When I saw the box for TimeSplitters 2 at my friend's house, it had an accolade blurb on the front that said "Heir apparent to Goldeneye!" I scoffed. "Yeah right. How could anything live up to that?" thought 2002 me.
Turns out, I'm a big dumb presumptuous idiot. Because TimeSplitters 2 does (in terms of mechanics) everything that Goldeneye did, and does it better.
TimeSplitters 2 is the game I put the most time into before moving out of my parents' house. Between multiple playthroughs of each campaign and/or challenge level (gotta get those platinum trophies!!!) and incessant multiplayer with friends, my GameCube save file had over 300 hours logged on it by 2008. It's the perfect blend of frantic action, wacky characters, and tough-as-nails challenges.
The campaign is simple. The alien race known as TimeSplitters are at war with humanity. Sgt. Cortez and Corporal Hart have collected enough Time Crystals to use the Splitters' time machine to go back in time and prevent the war from ever happening in the first place. But just as they're about to execute their plan, the Splitters divide up the crystals and take them back in time one-by-one to hide the crystals in different times and locations. Each level that follows is predicated on the retrieval of each crystal, and the variety is a core part of what makes this game so endearing.
You visit Siberia in the 90s. Ancient Aztec Ruins. A Robotics Factory in 2315. A weirdly futuristic 2019. Each time you're displaced, you take on the appearance of someone from that era and location. Much like Goldeneye, the objectives of each level are tweaked depending on which difficulty you play on, but TS2's levels are actually shorter on Easy, so you're incentivized to go for harder difficulty if you want to see the whole game.
The multiplayer takes the idea of characters from all over time and space and gets REAL weird with it. You can be a snowman, a dinosaur with hand extensions, a gingerbread man, a hand and arm with matchsticks for arms and legs, or (the fan favorite) a tiny monkey (Oddjob's successor). It's just a blast. The weapons are just as crazy too (how many FPS titles have a Brick as a viable weapon?), and there are enough that you'll stay interested over dozens of hours of deathmatches, as well as rounds of Virus and Capture the Bag.
The best gaming news of 2018 was that the TimeSplitters IP got acquired by THQ Nordic. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Turns out, I'm a big dumb presumptuous idiot. Because TimeSplitters 2 does (in terms of mechanics) everything that Goldeneye did, and does it better.
TimeSplitters 2 is the game I put the most time into before moving out of my parents' house. Between multiple playthroughs of each campaign and/or challenge level (gotta get those platinum trophies!!!) and incessant multiplayer with friends, my GameCube save file had over 300 hours logged on it by 2008. It's the perfect blend of frantic action, wacky characters, and tough-as-nails challenges.
The campaign is simple. The alien race known as TimeSplitters are at war with humanity. Sgt. Cortez and Corporal Hart have collected enough Time Crystals to use the Splitters' time machine to go back in time and prevent the war from ever happening in the first place. But just as they're about to execute their plan, the Splitters divide up the crystals and take them back in time one-by-one to hide the crystals in different times and locations. Each level that follows is predicated on the retrieval of each crystal, and the variety is a core part of what makes this game so endearing.
You visit Siberia in the 90s. Ancient Aztec Ruins. A Robotics Factory in 2315. A weirdly futuristic 2019. Each time you're displaced, you take on the appearance of someone from that era and location. Much like Goldeneye, the objectives of each level are tweaked depending on which difficulty you play on, but TS2's levels are actually shorter on Easy, so you're incentivized to go for harder difficulty if you want to see the whole game.
The multiplayer takes the idea of characters from all over time and space and gets REAL weird with it. You can be a snowman, a dinosaur with hand extensions, a gingerbread man, a hand and arm with matchsticks for arms and legs, or (the fan favorite) a tiny monkey (Oddjob's successor). It's just a blast. The weapons are just as crazy too (how many FPS titles have a Brick as a viable weapon?), and there are enough that you'll stay interested over dozens of hours of deathmatches, as well as rounds of Virus and Capture the Bag.
The best gaming news of 2018 was that the TimeSplitters IP got acquired by THQ Nordic. Can't wait to see what comes next!