Reminiscent in feel and flow to a mix of the brawler Mr. Shifty and the classic original Max Payne (though in this case in a top-down view) in many ways, Time Recoil is the third twin-stick shooter that developer 10 Tons will be bringing to the Nintendo Switch. Though it shares some assets with its other two shooters, 10 Tons has done a fabulous job of differentiating its gameplay completely. Whereas Neon Chrome sports large levels and is a roguelike, and JYDGE is an objective and enhancement-focused action/puzzle game in some respects, Time Recoil is all about precision shooting, thinking quickly, and time.

As the survivor of an experiment gone wrong you have been given unique abilities. Your objective will be to stop the madman Mr. Time who is set on changing history and destroying society as we know it, or something like that. In order to stop him you’ll need to jump through the past to different key points to collect intel, kill specific targets, and capture key people. Over the course of your mission you’ll need to move quickly, taking out any resistance you meet and generally trying to string together as many kills as quickly as you can. Getting a kill will begin to slow time in general for a few moments but as you progress you’ll also unlock special skills that you can use either offensively or sometimes to complete complex objectives in mere seconds by practically stopping time.

Depending on which skill level you choose between Normal, Hardcore, and Murderous, you’ll have varying degrees of challenge as the guards you face will become more responsive and your ammo will begin to drop less. This will force you to not only be accurate but to essentially begin to plan out your levels, alternating between shooting to make kills and often then dashing through walls and making kills through force. Precision is vital to your survival as you not only will want to conserve your ammunition but you’ll also want to keep your timer from kills active so your chances of evading bullets and gaining access to more powerful enhancements remains in place. Once time goes back to normal you’ll often find yourself vulnerable and exposed.

In addition to the story mode you’ll have an opportunity to fine tune your skills and show what you’ve learned in the Mission Archives. Here you’ll have an opportunity to speedrun your way through the levels, trying to get the best time possible and often looking to clear the whole level in about 3 seconds of “real time”. Here it becomes almost a sort of ballet with you needing to determine your best plan of attack and then work to execute it perfectly since every minor moment will count.

This preview is based on the PC version of the game but should be representative of both the content and general appearance of the final product on the Nintendo Switch.