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TimeSplitters

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For the race of creatures from the series see: TimeSplitters (Race)

TimeSplitters is a series of first person shooter video games, which have a storyline based on time travel. The first two games were published by Eidos. The first, released on the PlayStation 2 as a launch title for the system, while its sequel was also released on Xbox and GameCube, in addition to the PlayStation 2 version. There are currently three games in the series, TimeSplitters, TimeSplitters 2, and (published by EA Games).

The original game, TimeSplitters, was developed by the Nottingham based company Free Radical Design and published in 2000 by Eidos. Set over 100 years of past, present and future, TimeSplitters boasts probably the fastest gameplay yet seen in a console FPS, demanding the players keep their wits about them at all times.

The look of the game is substantially more stylised and cartoon-like than most first person shooters, with character models and expressions more closely resembling games such as XIII or Serious Sam than more realistic contemporaries such as Half-Life or Red Faction. This emphasis on often comic book-style character design, many of which represent instantly recognisable parodies of established pop-culture stereotypes (such as the aristocratic English explorer or the suave secret agent) combined with an often surreal and self-mocking style of humour.

The game, and the series as a whole, is notable for the inclusion of a Mapmaker: a simple grid-based level editor. In TimeSplitters, Mapmaker maps may only be used in Arcade mode.

The classic game Goldeneye 007 is often mentioned alongside Timesplitters because Free Radical Design is a split from Rareware and Timesplitters is sometimes considered a continuation of the popular FPS style Goldenye 007 induced.

Contents

Story

Story mode is a series of nine short yet frantic missions, based upon the retrieval of a key object and its successful return, typically back to the map's starting point. Enemy AI is simple yet determined, and on harder settings there's little room for error. Enemies can appear out of nowhere and there are no checkpoints to allow breathing space. The difficulty curve in TimeSplitters is steep, in the harder settings the enemies become more numerous, better armed, and the maps themselves can change to make things more difficult.

There are always two playable characters on each mission to choose between in Story Mode. Cooperative play is also available, though enemy numbers and weapon/health placements remain the same as in Single Player Mode.

The Story mode is also where most of the games unlockables are found. Completing a mission will often be rewarded with a new character or characters in the Arcade game. Other rewards include new cheats and new Arcade maps. Completing a mission in a set time limit will also garner a reward. Weaponry available to the player is determined primarily by the time setting of the mission, Tommy Guns and Mausers, through Uzis to rayguns can all be found throughout the game.

Effectively, the only link between these separate time periods is the enemies that materialize whenever you complete your goal in a level and must return to the starting point. As revealed in later games in the series, these are the TimeSplitters themselves, travelling through Earth's history in an attempt to disrupt and destroy humanity. (In the player profile it tells you how many Timesplitters you've killed but it doesn't specify that they are randomly spawning enemies that start appearing when you grab the key in your objective nor does it give any info on them.)

The Story Mode missions are:

Arcade

The game's multi-player Arcade mode when fully unlocked, boasts a selection of 6 game types, 18 maps, over 60 characters and all story mode weapons, coupled with almost complete customisation of individual match settings, and finished with a quality mapmaker.

The individual game types are:

The Arcade maps available are:

As can be seen, half of the Arcade Mode maps are lifted directly from the Story Mode, albeit 'opened up' (or in the case of the Spaceways and Tomb maps, closed-off) for Arcade usage, the remainder are those maps specially constructed for Arcade Mode play.

The characters available as playable or bots, are made up mostly of Story mode heroes and villains and are many and varied. Everything from Robots, Cyborgs and Zombies to Gangsters, Aliens and even the odd Furry are selectable.

Challenge

A series of 9 sets of 3 single player challenges, often based around a pre-set Arcade match. Rewards are given for successful completion.

See also

External links

 

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