This Day in Games: November 9, 2012

On November 9, 2012, while Assassin’s Creed III was highly anticipated. And before the Steam Autumn Sale even began, digital stores quietly released Sine Mora. This bullet-hell shooter decided that “time is money” was too common—so it made time itself your ammo.

Overview

Sine Mora arrived on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. It blends classic side-scrolling shooting with a time-as-health system that turns the genre upside down. This indie-style arcade game shows off a steampunk look, featuring seven custom levels, more than 50 weapon combinations, bosses designed by Mahiro Maeda, and a moody soundtrack from Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka.

Storyline

Forget “fly left, shoot right” monotony—Sine Mora weaves a revenge-driven tale of imperiled empires, vengeful captains, and clockwork conspiracies. The narrative might feel like it’s attending Comic-Con dressed as a Victorian trenchcoat, but it never fully leaves the cockpit. Story Mode eases newcomers into the lore, with cut-scenes that are as bombastic as a bullet curtain—and almost as dense.

Screenshot 1

Gameplay Mechanics

  • Time as Currency: Your ship’s health bar is a ticking clock. Survive by collecting time orbs, extend your life, and unleash temporal bombs to slow down enemy fire.
  • Weapon Combinations: Mix and match over 50 load-outs—lasers, missiles, homing shots—each with a time-warp twist.
  • Difficulty Scaling: Arcade Mode caters to masochists with hidden ranks and deep scoring, while Story Mode holds your hand like an overprotective tutor.
  • Risk vs. Reward: Push for max combo and time pickups, or play it safe and watch your timer slip away—literally.

Visuals & Art Direction

Sine Mora’s steampunk duds are great for cosplay but here they’re pixel-perfect. Backgrounds shimmer with soot-stained factories and floating fortresses, while Mahiro Maeda’s boss fights look ripped from an anime fever dream. Warning: You may pause the game just to admire the scenery—and then get annihilated because you forgot the bullets.

Sound & Music

Composer Akira Yamaoka trades in his Silent Hill dread for an industrial symphony—gears grinding, horns blaring, and electronic pulses that sync to your blood pressure. Audio cues signal incoming hazards, but you’ll mostly be too busy marveling at how a guy known for horror scores could make mecha-drama feel downright exhilarating.

Screenshot 2

User Reviews & Reception

With an 84% “Very Positive” rating from 516 Steam reviews, players salute Sine Mora’s ambition. Fans praise:

  • The elegant time-manipulation hook that refreshes old-school shoot-’em-ups.
  • Stunning presentation—“I paused just to screenshot a boss,” quipped one user.
  • Balanced Story Mode that doesn’t require a joystick PhD.

Critics, however, flag a steep learning curve in Arcade Mode and occasional spikes in difficulty that feel less “challenge accepted” and more “why is this bullet so fast?” Still, most agree the thrill of chasing high scores outweighs the occasional temporal headshot.

Screenshot 3

Impact & Legacy

Sine Mora didn’t spark a full-blown time-shifting revolution in the shoot-’em-up scene, but it did remind developers that even the most button-smashy genres can innovate. Its blend of story integration, art direction, and mechanical daring inspired later indies to ask, “What if we tweaked the core loop instead of repainting the same old sky?”

Seven years on, Sine Mora still plays like a clockwork concerto—precise, pulse-pounding, and just a bit mad.

Add Sine Mora to your Steam collection!