Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Studio 3DO
Publisher: Studio 3DO

Killing Time uses absolutely every ounce of the 3DO Cel Engine's power; cel and texture data is absolutely enormous, the color depth and number of frames of enemy animation is staggering, and the game even renders transparent FMV over the top of the game scenes in lieu of static cut-scenes. From an artistic perspective, Killing Time is one of the best looking first-person shooters of all time, with stunning texture work, cool baddie designs, and just enough of that awesome "chunky pixel" appearance.

Bob Viera, who did a great job with the Escape from Monster Manor soundtrack, returns for this spiritual successor with an incredible effort, featuring actual band-recorded music that positively pops out of the speakers! The songs-- especially the game's title theme-- perfectly capture the game's core motifs of time, the 1930s art deco period, prohibition era gangsters, ancient Egyptian lore, among others. There are tons of what sound like totally custom sound effects, which in typical 3DO fashion, and outputted with crystaline quality.

Killing Time uses the 3DO's defacto first-person setup, with the dpad controlling movement, the shoulder buttons controlling strafing, and the face buttons for door opening and firing, with button combinations performing actions like switching weapons. The B button modifies movement, allowing for easy looking up and down, and 180 degree turns, the latter of which is a nice touch. Almost unbelievably, the game is a first-person Metroidvania; when considering that the title was developed between 1994-1995... level design is generally very solid, with a nice mixture of realism and mazes, but some of the enemies-- particularly the hit-scan baddies-- require tons of saving and reloading.

Killing Time has two major issues: the framerate, and sporadically bizarre design choices. As it relates to the former, the framerate is rarely higher than the teens, and is occasionally single digits; fortunately, the game lets the player save anywhere, while the act of saving involves two button presses and about three seconds-- and with the framerate as it is, very frequent saving and loading is needed, even just on the game's "medium" difficulty. Hitscan enemies are way too accurate, and simply do too much damage. There are some isolated areas, such as the lengthy final sequence which disallows saving and that has a type of invincible baddie, that are incredibly frustrating. But all the same, as a quirky combination of The 7th Guest and Escape from Monster Manor, set in a really neat island estate, with an interesting story, and which pushes the 3DO to its very limits, Killing Time is a one-of-a-kind ride.