Everything you'd ever want from a brainless frag-fest
When a system launches, it is inevitable that, in some cases, our expectations will soar higher than any development team could possibly reach. We are pleased to say, however, that in the case of Timesplitters, most of our expectations were met. Most. While the game has many noticeable flaws -- like somewhat disappointing graphics, level design that's mediocre at best and mostly surface-level gameplay -- it still manages to offer gamers the most important factor in any game: fun. Running at an unbeatable 60 FPS and loaded to the gills with impressive weaponry and unwary enemies, Timesplitters is the perfect FPS to debut with the PS2.
The most defining feature of Timesplitters is its simplicity. While some people feel this is a weakness, we find it rather comforting and reassuring. Whereas many first-person shooters today feel compelled to throw in a weak story to justify the slaughter, Timesplitters just lets us get straight to the killing. The "Story" mode puts us in a level and tells us what to do in a couple of sentences, then drops us straight into the action without further ado. The game features several levels, set in various points throughout time from the 1940s to the distant future. Each level is stocked with time-specific weapons, from Tommy guns to futuristic artillery, and each level contains two playable characters (male and female) that fit in well with the time period. Each level works the same way: Players begin at one end of the map and must work their way to the end, where an artifact can be found. When players grab the artifact, they must run all the way back to the beginning while nasty spawning future-demons attempt to stop them. There are three difficulty levels: easy, normal and hard. As players beat each level in each difficulty, they earn more levels and new playable characters that can be used in the multiplayer mode. The difficulty levels seem to vary only in the amount of enemies thrown at players and a noticeable decrease in the auto-aim, which, in easy mode, allows players to pretty much just pull their triggers in the enemy's general direction.
Once several levels have been beaten, the game opens up a Challenge mode. Most of the Challenges are short shoot-'em-ups provided for the hyper player who doesn't have the 15 minutes or so needed to complete a full level. Our favourite Challenge gives players exactly two minutes to shoot the heads off of 50 zombies. Zombies, being inherently slow and dimwitted, are fun to shoot as it is, but this fun is doubled when players must use their shotguns to cause undead heads to pop off decaying necks like dandelion tops.
And now for the bad. The graphics are fairly lackluster. Some good textures and some awful textures combine to give the game a look that is somewhat worse than we expected from the PS2's first shooter. The level design is another odd aspect of the game. Each level contains at least one dead end, and many of them contain several. Though in some places (like the Tombs for example), dead ends are to be expected, they can become annoying to directionally challenged gamers who find themselves running into walls every few seconds.
Making up for these negative aspects is Timesplitters' mapmaker, the first console level editor for a FPS in history. A bit intimidating at first due to its sheer depth, the level editor quickly becomes players' best friend, making it possible for them to design levels to slaughter their friends in. Don't expect to sit down and master the mapmaker in one hour though; it will take even the most mathematically inclined gamers at least a few hours to perfect their mapmaking skills. Once the level editor has been figured out, though, it allows players to play in arenas up to seven stories high, limited only by their imagination.
Timesplitters' multiplayer option is the icing on the cake. While it's fun to blast through the game solo, the levels take on a whole new dimension when players take them on together. Even in splitscreen, Timesplitters runs amazingly fast, and using proper military tactics ("You shoot people with a shotgun and I'll shoot people with an Uzi") to make it through the harder levels makes for hours and hours of fun. In the Deathmatch mode, players can use any weapon in any of the levels, and an interesting addition allows for players to carry two of the same weapon at once. With the possible exception of sex, there is no better feeling in the world than opening up on a friend with double mini-guns. Bagtag, Capture the Bag, Knockout, Escort and Laststand games are also included in the multiplayer mode for those who tire quickly of mindless killing.
While it isn't by any means a perfect game or even a perfect FPS for that matter; Timesplitters is just downright fun to play. The fact that Timesplitters is such a fine game sends us to bed with visions of quality PS2 shooters dancing in our heads.
The Bottom Line: Simple and loaded with options, Timesplitters is a fun game for both the fanatic and the casual shooter fan. |
