TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

"It's time to split... that boredom right down the middle!"

This is based on the offline aspect of the game. In other words, I have not experienced this game on Xbox Live yet, so all I have to go on is friends who have played and the bots (which are great, by the way).

The TimeSplitters series is made by the creators of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. Thusly, it is a First Person Shooter (FPS). When I first heard that TimeSplitters 3 was coming out, I was as giddy as a school boy. I had loved TS2 to the point of making 30+ maps and at least attempting as much of the arcade as I could. Then, earlier this year, I learned that TimeSplitters: Future Perfect was coming out: I didn't bother reading up on it, I just decided that I would get it. I wasn't disappointed.

Story:
Story has VASTLY improved since TS2. It's freaking hilarious, has many great cutscenes, and makes you think (about the plot). Its story is fairly basic, in that you are the harbinger of all things action, and EVERYTHING depends on your abilities. But hey, who cares just as long as you get to KICK SOME ARSE!? Best of all, though, is the fact that TS3 has a lot of spoofs and stuff on other games and movies. Although it helps having played those games or watched those movies, I think the general humor will be there.

Music:
Music has also improved a bit. It sounds like Free Radical got some amazing work put in to making this music. Best of all, though, is the fact that they brought songs from TS1 and TS2 back. Aside from the songs that were brought back, you also have loads of really kick-ass music made specifically for the game. So far, I haven't been left wanted to put my own soundtrack in. Of course, I couldn't even if I wanted to.

Sound:
Sound is sound. Guns make gun sounds. Rocket launches make a very satisfying rocket launcher sound. Bullets hitting walls have varied sounds. As a point of note, when a magnum bullet hits a wall, it sounds like Goldeneye's bullets. Voice acting is superb. I mean, I haven't heard this great of voice acting in QUITE a while. If you want to become a good voice actor, take notes from this game.

Gameplay:
I'll stop teasing now, since this is where the game is at. Gameplay is awesome. Not only is it awesome, it is great. Playing Assault has NEVER been so fun. Me and my friend put loads of bots on the attacking side and only two for us, and had great fun. The weapons are a many, but sometimes they are sort of the same with just different names. Instead of 40 weapons, it's more like 20+ unique weapons. Still, this is way better than most other games (not just FPS) can boast. There are cheap weapons: Ghost Gun (Think Drain Force on the Jedi Knight games, except even more cheap: It leaches life and causes tremendous heart ache). There are really awesome weapons: Flare guns, Sci-fi sniper rifle, and secondary fire for pistols (where they go to just one pistol that acts like a weaker sniper rifle).

Mapmaker is another strong point for this game. Not only do you have some of the things from TS2 back, you have much more added in. Now that the obvious is said, let's get to the good stuff. You can place cameras and switches in multiplayer levels and SPY on your enemies. With the B button, you can edit most items' properties. You can edit the respawn time for weapons, how long someone has to touch a switch before it activates, set the rotation limits for turrets, set what type of things fire out of turrets (For Projectile Turrets: Plasma, Bullets, and Laser; For Rocket Turrets: Rockets, grenades, etc; and Exotic Turrets). One of the greatest parts of Mapmaker is the fact that anything can connect to anything. There is no “red to red, blue to blue” in TS3. Instead, you can connect hallways to any spot on the open space tile. It's just great, and should be experienced by all. You still have a limit to space, and you only get five levels to work with. Aside from those downfalls, mapmaker is way better than the one from TS2. You can also adjust what the sky looks like (that's right, indoor/outdoor levels) and what type of weather happens (normal, rain, snow, and storm). But, greatest of all is the fact that it doesn't still rain when you are underneath something. That is, you can go under a shelter and it will not rain.

Arcade is even better this time around. It has cat-racing, zombie shooting, elimination matches, even a blast from the past that I will not spoil for you, but will say this: You get a sort of “what-if” thing to play with. And, the arcade is still as intense as before. Not much to say here, except to say that Arcade is way better this time around and I think I have much time that will be wasted on it. If you get TS3 for any reason aside from all the other stuff you can do, Arcade is that reason.

Replayability:
If you cannot bring yourself to replay anything in this game, you don't have fingers, arms, hands, or eyes (and sometimes ears). This game is all about replayability, and is where it shines best. Mix in the great modes of play and the fact that you can play and submit scores on Live: TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is THE game of replayability. I have actually played the story mode almost three times. Almost since I haven't beat it yet either of those times (Played through first seven levels by myself, and played through first three via co-op, then played the first and second levels with another person.). Arcade is a great for times when you just want something random to do.

Pros:
-Story mode owns your soul now instead of just showcasing what you get in the game
-Weapons are many and instead of having only 5 real weapons, you get 20+ varied and awesome ones
-Mapmaker is back and kicking better than anyone could hope with more stuff that you are able to do with the various items, tiles, and story elements
-Arcade is a must-play
-Assault is better than ever
-You can make your own Assault levels in mapmaker (!!!)
-You can play on Xbox Live with this game (I haven't had the chance yet, thus not much mentioning of it)
-Hard is hard (for those people who do like difficult stuff)
-150 characters to play as
-Load times are less

Cons:
-Story mode can get rather stupid because there are the obligatory stealth missions (but you don't have to do stealth, and can just shoot everything up: Hidden Pro in the Con section)
-Mapmaker is still limited by the stupid max limit of things you can put on it
-Hard is hard (for those who do not like difficult stuff)
-To put a Mapmaker map on Live, you have to make it while signed-in. This will cause problems for those of us who do not have Live and may want to put some really awesome maps on it
-DDE do happen, though the game is fairly solid

Rent or Buy:
To do all the things you want to do in this game, you HAVE to buy it. If you really enjoyed TS2, you will need to buy this game, since it is TS2 with all the faults fixed and more stuff added to what you liked about TS2. If you just need a game to play against friends on or off Live, this is your game, and you should buy it. European humor comes out in stark reality in this game, and if you like hilarious stuff, you'll need to buy this game. If you don't care for FPS, don't even bother with this game.

Synopsis:
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is a hit on all aspects of First Person Shooter gaming. If you have been looking for something with great offline multiplay and singleplayer action because you don't have Xbox Live, this is your game. If you have Xbox Live, this is your game. Buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/05