Forget Prince of Persia's rewind ability. That was basically an "undo" feature that got you out of trouble if you fell from your perch. In TimeShift, it can be used as a real gameplay mechanic because the Quantum Suit allows you to move freely within the distorting timeframe. One section we saw had us hiding inside a building while a massive mech fired at us from outside. We were about to run along a bridge between two buildings when it was torn apart by the gunfire. Uh-oh. But rewinding time allowed us to run along the bridge as the fire constructed it again (reversed, see?), until we were safely across and in decent cover at last.

There are also environmental puzzles to overcome. Rewinding the slanting animation of a suspended pipe can allow you to jump inside it and hitch a ride to a higher platform as it moves in contradiction to the way the real-world has taught you to expect. Your weight is still calculated while time is being reversed, but the inertia of a large object is likely stronger, allowing you to progress.

This freedom has caused some trouble for the developer - for instance when a player unexpectedly decides to stand on a collapsed column and rewind time to spring him like a catapult for miles... but as all the eventualities have been considered, you can expect a lot of fun from TimeShift's unique selling point. The team has even coded special game over screens for those "I've just trapped myself forever by standing where a pile of barrels was and rewinding time" moments. Dumbass.