Timesplitters took PS2 FPS’s to another level, but how does the sequel stack up? Our Jake is here to split it down (oh dear) for your reading pleasure. If you like this then please check out what he’s up to on his YouTube channel.
Hailed by many as an all-time classic, TimeSplitters 2 expanded on what its
predecessor brought to the table: fast-paced gameplay, exciting fun fights, a diverse cast of odd jobs, and lots of gameplay customization. Question is, does it still stand strong
after over 15 years since its release?
Humanity is at war with an evil race of aliens known as the TimeSplitters. These bad boys
have been trying to mess up history in order to wipe out the human race. It’s up to Sgt.
Cortez to save the day as he travels to the past and future searching for Time Crystals.
TimeSplitters 2 has some great cartoon-like visuals and fantastic cinematics that still hold up
well to this day, not to mention a brilliant soundtrack from Graeme Norgate to top it all off.
The frame-rate is silky-smooth, too.
The campaign mode is a lot more fleshed out compared to the first game. Instead of merely
shooting your way through various time zones in order to grab an item, here you have
numerous objectives to complete in a slew of challenging and memorable missions ranging
from the Wild West to NeoTokyo. The few checkpoints offered and the unflinching,
bullet-sponge enemies will no doubt irritate at times, but what’s on offer is varied enough to
keep things fresh. Siberia is an excellent example: you can sneak in by using silenced
weapons to plug the guards and cameras or just charge in guns-blazing, all before doing a
bit of demolition work and wrapping things up by shooting down a helicopter. Cranking up
the difficulty will give you more objectives and might expand the level a little, all the while
cranking up the damage output exponentially, to the point where it’s very unfair. Good thing
you can blitz through it in two-player mode.
The real highlight is Arcade Custom. Oodles of highly-customizable game modes are on
offer Some are deathmatch-variants that add unusual twists, like shrinking the size of the
lower-scoring players, but there are also ones in the vein of capture the flag, zone control,
etc. The true highlight is Virus mode, where you need to avoid burning enemies setting each
other on fire until you’re the last one standing! Many weapons and characters are on offer
(even if a sizeable portion of the latter are palette-swapped variants); you’ll no doubt feel like
you’re being spoiled for choice. It runs perfectly in split-screen mode and can hold up to four
players, but if you’ve got no mates, you can play against bots. Despite its dodgy aiming
system, TimeSplitters 2 is a slick, quick-paced shooter that will undoubtedly satisfy with
every match.
But wait, there’s more! Arcade League is made up of a series of arcade matches with pre-set
conditions, while the Challenge mode pits you in a series of unique situations, like fending off
endless waves of zombies. If you score big or beat them quick, you can unlock heaps of
content. A lot of them are great fun, with a few that are too easy easy or are just downright
repetitive. The amount of things to try out here here will no doubt take up hours of your time
as you replay them over and over in order to get the top scores, all the while having lots of
fun in the process.
In the updated Mapmaker mode, you can design your own levels with an easy-to-use editor.
Using pre-set tiles to construct maps makes it a doddle. It’s definitely more accessible and
less overwhelming than the level editors and modding equipment that was released at the
time. You can even create story missions and set objectives of your own. Very nice.
TimeSplitters 2 truly has stood the test of time. It most definitely has a few issues like the
wonky aiming, its lack of checkpoints, and the occasional dodgy challenges or game modes
on offer. However, there’s so much replayability here with the amount of content on offer.
The shooting mechanics feel refined, while graphics, performance, and music are all worthy
of all the praise it gets. It’s easy to say that the second entry in the series is bloomin’
fantastic, and, when compared to other shooters that were released on sixth generation
consoles, it’s undoubtedly second-to-none… with exception to the third game in the series.
