First Person Shooters have always been regarded as mindless blood fests that serve no purpose in the gaming world. In the past few years the definition of what a First Person Shooter game is, has changed dramatically. All of a sudden these games can enthrall the most hobbit happy gamer and bring any helpless romantic to their knees. Well ok, it hasn’t changed that much, but aside from the advances in graphics and sound, story has taken a large leap in the First Person Shooter genre. Now to put everything that this last paragraph stood for to rest, this game has one of the most barebones and hokey stories that mankind has and will ever see. So we are back to square one. The only question anyone should be asking about this game is if it is any fun. To answer that in one word id say “awesome” but to be honest I am not one of short conversations.

    Timeplitters 2 is the sequel to one of the Playstation 2’s best multiplayer games and one of its best action games. The sequel aims to improve every little thing that the first was lacking in. The truth is, they really tried making the plot more viable this time around and they did in some respects but the overall result simply proves that this series was not intended to have much of a plot or meaning. TimeSplitters 2 is the first game of the series to go multiplatform and aside from the omission of an online multiplayer mode; this game has to be one of the best action games that anyone could ever play.

    The first thing that will come to everyone’s mind when they first play this game is that it resembles the Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye down to the very bullet holes in the wall. The comparisons are very striking and to be quite honest, this games multiplayer mode is ten times better than that of Goldeneye and even rivals the underdog, Perfect Dark. The gameplay is so fine tuned and fresh that it will leave many gamers addicted to it for as long as the planet earth has oxygen. The game features a plethora of game modes from the traditional Deathmatch to a new variation on Monkey Tag that the Turok series became famous for. There are over one hundred playable characters and a metric ton of weapons to use. The map maker feature is back from the first game and has taken a big leap in the areas of innovation with an easy to use interface that would make the most tech savvy programmers cry. Not only can you make sprawling rooms with varied lighting but now you can create mini one player maps with small mission objectives. The opportunities provided by the game are limitless. Aside from some little gripes, the gameplay is extraordinary. The fast paced action found in this game can be found almost nowhere else in the console scene. It even rivals some of the best PC shooters on the market.

    The game modes are all very solidly put together and none of them seem to fall short of being exceptionally good. The basic deathmatch mode is still there and to be quite honest, it is the weakest mode the game has to offer. You simply run around and shoot people. While this is great for mostly any other game, it doesn’t seem to fit in the big scheme of this game. Even team deathmatch speeds ahead of it. The overall best mode of this game would have to be the assault portion. It seems it’s the most widely neglected in the game mainly because it only has a few maps and is gained so late in the game. It expands on a mode made popular in Unreal Tournament for the PC. You are given several mission objectives and you need to meet them by a certain time limit. The frantic action that follows truly shows the motivations that players go through to achieve these objectives. The wildly fun Capture the Flag mode is back along with a mode in which you must capture an area and keep it captured for a specified amount of time. Those modes really take a toll on a person’s blood pressure. Virus and Flame Tag are the modes of choice for house parties as they test speed and primal instinct to make the player come out as the winner. What really shines is the way the developers formed the game. They show that not every mode has to have big weapons to be fun and sometimes the game modes rely on a stripped down version of the overall game. The coin collection and vampire modes are the only areas of the gameplay that were very shallow. Those modes seemed to be slapped on in a last minute attempt to say that the game had a ton of modes. It would have not hurt to leave them out as it would not have made much of a difference. The game will also boggle a player’s mind as it provides plenty of customizable options to make each match as interesting as the last. The options include custom weapons, time limits, powerups, music selections and bot configuration. It all helps to make this game very entertaining.

    If the gameplay lacks in any area it would be in the single player game. Now while the single player campaign is very well put together and executed, it lacks one major factor, longevity. It is over and done with way too fast and while there are many reasons to go back, it simply would have been nicer to have a much longer game. If the developers had known they would not be adding in multiplayer support earlier, then the game would surely have been longer in the end. The two player cooperative mode makes up for this by providing a lot of fun for you and a buddy to have when the multiplayer modes get dull, but in the end, it does not look like that will happen for many. The single player mode’s story is as wide as an elephant’s stomach but it does get the job done. More enemy variety would have been nice but as an action game, it wasn’t necessarily a must. The bosses featured in the game are easily defeated but for first time players, they can be a hassle to overcome. When all is said and done, the one player mode could have been much more. Luckily, it ended up better than the single player mode from the original TimeSplitters but still, more would have been better.

    Another area in which TimeSplitters 2 excels in, is the graphics department. The character models are simple but comical and present the games goofy mood in a better way than even some of the environments. The characters range from Amazon women to early American mobsters. Their fluid animations are extraordinary and the countless expressions made by these characters make the game an entirely different experience. The texture quality represented by the environments is exemplary and show the true power of the GameCube. The frame rate is another area that has benefited from being on the right console as this game usually never dips below the sixty frames per second mark. The glass and explosion effects are areas in which could have been better but assuming that explosions take up a lot of CPU power, it would be proper to say that they were toned down to keep the game blazing by. The sheer variety of the environments is also striking. From a Siberian wasteland to early 1950’s Chicago, even as far as a space station. The weapon effects are flashy and there are plenty other special effects where that came from. Overall the visuals are in top form and show what can happen when the right amount of effort is put into presentation and planning.

    The audio side of this game is about as good as all the others but since this is an action game, not much is to be expected in this area. The music is upbeat and roaring when necessary and also pull down to a morbid tone when the moment is just right. The sound effects are also top notch from the screams of an Amazon woman to the cries of an alien mutant. The weapon sound and ambience are the only areas that are lacking. None of those sounds really add to make it sound realistic. In an age of booming technology you’d think a little more pride would be put into the audio presentation. There is nothing wrong with the sound in this game, it just doesn’t do anything gut wrenchingly well, or new for that matter.

    In the end, you must take into account the lack of First Person Shooters for consoles in the last few years. Either developers are beginning to learn from their mistakes, or they are taking a cue card or two from the developers of this game. This is an action game done the right way and it does not falter in any area aside from too much icing on an already full cake. TimeSplitters 2 is the best action game in years and is hands down the best action game that can be found on the GameCube. Not buying this game would do nothing to hurt you, but buying this game can only make life more enjoyable.