| TimeSplitters: Future Perfect | |
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PAL region PS2 box art |
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| Developer(s) | Free Radical Design |
| Publisher(s) | EA Games |
| Programmer(s) | Hasit Zala, Joe Moulding |
| Artist(s) | Tristan Reidford |
| Composer(s) | Graeme Norgate |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube |
| Release date(s) | Xbox GameCube & PS2 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer (co-op) |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | 1 X DVD-ROM, 1 X GameCube Optical Disc |
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by EA Games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube video game consoles.
It is the third game in the TimeSplitters series, after TimeSplitters 2, which was released in 2002 (itself the sequel to TimeSplitters released in 2000). The game features a single-player mode consisting of levels where the player assumes the role of Sergeant Cortez, a time-traveling marine from the 25th century, as he attempts to go to the past to save the future. The game also includes a range of multiplayer options as well as a cooperative mode. Online play was included in both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions. This is also the first Timesplitters game in the series to receive an "M" rating by ESRB.
In June 2007, a sequel was announced to be in development, titled TimeSplitters 4.
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The game begins in 2401 when the space marine, Sergeant Cortez, is leaving the space station that he destroyed at the end of TimeSplitters 2. His ship crash lands on the future Earth and two fellow marines greet him. Sergeant Cortez then continues along to reach the marines base where he learns that the Time Crystals he has stolen are needed to power the human time machine built by a scientist named Anya. Cortez is then tasked with following the signatures in the past by time travel thought to be caused by the TimeSplitters. Using his uplink to the Time Machine, which Anya has invented as well, Cortez travels through a series of various time periods befriending and aiding various characters (like Harry Tipper and his past self) in their fights against villains. After discovering that the creator of the TimeSplitters is a mad scientist named Dr. Jacob Crow, Cortez embarks on a new mission to foil the scientist's plans by destroying his labs throughout all of the time periods Crow had visited.
After making his way to the site of the first Time Crystal, Cortez finds Dr. Crow fused with a large bipedal robot. Crow destroys Cortez's ally R-110, leaving him and Cortez face to face. Knowing he can't defeat the scientist alone, Anya sends Cortez back in time a few minutes to when he first arrived in hopes of being able to double-team Crow with two Cortezes (and R-110, who was never destroyed as a result of the time loop). After Crow is defeated, Cortez puts a raw crystal into a device that causes a chain reaction that destroys the entire compound. Anya quickly warps the two Cortezes and R-110 back to HQ, leaving Crow and the Time Crystals to be destroyed. Cortez and Anya then observe the barren desert land restored to its former form; a lush, green forest filled with life. Anya labels Cortez as her hero to which he replies, "I know, it's what I do."
The Arcade and Challenge modes both allow the player to unlock new characters, weapons, and new locations for Arcade (excluding league) that the player can then use in the game's mapmaker feature. The player can complete various missions and league challenges to receive awards, new characters and medals. Once the player completes a mission the game automatically saves progress. In challenges and Arcade Leagues the player earns awards.
Throughout the TimeSplitters series, the programmers field monkeys as playable characters in various guises, such as ninja, zombie and RoboCop-style robot outfits; one multiplayer mode, "Monkey Assistants," utilizes them as assistants to the player who is doing the worst on the map. A curling minigame uses monkeys instead of the traditional curling stones. Further, when players examine their "Player Profile", it states how many times they have played as a monkey.
After the original TimeSplitters, Free Radical Design decided to include a level creator in the TimeSplitters Series. It includes tiles, character spawns, items for specific game-modes (such as a briefcase in "capture the bag" game mode) as well as the option to change the lighting and also add pre determined "bot sets", that is a group of up to ten characters to regularly appear on the map. The same goes for weapon sets.
This form of Mapmaker limits the player to a selected amount of tiles. It also allows basic features such as the addition of gun turrets, weaponry spawns and health and armour locations. It also features numerous backdrop items which vary on the maps "tile-sets", such as a sarcophagus in the "Ancient Egyptian" tileset, and a remote control robotic cat, named Strudel.
This version allows players to create a complex map as long as space is free. It contains all the features of beginner mode, as well as extra tile shapes, and backdrop features. it also features complex story mode features allowing users to create detailed and in-depth story maps of their own creation.
Future Perfect received universally positive reviews, ranking as the 4th best first-person shooter on PlayStation 2[1] with an average review score of 86.17% on GameRankings[2] and 8.9 on IGN.[3] However, the game ranks lower than its predecessor, TimeSplitters 2. As of December 2011, the PlayStation 2 version of Future Perfect holds a Metascore of 84/100 and a user score of 9.7/10 on review aggregator Metacritic.[4]
The sequel to Future Perfect was announced in June 2007.[6] However the future of development of TimeSplitters 4 became uncertain when the developers, Free Radical Design, went into administration in December 2008. In February 2009, Free Radical were bought by Crytek and became Crytek UK.[6] As of August 2009, Crytek UK has categorized TimeSplitters 4 as being on hold. The studio announced that the project would continue once there was a big enough demand in the market for it.[6] On June 14, 2011, VideoGamer.com was informed that Crytech UK is in development for TimeSplitters 4 for next generation consoles.[6]
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