Written By Shaun McCracken
Ex-Rare developers that have worked on GoldenEye and Perfect Dark formed a
company of their own and released TimeSplitters back in 2001 for the PS2. A year
later, they return with TimeSplitters 2 for all consoles. A great game for multiplayer
use, but the single player experience is all too short.
The idea of the game/series is that you must stop the "TimeSplitters" (I think
that's what they were called) from altering points in history. You go through a
time portal to a specific time and era and assume the role of a specific person.
It's actually a very simple premise. The problem is that the story as a whole designed
for the single-player mode is pretty weak and uncompelling. You'll play through it,
but not be fully satisfied. Seeing how this was done by ex-GoldenEye developers,
I would have thought that the stages would have had a lot more depth to them. But
really, that's only a part of the game.
A good chunk of the game lies outside the story mode. You can engage in challenges,
multiplayer battles (or go solo with bots), and even design your own stage. The challenges
are good enough to compensate for the bland story mode, as they can sometimes be more difficult
and more fun than the actual game. There's one stage where you need to toss
bricks through windows in a certain time, while another plays almost like a shooting
gallery. Playing these also unlock characters and gameplay modes in multiplayer.
Speaking of which, there are many ways to play alone or against each other. Really,
it's more fun to play against each other. But you can go for a standard deathmatch,
team play, zone play, a mode called "virus", where you need to last the whole duration
without catching on fire, and so much more. TS2 comes with a health amount of pre-assembled
maps, but you can create your own map, even stage with the MapMaker. The problem is
that you can't make really big stages, since for some reason you are only allowed
the amount of 2 blocks on your memory card. Why not allow 4-block sized stages?
But even with the limitation, I spent quite some time creating stages and maps
to play in.
The games control can be easy to use, thanks to the long list of set-ups
the developer has come up with. There's bound to be one that suits your need.
And those who bitch about the GCN controller not being great for many games
should take note that this actually plays pretty well with the GC controller.
A lot easier than say, Medal Of Honor Frontline and much easier than Turok
Evolution.
The graphics in TS2 are pretty good. Some spots manage to show quite a bit
of detail, while other stages are a bit plain. But good use of lighting effects.
The game always runs at a constant 60 FPS, which is always a plus. I think
the thing I do not like most about the graphics is the character models. Most
are too characture like and pretty unrealistic. It's weird to see some serious
stages with goofy looking AI models. The sound is pretty good, with the standard
shooting and richochet noises, as well as explosions. The music is not perfect,
but does get the job done. Not much to say about it, because it seems fairly
standard, really.
Final Thought
As a single-player experience, TS2 can be a bit disappointing. But if you
do get into the challenges, I think it makes up for most of the difficiencies
in the story mode. But where this really shines is the multiplayer games/options.
There's a lot to do there, plus there's a lot of customization to be had. It's
just too bad that there is not a perfect balance between the solo and multiplayer
experience.
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Time Splitters 2
