TimeSplitters 2

Synopsis

by Scott Alan Marriott

TimeSplitters 2 continues the time traveling exploits of a scheming alien race and the heroic warriors who vow to stop them. Making its Xbox debut, the first-person shooter sets itself apart from most titles in the genre by taking place in ten environments that encompass the past and future, including the Wild West in 1853, 1932 Chicago, 1895 Paris, 1920 Aztec ruins, 1990 Siberia, 2019 Tokyo, and more. Five modes of play consist of Story, Arcade League, Arcade Custom, System Link, and Challenge. Also featured is the ability to create custom single- or multiplayer levels using the MapMaker editing tool.

Story mode offers a mission-based narrative spanning 500 years of gun-toting action. Reminiscent of the television series Quantum Leap, players will "zap" into the bodies of characters from various time periods and use weapons of that era to complete primary and secondary objectives, ranging from rescuing hostages to eliminating surveillance devices before infiltrating an enemy compound. Missions in Story mode can be played alone or cooperatively with a friend on one of three difficulty levels, which expand the number and nature of objectives in addition to increasing the overall challenge.

Arcade League features a series of tournaments against specific groups of enemies and under varying conditions, such as using certain types of weapons or completing objectives within time limits. Arcade Custom, as the name suggests, has players designing their own tournaments with configurable options, such as score limits, power-ups, handicaps, and more. Players are also free to select and adjust a team of computer-controlled bots to compete against when friends aren't available. Challenge mode has players engaging in offbeat scenarios, such as trying to shoot as many heads off zombies as possible within the time frame, in order to earn performance bonuses.

Features

• Compete with up to four players in sixteen different game types
• Create your own custom maps using the included Mapmaker function
• Unlock extra modes, levels, and characters by completing challenge events

Extra Credits

by Matthew House

While the original TimeSplitters was well received, there were some complaints about the shallowness of the Story mode missions and the limited deathmatch options; all criticisms were chalked up to the game being rushed to meet the PlayStation 2's launch. TimeSplitters 2 addresses all of these problems with an abundance of new challenges while adding new deathmatch modes, over 100 usable characters, and an enhanced Story mode with multiple mission objectives. Even the MapMaker mode has been overhauled. One of the complaints about the original was that the Story missions were disjointed and unrelated, and the sequel has attempted to make this mode more cohesive.

Because of the vast amount of deathmatch features, TimeSplitters 2 resembles other first-person shooters such as Quake III Revolution, Red Faction II, and Unreal Tournament 2003. Though promised in the game's development stages, the PlayStation 2's online support was not implemented. Instead, TimeSplitters is compatible with i.LINK cables so that a group of PlayStation 2 machines can be hooked together in a LAN setting.

Also Available On