TimeSplitters 2

Summary

Genre: Shooter
Number of players: 1-4

Review

For those of you who don't know, Free Radical Design is a company made up of some of the people responsible for Goldeneye, so expect quality. TimeSplitters is a game that came out for the Playstation 2 and was rather good. The premise behind TS2 involves the TimeSplitters (an evil race of aliens) using "Time Crystals" to go back in time and presumably alter the future so their war with the human race will be victorious.


Gameplay: Those of you who have played Goldeneye and Perfect Dark should be able to pick this up pretty quickly, once you get used to the new controls. To start with I didn't think the GameCube controller was up to much, but it's grown on me over time and certainly works very well here. It will take you some time to get used to it, largely because there are a lot of buttons used, and remembering what button does what takes ages, but after a while and a fair deal of patience you'll find it's more than worth the wait.

The game takes place in a number of different locations and times, starting with Siberia in the year 1990 where a research centre has been working on some decidedly dodgy scientific experiments. Next stop is Chicago in the year 1932 where an ex-cop wants to get some revenge on a mafia boss.

What makes TS2 good is the fact that all the missions bring weapons that would have been used in those times. For instance 1990 features machine guns, and silenced pistols, while Chicago features tommy guns and vintage rifles. Futuristic missions such as Space Station in 2401 feature Plasma Autorifle - a gun which doesn't need reloading, and has plasma grenades, which pack a punch.

There has been an incredible amount of attention to detail in the game, even allowing you to play a game of pool in one level by shooting the balls. Melons explode into hundreds of pieces when you shoot them. There's also a few things hidden around the place called Retro carts, which allow you a brief pause in the mission to play a very old game, such as snake etc.

And I haven't even scratched the surface of TS2. There are also many many challenge modes where you have to score a certainly amount of kills or points in a set amount of time to progress to the next challenge. These should keep you going for some time, and also allow you to unlock more multiplayer levels etc.

It's a fantastic game to play and all the guns are great fun to use, which really adds to the whole experience of the game. Top stuff.


Challenge: The single player on hard is very challenging indeed, especially some of the later levels such as the Robot Factory. Also getting gold on all the challenges and arcade league will take you some time as well. There's so much to do in the game that you won't be taking it out of your console for some time.


Graphics: Very good, with good use of lighting effects on the guns. The characters look pretty good and are very well animated too.


Sounds: Good. Music adds to the atmosphere of each level, with appropriate themes: the 'cowboy' level has a traditional western theme, and levels set in later times have more techno-sound to them. Of particular note in the sound effect area are the weapon noises: they all sound very 'realistic'. The 'grunts' are stock-standard for a shooter, but overall a good effort.


Multiplayer: Easily the best aspect of the game. There are many game types from standard deathmatch games to team challenges and missions. Good stuff. There are plenty of guns available for your choice, and the bots are pretty good in terms of AI too. Plenty of levels to choose from means you won't be able to put it down for a while. Great fun which is even better than Perfect Dark's multiplayer. Of course, if it wasn't you'd have to be a bit concerned, given the superiority of the Gamecube over its predecessor.


Summing up: Great game in both single and multiplay - a must have for all Gamecube owners. It's Perfect Dark taken to the next level, which can't be a bad thing.


Gamesmark: 95%


Reviewer: Tangycheese



Maverik's opinion: TimeSplitters 2 is undoubtedly a worthy title to own for the Gamecube, and, as Tangy says, is certainly a next-generation Perfect Dark. The variety in single-player missions is welcome, even if the story tying the missions together is rather weak and forced. Multiplayer is fantastic fun, and the fact that each of the 120-odd deathmatch characters has their own set of attributes makes it fun to pick which alter ego best suits your style. If I had to name but one minor fault with the game, it would have to be that TS2 would have benefitted from having a few more guns: many single-player missions use the same weaponry despite being set 300 years apart, while in multiplayer the slight lack of weapon choices leads to a few old favourites being used for most of the matches you'll play. However, that said, TS2 is a fantastic shooter, and well worth purchasing.