to ace a fleet of zippy heli’s is nice!

Lastly, I did read that the game previously had a huge steam punk feel and was reworked substantially. You can still see it there, so I wonder what they really redid. I guess I don’t need to know because this game beats the hell out of Halo 3 and Bioshock hands down. I haven’t even played multiplayer yet. I know I’m in for a treat