"You really can't find a better current-gen shooter than this"

Sgt. Cortez returns to kick more timesplitters butt in the third installment of Free Radical Design's Timesplitters: Future Perfect. T:FP combines everything you loved about the first two, and then adds some great new things.

Graphics – 8/10
The graphics in T:FP are a bit of a mixed bag. Everything is clear and sharp in the cutscenes. Characters' mouths movie in sync to their speech, and even their facial expressions match what they're saying. A few of the levels, however, show the PS2's age and have a little bit of a haze throughout. This only occurs in one or two levels. The rest of the levels in the game look very good for what they accomplish. There are many different settings, and the level of detail is astounding. Every reflective surface reflects properly, computer screens show actual moving displays instead of a lifeless decal.

The diversity of the character models alone is an accomplishment. There are over 100 characters to choose from in multiplayer, and they are all very distinct.

The guns all look great. Many of them have moving parts or mechanisms when you shoot them.

Sound – 9/10
The voice overs in this game are incredible. Cortez sounds perfect for his role: a somewhat clueless macho man. The other characters' reactions to him sound great. For the many other characters in multiplayer, they all make different noises and say different things when they get hit. The guns all sound like they should, especially the electrotool.

The soundtrack is very well done. Every stage has music that fits the mood perfectly, whether you are in a suspenseful situation surrounded by enemies, or doing a stealth mission trying to remain undetected.

Gameplay – 10/10
There is so much to do in T:FP. The campaign mode is very well done. T:FP has the most solid story out of the three Timesplitters games. In every mission, you have several objectives to complete, as well as optional secondary objectives in some levels. The length of story mode is average for an FPS, around ten hours on normal. Every level is different, as you are travelling through time. In each level, you have a sidekick character. They don't do much in some cases. One of the most interesting aspects of story mode is the “wormholes” you encounter. In every level, you end up interacting with yourself from the past, future, or both. So you could go through a level, and team up with yourself from the future to solve a puzzle. Then as you progress, you team up with yourself from the past to solve the same puzzle again! It sounds repetitive, but it works so that you never do the same thing twice.

The humor in story mode of T:FP is very good, and the game also makes jokes at games like Resident Evil, Goldeneye, Half-Life, Perfect Dark, and Doom 3. There are also jokes or references to movies like Jaws, Aliens, Starship Troopers, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Robocop, and Citizen Kane.

The other single player modes include Arcade League and Challenge Mode. The two are basically the same, except Challenge Mode concentrates more a steep level of difficulty, and Arcade League is more about playing different scenarios. Depending on what your score is at the end of a game, you will get a different reward, and unlock something new.

As is the case with the first two Timesplitters, T:FP features an extensive multiplayer mode. It can be played offline or online. You can play offline with your friends and use computer controlled bots. There are many different multiplayer modes to choose from, and you can use any combination of guns and bots.

Story – 9/10
T:FP has the most story out of the Timesplitters series so far. It takes place immediately after Timesplitters 2, with Sgt. Cortez returning to the human base with the Time Crystals he retrieved from the timesplitters in all the different time eras. With all of the crystals in his possession, Sgt. Cortez travels back in time to try to prevent the timesplitters from ever gaining access to the crystals.

Controls – 10/10
The controls are great. They're very comfortable and easy to learn. If you played any other PS2 shooter, you have pretty much played with the same controls for T:FP.

Overall (not an average) – 10/10
Timesplitters: Future Perfect is a really great game with something for everyone. The humor, graphics and sound are all top notch. There are hours of things to do with this game. One thing to look out for though: this game contains much more blood and gore than the previous Timesplitters games, so definitely consider its “M” rating.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/17/06