Half Life may have had an amazing storyline, but being an older game, it looked a little dated. On top of that the multiplayer game was far from perfect. A similar thing applied to Red Faction which supported only 2 rather than 4 players. TimeSplitters was the opposite, with great multiplayer possibilities, but a slightly short one player game with practically no storyline. Other flaws could be found in Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 where, for example, the speed of the game tended to drop a little if the action got too hectic on screen.

Though Medal of Honour had a great deal of success this summer, there were still gaps in the formula, and so with Playstation 2 nearing the end of its second year, its time that an FPS game arrived which fulfilled all the criteria, combining both decent multiplayer and proper single player gaming together. In this year's lead up to Christmas, two games are aiming to be the PS2's perfect Shooter, Red Faction 2 and TimeSplitters 2, but which one looks set to win the battle?

Simply the name, First Person Shooter, obviously suggests there are going to be guns in the game, and they are an incredibly important ingredient. Both TimeSplitters 2 and Red Faction 2 have an impressive array, each feeling like they actually have weight in the characters hands rather than just being floating objects dancing around the screen. The animations in both are exquisite, smooth pieces of artwork with flawless reloading. While the weapons are excellent in each game, its the weapon change that makes the difference. Where TimeSplitters 2 takes the cycle through as you go option, Red Faction 2 launches a menu in the corner letting you cycle through to your chosen weapon without each one popping out in front of you. Which one you prefer is down to personal preference, though personally I'd go for TimeSplitters style because the action can get so frantic that you always want a weapon of some sort handy, rather than staring at a sub-menu whilst getting shot.

When it comes to playable characters, TimeSplitters 2 is king, with an absolutely massive variety of misfits to try out. Aliens, Robots, Zombies, Mummys and occasionally even humans are all there to carry your guns for you. More importantly than the number of characters though is the way they move. Its no good having a character carrying a gun that can't actually walk properly, it would just ruin the look of the game. Sadly, whilst Red Faction 2 does look very nice, it does suffer from "float-walking". Basically, the characters just feel as if they are slightly off the ground, (perhaps the developers could put this down to low gravity on other planets). Movement seems more like ice skating than running, which just doesn's seem to work as well as TimeSplitters 2 with its solid running and walking. If you decide to run in TimeSplitters, you'll feel like you're running, and that's an important point in this kind of game.

Both games are strong in the single player mode now, each having an improved plot, (or in the case of TimeSplitters, a plot full stop), and there is little to choose between them. Both are based around a sci-fi theme, either with time travel, or inter-planetary travel. The weapons are often futuristic, though TimeSplitters also has many from the past. The ideas of both games are much more strongly enforced than in the prequels. Instead of "pick up object and return" in TimeSplitters, you are now given reasons why objectives must be carried out, and on top of that, its not just about mad running, but about careful stealth areas and puzzle solving. Red Faction 2 has similarly tried to boost its one player efforts with greater use of the geo-mod technology. Rather than an occasional gimmick, its become a greater part of the game, often making all the difference to level completion.

Speedwise, Red Faction 2 makes its predecessor look completely stationary, but its no match for TimeSplitters 2. The ridiculous frame rate that Free Radical have produced never blinks, allowing you to hurtle through levels so smoothly that you feel like a Ferrari compared to the Minardi of Red Faction. Even in multiplayer, TimeSplitters 2 doesn't let up for a minute, allowing four people on screen at once, racing past at 60 frames per second.

Whilst TimeSplitters 2 is certainly faster, the games are fairly equivalent in single player. They each have their own strengths, with their own style of play - fast action, stealthy sneaking around, puzzle solving, camera disabling, tunnel digging and more leading to a great sense of variety in either game. The difference between the two games though is the multiplayer. TimeSplitters managed to create near perfect multiplayer gaming first time round, and so with nearly two years extra development time, its no surprise that TimeSplitters 2 has produced its own little part of heaven, leaving Red Faction 2 just below the clouds.

Volition have certainly taken note of the problems that Red Faction's multiplayer had, and have introduced a four player mode, and certainly tried to boost its attraction, but nothing compares to the amount of choice and fun you can have in TimeSplitters. After choosing from hundreds of playable characters, a huge array of weapons, a colassal set of levels (as well as level editor creations which have been taken to an all new level) and a handy selection of other little features to tweak you are launched into one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of all time. Pick up the controller and start playing TimeSplitters 2... and it might just capture you forever.