TimeSplitters 2

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TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters 2 for PS2 US box art
Developer(s) Free Radical Design
Publisher(s) Eidos Interactive
Release date(s) October 11, 2002
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T), ELSPA: 15+
Platform(s) GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Media 1 × GameCube Optical Disc, DVD-ROM

TimeSplitters 2 is a 2002 first-person shooter for Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube developed by Free Radical Design and published by Eidos. It is the sequel to the 2000 Playstation 2 game TimeSplitters. The game is notable for its immediate impact on gaming in 2002, where it ranked among the best first-person shooter games being sold.

Contents

[edit] Improvements over the original

Improvements to the original game include:

  • A more in-depth story mode with longer missions and varied primary and secondary objectives.
  • Checkpoints are in many missions.
  • The option to use a stealth strategy in some scenes.
  • Boss characters now appearing in some missions.
  • The co-operative mode expanded to better cater to two players.
  • The addition of an Arcade League mode (see below for details)
  • Distinct set statistics and difficulty ratings for individual characters (can be switched off in arcade custom mode).
  • The ability to create story-based maps in the Mapmaker.
  • Destructible environments.

[edit] Story

The story is based around an evil extra terrestrial race called the TimeSplitters who are bent on the destruction of the Earth. However, rather than invasion, the TimeSplitters are using time crystals to travel though time and change the course of the Earth’s history, thus bringing it into ruin. The game starts off in the year 2401, with Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart invading the TimeSplitters' space station in order to recover the 9 time crystals. They manage to make it to the bridge, however are too late as they manage to see the last few TimeSplitters jumping through a time portal, each carrying one time crystal. These nine TimeSplitters have each travelled to a different time period in the Earth’s history, and Cortez must travel to each of these times to recover the time crystals. Upon arrival at each time zone, he takes the form of a different character which relates to the that period in history: for example, in the Wild West he takes the form of the bounty hunter, Elijah Jones, and in Chicago he takes the form of the “hard-boiled detective,” Jake Fenton. Each level is extremely unique and has its own style of weapons, from the wild west rifle and gangster-style tommy gun to futuristic plasma rifles and homing launchers. The levels often end on a showdown with a boss or multiple bosses, and almost always on the recovery of a time crystal. New objectives are added on harder level settings and new sections to the levels are revealed. The story sees you return to the space station where you have to escape with the time crystals, thus restoring the integrity of Earth’s history.

[edit] Time zones

A list of the time periods the player explores.

  • Oblask Dam, Siberia — (1990) Investigate the mysterious digging site beneath the dam and look out for the living dead.
  • Chicago, USA — (1932) Assassinate mob-boss Big Tony at his exclusive club.
  • Notre Dame, Paris — (1895) Eliminate the insane cult leader Jacque de la Morte and free his prisoners.
  • Return to Planet X — (2280) Locate the UFO base, and escape from the Mox aliens.
  • Neo-Tokyo, Japan — (2019) Locate the hacker gang's hideout and clear your name.
  • Wild West, USA — (1853) Free the imprisoned Sheriff and execute the deranged 'Colonel'.
  • AtomSmasher — (1972) Shut down super-villain Khallos' Atom Smasher.
  • Aztec Ruins — (1920) Retrieve the Time Crystal from the Lost City golems.
  • Robot Factory — (2315) Eliminate the rebel Machinist and shut down his factory.
  • Space Station — (2401) Escape the self-destructing Space Station with the Time Crystals.

[edit] Arcade league

The Arcade League allows the player to set their wits against a series of pre-set multiplayer matches. There are 3 leagues with 5 groups of 3 matches in each. Successful completion of a match will result in a trophy, coloured bronze, silver or gold depending on the criteria met. A silver and/or gold trophy is usually accompanied with new characters, arcade maps or cheats. In addition, a platinum trophy can also be earned for an outstanding performance in a match, but results in no additional reward. Each group is typically linked by a common theme. Any group can be selected from the start, but you must complete each match within a group to unlock the next in that group. At the beginning of the game, you will have access to only the Amateur League; completion of Amateur League matches will unlock the Honorary League, which in turn unlocks the Elite League when completed.

[edit] Challenge mode

The Challenge Mode returns, but this time is accessible from the beginning of the game. As before, the objectives are to complete set challenges in the hope of a trophy (coloured as in the Arcade League, bronze, silver, gold and platinum) and reward (in the form of a character, level or cheat). Again, the challenges are found in groups of three, typically linked by a common theme. Completion of challenges unlocks the next group and so forth. Characters weapons, and maps can be rewarded for good performance as well. Gold trophies are needed to unlock the maximum characters for that specific mission.

[edit] Development

Due to much of Free Radical's developers being former members of Rare's development team for GoldenEye 007, the TimeSplitters series is often compared to it and contains many throwbacks to its predecessor. For example, both TimeSplitters 2 and GoldenEye 007 start off on a Siberian dam.[1] In Japan, TimeSplitters 2 was instead released as Time Splitters: Invaders of the History.[2] The map editor function was notably dropped on the PS2 version.

[edit] Trivia

  • The game is featured in the 2004 "romzomcom" Shaun of the Dead as the game of choice for characters Shaun and Ed. The section that can be seen is the multiplayer 'Streets' arena, and Single Player map, Chicago. In the film, other players can join the game simply by pressing Start during a match; while this feature is included in some games, TimeSplitters 2 is not one of them, and the "Player two has entered the game" soundbites had to be voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. Returning the favour, with a nod back to Shaun of the Dead, the character Clip Clamp in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect says "Do I have red on me?" when selected. This parodies a line repeated throughout the movie "You've got red on you."
  • The level "2019 Neo-Tokyo" is an homage to the cyberpunk anime Akira, which takes place in the same exact city and date. Akira pays great debt to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner as they both bear strong similarities in technology, music, and setting.
  • The level "Wild West" is inconsistent with American history when it says that the colonel is a confederate, because the level takes place in 1853. It wasn't until 1861 that the Confederacy was created and the American Civil War began. Also, a flag is shown with twenty stars, implying twenty states; there were thirty-one in 1853. (This can easily be explained as an alternate reality, since it is a video game and not attempting to be historically accurate in any way, shape, or form.)
  • The Atomsmasher level resembles the original "Half-Life", It has similar gameplay and has many references.
  • TimeSplitters also features ingame games which are old school arcade such as Anaconda (like Snake (video game)) Moon-Lander and RetroRacer.You must find them on the levels(on the right difficulty setting) and once you have the cart you can open them with the Terminal uplink.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Casamassina, Matt (October 11, 2002). TimeSplitters 2 (GCN) review. IGN.
  2. ^ IAQ. Free Radical.

[edit] External links

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