TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

"A FPS that lives up to Perfect Dark."

Timesplitters: Future Perfect is the sequel to the amazing Timesplitters 2. It surpasses all expectations and lives up to Perfect Dark, arguably the best first-person shooter ever made.

Gameplay

The most important part of a game. Timesplitters: Future Perfect has amazing gameplay. First, there is the main one-player mode: Story Mode. Story Mode is incredibly fun. There are 13 stages -- each with three difficulty levels. Even Easy poses some challenge, though most should be able to battle their way through. Normal is a very nice step up in difficulty, and Hard is another big step up. You will have to really know the level well to complete in it Hard mode. So that makes 39 Story Mode challenges. But that's not the end for Story Mode; you can have a friend play with you in Story Co-Op, doubling the amount of story mode challenges to complete. Each level is vastly different from the last, and seeing as though they take place in different time periods, the weapons, enemies, and environment change for each level. This makes for a lot of good diversity. If you run through a level over again you'll most likely find something new; there are many conversations you can eavesdrop in on, most of them very humorous. The game also keeps track of your best time on each difficulty for each level, giving you a fun personal challenge to see if you can top your previous best time. Story Mode is solid.

After Story Mode, you have Arcade. There are two types of Arcade modes: Custom and League. Custom is the main multiplayer mode. In a very nice amount of levels, you can engage in combat with your friends or bots. You can team up, or go solo. There are many modes of play, ranging from standard combat (Deathmatch), to a fun crazy game where everybody has to run from the people on flames (Virus). Also, the weapon amount is very nice. There is a very large selection of weapons to ensure your matches don't get old. Combine that with all the stages and modes of play, and you're set for a very long time. Nothing's more fun than a Sniping match in Siberia with four friends. If you think that you might get tired of the multiplayer one day -- don't forget -- there is a Mapmaker which you can make levels in. I'll cover that later.

Arcade League is a bit different. It's one player only--and sets you up in a pre-made Arcade match in which you have to compete against bots. Simply beating the match will award you with a bronze. Doing well can result in a silver or gold medal. For the professional players, there is also a special platinum award in each league match. Getting all platinums gives you some of the biggest bragging rights known to gaming -- it's not easy. Getting medals will unlock characters. There are 150 total, a lot of which you have to earn. The characters can be used in Arcade Custom and each have their own personal catchphrase, bio, and stats (stats can be turned off if you want to make each character equal). Many are very humorous and will really crack you up.

Challenge Mode. This is similar to Arcade League in that you can earn medals. The thing about the challenges is they aren't like arcade matches. They make you do very special tasks; making the game fresh after some Arcade. From breaking windows to racing with remote-controlled cats, Challenge mode is fun (and can also result in more characters unlocked). It will take many hours to get all platinums in Challenge Mode. After all, look at its name.

Mapmaker. For those who want to create their own maps to play on. This system has much improved from Timesplitters 2: more space, more types of tiles, rooms with no roofs (allowing weather and sky effects that you can customize), more control over the lights, and more options altogether. Mapmaker can make two types of maps: Story Mode maps (also allowing you to set medal times/scores to get), and Arcade Custom maps. Arcade Custom maps are for when you and your friends want to duke it out in any crazy level you can come up with, while Story Mode maps are for when you want to create your own levels with objectives. Mapmaker has many tilesets and different objects, allowing you to create very diverse, interesting maps.

The gameplay in this game will cause you to have many, many hours of fun, alone and with friends.

Story

The story takes off from the end of the last game: Cortez (the main hero), is travelling back to a war-ridden Earth (being bombarded by the evil race of creatures, the Timesplitters), bringing back the last possible savior of humanity: the Time Crystals. The plan is to use these crystals to travel back in time, destroy the crystals before they were created, to end the war before it even started.

Sound epic? Yeah. Timesplitters: Future Perfect appears to have a very serious plot, and it does at parts. However, it's also one of the funniest games you will ever play. Timesplitters: Future Perfect pays homage to almost everything -- you'll find references to everything, from Austin Powers to Resident Evil.

Many of the characters you will encounter are very funny and it makes the more realistic and enjoyable. Cortez has a personality that will have you laughing during the levels.

Graphics

Very good. The levels and guns look very realistic. The characters are made in the Timesplitters style: Realistic yet cartoony at the same time. Each level is well detailed and environments are very interactible. Framerate remains at a very steady 60fps. There should be hardly any slowdown ever. If you do see any it should be extremely brief. The animations are especially good! The lips look like they are saying the words. The facial expressions convey emotions very realistically. Definitely no problems there.

Music/Sound

A great soundtrack of many, many tracks was composed for this game. They are all very well made, and fit the situation. For example, while you are in a haunted mansion, the music becomes very eerie and spooky. However, in a Disco-bar (told you the levels were diverse!), you just want to get up and dance to the music. It's very well done.

The sounds are great too. I haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary. The guns sound realistic and solid. The voice acting is very well done. Definitely no problems.

Replay Value

You're not going to get tired of this one. Tons of Challenges, tons of Arcade League matches, an insane amount of multiplayer customization, 78 story mode challenges (13 levels x 3 difficulties x 2 player mode), a very diverse mapmaker for multiplayer and Story Mode, a nice statistics menu to keep all your stats and times on each Story Mode stage, cheats to unlock, and more.

Timesplitters: Future Perfect is a rare gem among many other bland games. I HIGHLY suggest you pick up a copy.

Buy/Rent?

Buy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/05