Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: Free Radical Design
Publisher: Eidos
# of Players: 1-4 Players
Memory: 4 Blocks
ERSB: Teens
Supports: N/A
Also On: PS2, XB
Website:TimeSplitters2.com

Presentation
Of all titles that launched alongside the PlayStation 2 in 2000, the multiplayer oriented first person shooter TimeSplitters was the most unlikely hit. Coming from former GoldenEye designers at Free Radical Design, TimeSplitters was praised for its fast paced gameplay and unique visual style. Imperfections were around, however; single player aspects were completely lacking and resolution dropping and frame rate hitches were apparent. In the sequel, though, Free Radical Design is patching up the negatives and expanding the positives.

In the future, TimeSplitters are alien creatures who have discovered the ability to manipulate time and space to alter events in the past through a rift in the middle of the galaxy. Through this tampering, the aliens have been able to turn mankind in to a race of slaves. Just as the humans discover a method to heal the time rift; two TimeSplitters steal the crystals crucial to the operation. It’s up to a single marine who was able to follow the TimeSplitters into the rift to track down the crystals before they’re destroyed and mankind’s only hope is lost. Does that sound familiar to you? Oh so you are a fan of the original? Well I tell you this. The next installment is ready to rock, roll & blow your head right off your neck (or use a brick). TimeSplitters 2’s storyline takes you through time itself. Two time-traveling heroes are on the tail of some plotting aliens who just so happen to have been jumping through time, no doubt scheming after something or another. So with this in mind, the shooter locales range from a 1930s Chicago to the American Old West, the Cold War and, of course, the future. When Time Splitters 2 does arrive, it’ll completely satisfy the fans of the first (that now has a GCN). It has the same addictive action, the same kind of humor, but in a second generation form, meaning improved graphics, bigger levels, and added game modes such as the co-operative story mode and the extended multiplayer. It’s the co-operative story mode that has me looking forward to it, with the wide selection of weapons included in the game; you’ll be able to pair up with a brother, sister, mom, dad, or friend, etc... and really buddy-blast your way through it. Like the ol’days in Duke Nukem 64 (well maybe that was only me & my brother).

Graphics
TS2’s graphics are sharp in an old-school fashion. Again, GoldenEye comes to mind with a little Perfect Dark evident, too, but TimeSplitters takes the giant leap foward over the two due to the next-gen hadware. Timesplitters 2 has an innovative mix of realistic backgrounds, and cartoony like characters, which sounds a bit screwed up but works really well. Gore fans will be upset that there is no blood, but in the white heat of a full on fire-fight you will hardly notice, and the impressivly realistic ways enemies crumple and fall makes up for any presumed loss of realism. It is the amazing speed that really takes you breath away. Even when you have ten opponents all shooting ludcriously heavy weapons at each other, the frame rate never drops it stays solid and sweet. The levels are graphically designed quite simply, but the subtle touches such as the flame from a candle accompanied with a nifty heat effect really stand out. The special effects are really well done. There are rain effects in some levels such as Neo Tokyo, and snow effects in Siberia. The part that most impressed me is the special effects with the weapons. The Sci Fi Handgun produces a blue beam that bounced off walls for 10 seconds. This can create some crazy multiplayer matches with hundreds of beams bouncing off the walls everywhere and causing havoc. Not to be left out is the animation. The characters move very smoothly, and even have idle animations. Commonly the bots in multiplayer will somersault, role, and slide to avoid your shots, which is pretty funny to watch. Also the facial animation is very impressive. The mouths move with the voice, and the eyebrows and eyes show emotion. Very well done indeed.

Sound
Turn up the stereo, because this game has some awesome sound. Each gun has its own firing sound, the plasma autorifle has a sound like someting out of Star Wars, and the Soviet Automatic has an authentic -tat tat tat- sound to it. Gun fire is top-noch even if Turok Evolution still holds the crown. The music accompanies each level quite nicely, the futuristic levels offer a mix of techno beats, and the western level has its banjos. Also the voice acting is definitely one of the high points of the sound, each speaking character comes across as believable, and none seem too forced to put an accent on a character. Get this: TS2 has a "recommended" option when you are choosing your music for a multiplayer/bot game. The game actually knows what music it should use when you have a level. For example, if you are playing the Aztec level, you hear music native to that region, chanting included. There’s some weird techno music in the retro levels in the near future.

Gameplay
Essentially, all first person shooters revolve around the same general tactic: kill or be killed. A few games stray from the norm, opting for a more story based and character driven game (Half Life, Red Faction). While Timesplitters 2 won’t win any awards for its story, it does vastly improve upon its predecessor in terms of story depth. This is not to imply that TS2 lacks a credible story to engage the gamer into its world. The story basically goes like this: A group of time travelling aliens, called Timesplitters, have in their possession a number of time crystals. These crystals have the ability to control time, and a couple of humans are sent in to seize control of the all powerful crystals and dispose of them. During the course of the game, you will traverse through 10 levels, separated into 10 different time periods, ranging from 1930’s Chicago to a circa 1990 Siberian Dam (an obvious nod to Goldeneye’s opening level). Each level is introduced with a nifty cutscene setting the stage for the objectives that need to be completed.

Playing Story mode each level starts you off with a different set of weapons, and a different character to play with. One weapon that is a constant through every level is the Temporal Uplink. This item is very similar to Metal Gear Solid’s radar, it shows your location, the surrounding areas, and guards’ field of vision. Usually you will begin the level with a puny weapon such as a pistol, but you will find more powerful weapons, ranging from a plasma autorifle to a homing rocket launcher. Each level has its own specific objectives, and generally each objective is pretty original in the way you go about completing it. For example, the first level, you have to open up a door to another area but it is blocked by a open vent which is blowing steam all over the place, making it unpassable. So simply just turn the pressure in the vents down a little and pass right through. There are 3 difficulty levels, and the harder the difficulty level, the more objectives there are to complete. The enemies’ AI also increases accordingly, sometimes to an almost unfair level. On easy mode, they are really stupid and will fire 2 shots, sit there and wait, fire 2 more, do a little dance and then get killed. Easy is generally more for beginners who arent used to the controls. The levels are very nicely designed, but some naturally stand out from others. The Chicago level stands out as my favorite level, and Return to Planet X is probably the least favorite. Overall, Free Radical did an enviable job of mixing up classic first person shooter elements and original gameplay ideas.

As for multi-player mode you’ll never stop playing. This is what you bought the game for. Single player basically serves as an engine to open up new multiplayer maps and characters. There are 16 different modes to play around with, including the classic deathmatch, and more original modes, including the monkey assistant (5 monkeys come and help the player in last place). Challenge mode is a mode that will test your skill and frustration. One challenge had you throw bricks at all the windows in a level, break them all in less than 18 seconds and you get a gold trophy, less than 30 will get you a silver, and less than a minute will get you a bronze. A plethora of options are available to completely customize the multiplayer game, including time limit, score limit, number of bots, weapons, always start with gun, display rader, player handicaps, powerups and more. Each map is much better designed than TS1, having less long corridors and more open space to stage crazy gun fights. You could literally play this mode for hours upon hours with some friends and never get bored. This is where the meat and potatoes of TS2 is, and it offers the tastiest multiplayer around, even topping Goldeneye.
Lastly, this game offers an amazingly simple map maker that lets you custom design any map to your own imagination. There are more than 25 different tiles to choose from allowing you to create complex maps with multiple levels. I am not the most creative designer, so I stick to the game’s maps...trust me they are probably better than one you can design.

Unfortunately, the game still has its faults. The control scheme is still kinda awkward as it was in the first, and that was a big obstacle for a lot of people. The game quickly paired gamers off into those who could get past the loose-aiming, and those couldn’t. The PlayStation 2 is a difficult system to design a first-person shooter for; the thumb sticks on the controller won’t pull in tight enough to the dead zones in the game, and so game developers are forced to try to cheat to achieve the same effect as on a PC. Free Radical has used several techniques, including auto-aiming and a manual-aiming option to try to compensate, but without an on-screen reticule. That means that for most of the game, you’re shooting from the hip. But thankfully the control scheme works much better on the GameCube Pad. With the Cube Pad having a solid and more responsive analog stick (unlike the wobbly PS2 ones). Its better played on Nintendo’s console. Another more minor problem is no hand animation on guns (think how cool it look when you reload in Perfect Dark). This really had me pissed for a second.

Conclusion
The original game had several strengths including the novel map creator and refreshing character design and thankfully these both return in force in the sequel. Whereas the original could only create multiplayer maps now you can set up Story levels and even have the option to set up guards patrol routes. The AI is similarly improved, whereas before all enemies took a gung-ho approach this time they will be more varied. Some will attack without hesitation while others will use cover or stealth to gun you down. In a genre of bland and uninspiring characters, Timesplitters refreshingly introduced cheerleaders, doctors, aliens and Elvis into a stagnant world of mutants, cyborgs and military personnel. This time expect to control cowboys, sheriffs, monkeys, rock men and robots with the Japanese schoolgirl attracting the most attention. Timesplitters 2 will have that and more. This is definitely a must buy for shooter fans. I play it just to see a monkeys with a high powered Assault Rifle’s.

~ditto~

The Good
- Killer Monkeys
- What you can do with a brick
- Best FPS multi-player to date

The Bad
- No Online Play
- No LAN Play
- No hand animations

The Stupid
- No blood