The basic premise of TimeShift remains the same -- there are a bunch of bad guys, and you have to stop them with the help of a device that can slow, stop and reverse the flow of time -- but that's about it. The game's once colorful graphics have been replaced with washed-out, dark and gritty textures; the unannounced story is completely new; character models have jumped from 2,500 polygons to 5 million polygons; and Sierra added S.A.M. Short for Strategic Systems for Adaptable Metacognit, S.A.M. will be the suit players wear as they go up against the hordes of enemies and an active participant in the game.

When folks played the original build of TimeShift, Peschel found them relying solely on stopping time and ignoring the other buttons to slow and reverse the clock. It doesn't sound like much, but when players got to hurdles that required them to use the other options, they were stumped. Now, time control is handled by one button with S.A.M. choosing the Flux Capacitor method.