Time Splitters

I've often found that most Playstation games that are FPSs have a tendency to mess with my vertigo, that is to say, I prefer to keep a bottle of Dramamine handy when playing shooters, not because I relish the idea of keeping a puke-kit at arms reach, but because shooting games are so addicting. With the power of PS2 these issues dissolve, and with 128 bits of processing power and beautiful Hi-Resolution graphics, it's all good. The Free Radical Design team is actually a group of ex-Perfect Dark and Goldeneye developers who have lots of experience creating premiere FPSs and it’s one of the reasons this title has such a nice flow.

The premise behind Time Splitters is to play in different environments that are spread throughout time between 1940 and 2035. Each year features a time specific motion picture theme. For example, in the 1940’s you can take the role of an Indiana Jones type character, raiding underground tombs and catacombs, armed with nothing more than a pistol and a torch. Every time period lets you play as either a male or female character which features unique enemies that range from cyborg killing machines to rotting zombies and decaying mummies. In the future, you have access to all kinds of hyped up laser rifles and futuristic weapons, which all display realistic sounds and weapons effects.

Time Splitters allows up to 4 players to battle deathmatch style in multiplayer mode and the graphics engine holds up very well, because the frame rate doesn’t hiccup at all. Tons of enemies will attack simultaneously, and in one room this reviewer counted 15 enemies onscreen, which really elevated the visceral tension, when compared with Quake and other FPSs. In addition to multiplayer, Time Splitters features a mapmaker mode that allows you to design and edit your fighting arenas much like Quake III. The attention to detail that was taken into consideration when adding all these multiplayer elements shows that Free Radical Design took time integrating these extra modes into gameplay, because it enhances the replay value for this title substantially. These features were probably added to make up for a lack of online capability, especially when you consider the mini games that were included, like Escort, Capture the Bag, Knockout, and Last Stand.

The mapmaker (level editor) mode is very well thought out and allows you to make some enormous arenas in which to do battle. Time Splitters’ mapmaker has an excellent interface, for taking pre-constructed pieces and snapping them together to create individual level maps. I was able to build a huge warehouse structure on 1 level that spanned 4 stories high that was excellent for sniping out baddies. The nice thing is you can save these modified arenas without munching a lot of space on your memory card, thus allowing you to swap custom maps with friends. It’s obvious that Free Radical was able to use some very advanced level editing tools, with the power of PS2. Outstanding multiplayer options add a whole new dynamic to an already solid game, because you and a friend can load up on weapons and frag via cooperative split screen, with no slowdown at all. I found the game to be moderately difficult, but overall it seamed balanced on the whole. Some added features like the Challenge Mode open up in the game, when you conquer certain levels. This provided a nice respite from the intense shooting and navigation, and I found myself playing for 2 hours blasting Zombies heads off, just in the addictive target practice Challenge.

The music, voice samples, and creature sounds are all good and provide the right amount of atmosphere and tension. One of the key elements that determine the success of a FPS game's graphics engine is the camera. Here the camera was very tight and rarely betrayed me while navigating confined areas which is usually a weakness for many First Person Shooters. The graphics are good but not outstanding, as one might expect from PS2. The aliasing problems that were evident in many first generation Japanese games are not evident in Time Splitters, and for the most part the graphics engine holds up well, but some redundant textures on various levels hampered my navigation in certain areas.