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"Ghosts Can't Die!"
Regular
on 05/10/2009 at 6:23:53PM
Total Posts: 256 |
Having just moved into my new house for university this year I came to find one of my housemates decided to bring along his old Xbox complete with a wealth of multiplayer games. While most were fairly standard Pro Evo, FIFA and so on, one that caught my eye was the unbelievably fun Timesplitters 2. After extensive play it’s impressive to see just how well this seven year old title stands up with the likes of modern shooters and I can safely say this is becoming a firm party favourite.
You wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking this title looks and feels a lot like the Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye. After all members of Free Radical worked with Rare on that game and so similarities are bound to appear. However while it may feel like Goldeneye, Timesplitters 2 definitely brings along with it new ideas and improvements.
You play as Sergeant Cortez who along with Corporal Hart try to defeat an evil race of Timesplitters who have the ability to travel through time and space. Unfortunately some get away with the time crystals and it’s now up to you to follow and steal them back. The story mode consists of ten stages spread over several periods in history as well as the distant future too. Already this has an advantage over other shooters out there as the different time zones offer varying environments and weapon sets. One mission sees you shooting zombies in Notre Dame while another has you gunning gangsters in Chicago or getting someone out of jail in the Wild West. The missions offer three difficulties which not only make enemies tougher but also add new objectives and missions to the mix so it’s definitely worth going through the harder settings to see more of the levels. Also if you want to tackle the entire story with a friend you can with a co-op option. It may be a short lived campaign, but that isn’t to say that is it for single players...
Once you’re through with the story mode you can then move onto the arcade and challenge modes which offer a series of tasks to complete in order to unlock trophies and more goodies. The arcade option features simple objectives like killing ten players as quick as possible or being the last man standing while the challenge mode is a little more bizarre. Here you’ll have to take the heads off of as many zombies as you can, break windows and even collect bananas. These missions are all good fun and it’s rare you see any other sort of mode beside the story in a shooter, however if I had one complaint, it’s that you can’t complete any of these cooperatively with friends.
Now onto the real deal, the multiplayer. Up to four players can compete in a range of match types and stages and the sheer amount of options can at first seem mind blowing. You can alter how many bots you want and their difficulty, customise a weapon set, choose characters each with their own stats, include power ups and more. Of course everyone is going to have their own style of play and thanks to the pretty specific option set you can. The stages themselves range from small and enclosed for some pretty hectic up-close and personal action to the open spaces where sniping is key. If you grow tired of the default levels then you can create your own in the editor. While basic by today’s standards, it’s still decent enough and worth creating the odd crazy creation.
The match types are varied and while most of your time will be spent in the typical deathmatch and team deathmatch, the extra modes are solid enough to warrant spending a fair amount of your time on too. Capture the bag is as you can probably guess a variant on “Capture the flag” where teams try to return an enemy bag to their own base. Virus is a short but very fun mode where one player starts off with a green fiery virus trying to spread it onward to others. Not only is this game fast paced, but it’s funny to see alliances form as the infected begin to increase. There are a handful of other modes to try out too and much like the stages and weapons you’ll soon find your favourites to play.
Visually Timesplitters 2 takes a very cartoony look with no blood or anything too violent at all. The levels are bold and fairly detailed while the characters themselves all look wacky and animate really well. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve seen people laughing at the monkey during a heated battle. As for the music while it is nothing special, each tune does suit the time period it is set in. Future levels have futuristic sounding music, Chicago has gangster like music and so on. You’re also treated to the yelps and screams of characters as well as the odd funny chimp noise.
You have a good amount to sink your teeth into when it comes to playing alone, and if you’ve got three friends to play then even better. As far as first person shooters go Timesplitters is full of features that should keep you more than happy.
What can I say other than even after all these years Timesplitters 2 is just as much fun as it was back then whether it be playing on your own or with a bunch of friends. It’s a shame Free Radical have hit a low point at the moment because it seems shooters now are very gritty and dramatic and I feel we need a game with humour and monkeys to balance things out. Here’s hoping a forth gets made to fill that gap.
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Ghost Killer
"Ghosts Can't Die!"
Regular
on 05/10/2009 at 6:23:53PM
Total Posts: 256
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Having just moved into my new house for university this year I came to find one of my housemates decided to bring along his old Xbox complete with a wealth of multiplayer games. While most were fairly standard Pro Evo, FIFA and so on, one that caught my eye was the unbelievably fun Timesplitters 2. After extensive play it’s impressive to see just how well this seven year old title stands up with the likes of modern shooters and I can safely say this is becoming a firm party favourite.
You wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking this title looks and feels a lot like the Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye. After all members of Free Radical worked with Rare on that game and so similarities are bound to appear. However while it may feel like Goldeneye, Timesplitters 2 definitely brings along with it new ideas and improvements.
You play as Sergeant Cortez who along with Corporal Hart try to defeat an evil race of Timesplitters who have the ability to travel through time and space. Unfortunately some get away with the time crystals and it’s now up to you to follow and steal them back. The story mode consists of ten stages spread over several periods in history as well as the distant future too. Already this has an advantage over other shooters out there as the different time zones offer varying environments and weapon sets. One mission sees you shooting zombies in Notre Dame while another has you gunning gangsters in Chicago or getting someone out of jail in the Wild West. The missions offer three difficulties which not only make enemies tougher but also add new objectives and missions to the mix so it’s definitely worth going through the harder settings to see more of the levels. Also if you want to tackle the entire story with a friend you can with a co-op option. It may be a short lived campaign, but that isn’t to say that is it for single players...
Once you’re through with the story mode you can then move onto the arcade and challenge modes which offer a series of tasks to complete in order to unlock trophies and more goodies. The arcade option features simple objectives like killing ten players as quick as possible or being the last man standing while the challenge mode is a little more bizarre. Here you’ll have to take the heads off of as many zombies as you can, break windows and even collect bananas. These missions are all good fun and it’s rare you see any other sort of mode beside the story in a shooter, however if I had one complaint, it’s that you can’t complete any of these cooperatively with friends.
Now onto the real deal, the multiplayer. Up to four players can compete in a range of match types and stages and the sheer amount of options can at first seem mind blowing. You can alter how many bots you want and their difficulty, customise a weapon set, choose characters each with their own stats, include power ups and more. Of course everyone is going to have their own style of play and thanks to the pretty specific option set you can. The stages themselves range from small and enclosed for some pretty hectic up-close and personal action to the open spaces where sniping is key. If you grow tired of the default levels then you can create your own in the editor. While basic by today’s standards, it’s still decent enough and worth creating the odd crazy creation.
The match types are varied and while most of your time will be spent in the typical deathmatch and team deathmatch, the extra modes are solid enough to warrant spending a fair amount of your time on too. Capture the bag is as you can probably guess a variant on “Capture the flag” where teams try to return an enemy bag to their own base. Virus is a short but very fun mode where one player starts off with a green fiery virus trying to spread it onward to others. Not only is this game fast paced, but it’s funny to see alliances form as the infected begin to increase. There are a handful of other modes to try out too and much like the stages and weapons you’ll soon find your favourites to play.
Visually Timesplitters 2 takes a very cartoony look with no blood or anything too violent at all. The levels are bold and fairly detailed while the characters themselves all look wacky and animate really well. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve seen people laughing at the monkey during a heated battle. As for the music while it is nothing special, each tune does suit the time period it is set in. Future levels have futuristic sounding music, Chicago has gangster like music and so on. You’re also treated to the yelps and screams of characters as well as the odd funny chimp noise.
You have a good amount to sink your teeth into when it comes to playing alone, and if you’ve got three friends to play then even better. As far as first person shooters go Timesplitters is full of features that should keep you more than happy.
What can I say other than even after all these years Timesplitters 2 is just as much fun as it was back then whether it be playing on your own or with a bunch of friends. It’s a shame Free Radical have hit a low point at the moment because it seems shooters now are very gritty and dramatic and I feel we need a game with humour and monkeys to balance things out. Here’s hoping a forth gets made to fill that gap.
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