After Perfect Dark, most of the team that worked on it left Rare to start their own studio, Free Radical Design. They developed TimeSplitters on the PS2 which was entirely multiplayer focused, with a few very simple single player/co-op levels where you collect an object then make a beeline for the starting point. With TimeSplitters 2, Free Radical decided to add in a proper single player campaign that brings the objective style of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark back. It even starts with a dam level.
It doesn’t quite go all the way, as it feels even more linear than their previous games, with levels being long corridors and objectives being more like keeping an eye out for objectives around the way. There is, however, a lot of style to the levels and the time travel aspect allows for some wonderfully different themes and a wide array of incredibly fun levels. The main campaign is still immensely enjoyable from start to finish.
But the campaign is just one small part of TimeSplitters 2, the multiplayer mode – which can be played with bots – is amazing, with an immense amount of modes, from basic deathmatches and different variations on that (one where you collect coins from dead players, one where you lose health unless you’re hurting someone, one where monkeys help the player in last place), but other fun stuff like virus, where one person starts on fire and has to infect everyone else. Another big highlight is Assault, where one side had to complete objectives with the other side stopping them.
And it goes beyond that as well, as the challenge mode adds more ways to play. Smashing windows, collecting bananas, defending a small area from zombies and other crazy stuff, each with medals to collect and high scores for you and friends to take turns competing against. There’s also a “Classic” story mode with three challenges, which are three new levels based on the style of levels in the first TimeSplitters.
Finally, there’s the mapmaker. If this was just a tool to make multiplayer maps, it would be brilliant, with lots of ways to create multi-layered levels, adding items, lighting, weapon points and more. However, it goes beyond even that, letting you create single player missions with enemies, objectives and more. It’s a lot of fun not just to come up with your own ideas for, but to also recreate some classic levels from other games.
While the main story is short, the fun weapons, amusing characters and variation makes for a wonderful experience, and all the other modes make for an amazing package. There’s so much to love in TimeSplitters 2, with a lot of unique aspects, even after all this time.