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Edweirdo
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(9/29/02 1:44 am)
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OFFICAL TIMESPLITTERS 2 TOPIC
Yes, I must post this review down. Come Octomber 15th, you'll buy this multi-console FPSer! Some (ignorant) people said the game would bomb like Turok 4. But not according to this review..
This is from the Offical UK PS2 Magazine. I found this floating around the net, so I snagged it.
TIMESPLITTERS 2 MUCH GOODNESS
Timesplitters 2 is going to make you cry. Which is just as well really because Sony must have been worried with all that talk about the emotion engine reducing grown men to tears was starting to look a bit silly. So why the sobbing? Well, its partly to because this is the most retina-scorching barrage of state-of-the-art graphics yet seen on PS2. Play multiplayer long enough, and you understand exactly how Malcom MacDowell must have felt while filming A Clock Work Orange - strapped to the chair with his eyes pinned open and unable to look away from the multicoloured mayhem on-screen. But the main reason you are likely to find yourself welling up is out of sheer relief, because this time the Story mode is every bit amazing as we hoped.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME
Along with SSX, the original Timesplitters remains one of the few Playstation launch titles capable of withstanding scrutiny today. But lets be honest, shall we? It was no GoldenEye and to be fair, it never intended to be. Given the contracted development cycle, compromises had to be made, and the solo missions just weren't up to the high standard set by the multiplayer experience.
Which brings us back to the brain-warping majesty of this sequel. It might sound a glib, but Timesplitters 2 feels like the game that Free Radical wanted to make. Where movie sequels generally adhere to the law of diminishing returns video game fans are pretty much guaranteed that each new installment will be bigger and better than the last. Even so, nothing prepared us for this.
Looking at this game on purely technical terms, Timesplitters 2 is an absolute masterclass in how to make the Playstation 2 chip set really sing. Imagine Holly Vallance's Kiss Kiss video but without those pesky lensflares. That's how good it looks. From the cavernous halls of the gothic spires of Notre Dame to the arid landscape of Planet X, where UFOs buzz overhead, its breathtaking third-generation stuff and an interstellar mile away from the drab corridors usually found in first-person shooters. The spot effects are equally impressive: a fully charged laser gun makes the air surrounding shimmer while the highly polished floors in Big Tony's Chicago nightclub create pixel-perfect reflections.
TS2 is overflowing with ideas and influences, yet its remarkable how succinctly the whole thing plays. This is a joyous B-movie pastiche, taking in hammer horror, spaghetti westerns and cult sci-fi. But whether you're playing as a spandex-suited spaceman or moustachioed super spy, the hand-drawn animation and cartoon characters ensure the game retains its unique stylised look. Blinding the whole package together is Graeme Norgate's incredible score, which mixes Georgian chants, sleazy jazz and Morricane twangs to characterise each different era.
TIME ON YOUR SIDE
All of which would count for nothing without the enhanced Story mode. By now you've probably already had a bash at the Siberia level featured on this month's cover DVD, so you should know what to expect: big levels, multiple objectives and gameplay that mixes stealth with run-and-gun action. Where previously it was just a case of blasting your way in, collecting the time crystal and escaping the eponymous aliens, now the levels are packed with variety. At the stealthier end of the spectrum is the Neo Tokyo mission, where you have to trail a hacker to her underground base without being detected. The temporary uplink gizmo acts like a makeshift radar, enabling you to dodge security cameras and hovering police cars.
In contrast, the Robot Factory is a lot more trigger happy, with wave after wave of mechanised enemies to dismantle. You'll also find yourself trying to disarm bombs in a super villains underground base (complete with guards in yellow jump suits) and breaking prisoners out of jail in the Wild West. Not only are the mission objectives more diverse this time, they also change on fly. Rival Gangsters will suddenly start shooting at O'Leary's bar in Chicago, while on Planet X you get in the crossfire of an alien civil war.
On the easier setting you'll probably be able to play through all ten levels (including the finale on the 'Splitters' space station) in a few days. But that's missing the point. Ramp up the difficulty and it's an altogether different proposition. Along with additional objectives and completely new areas to explore, and enemies also become crack shots. It takes lightening reflexes to outgun them without taking a hit, which is vital because extra ammo and health pick-ups are so scarce. So much so, that it strangely feels like a survival horror game, in that you have got to make every single shots count. Each mission features an appropriately themed arsenal, so in the Wild West your restricted to a Garrett pistol and scope equipped Winchester rifle, which necessitates a completely different approach to the rapid-fire blasters found in the Robot Factory. As a piece of game design Timesplitters 2 is actually remarkably old-skool. With each successive attempt you make little more progress, gradually learning where different enemies appear and building a strategy to suit. With practice and perseverance you reach the point where your path through the level will be choreographed down to the last split-second. Instead of blasting away in blind panic your strafing with ballectic grace and deadheading zombies with a single shot. Suddenly the once-impossible objective is within your grasp, and the sense of achievement is immense. Even after you've cracked the game, you'll keep on dipping into your favourite levels, obsessed with achieving that near-mythical perfect run.
TIME TO DIE
As brilliant as it is though, Timesplitters 2's story mode is still only the tip of this awesome gameplay iceberg. Head over to Arcade section and you discover one of the most immense Multiplayer modes ever devised. Timesplitters 2 features a total of 16 different maps, including revamped versions of a few old favourites, but its still the sheer variety of match types that will leave you slack-jawed with amazement. Plug in a MultiTap, scour your address book for potential cannon fodder and get ready for the most foul-mouthed night of four way fun this side of a weekend trip to Soho with Jamie Theakston. Using i.Link, you can even hook six Playstation 2's together for 16-player carnage. Timesplitters 2 is a frenetic as fragging gets. There isn't much point using Counter-Strike tactics when a monkey with a flame-thrower is running around roasting everything in sight. In fact, you wont last a few seconds before slumping to the ground in a chargrilled heap. After a while your eyes feel like they've been given a raw onion rub down, but that wont let stop you from hitting the re-match button. This time there's a mammoth league option, which is split into three difficulty levels, each featuring five different tournaments containing three matches with specific rules and victory conditions. Do the maths it's a fantastically ludicrous amount of gameplay. Needless to say you can custom every single, option from durations to one hit kills. Once completely unlocked, the game features a chocolate box of over 100 characters to choose from and - in our case - the flaxen-haired maiden seemed like an obvious choice.
Once completely unlocked, the game features a chocolate box of over 100 characters to choose from and - in our case - the flaxen-haired maiden seemed like an obvious choice.
It's unlikely you'll ever tire of the Multiplayer mode, but just in case, there are seven Challenge games to master. Each one contains three different tasks, usually played against the clock. But what you really want to know about are the monkeys, right? Fans of Gorillas In The Mist shoul probably look away now, because one of the Challenge games involves blasting the giggling little fleabags out of the air, clay pigeon-style. You can't help but grin at the sheer idiot brilliance of it. The other two Monkeying Around mini-games are almost as good. One has you shooting exploding watermelons out of their paws, while the other places you on the Siberian dam as exploding monkeys hurtle across the water like hairy bouncing bombs.
TIMELESS CLASSIC
We were suitably convinced of this game's worth months ago, but the recent inclusion of a completely reworked Mapmaker mode ensures TimeSplitters 2 reaches classic status in OPS2. As in the first game, plonk down a few rooms and you can create a rudimentary Deathmatch level in just minutes. However, it is the ability to design your own single-player missions, with multiple objectives and patrolling enemies, which puts TimeSplitters 2 in an altogether different league. Using the Advanced mode you can create sprawling levels - up to seven stories high if you have enthusiastic construction dreams . Once you're happy with the general layout of your level, you can add area-specific objectives which players complete by reaching a certain point or destroying a particular object. The real fun starts when you are given the chance to place enemies in your VR landscape. Although you're restricted to a maximum of ten opponents they can be set to respawn automatically. Clicking the preview button enables a quick run-through, so you can test the level's overall balance. Once you've got the bug, hours will disappear as you adjust the map to perfection. Best of all, you can save the finished version to Memory Card and swap homebrew missions with your mates.
Graphics 10 - " Vast environments and eye-searing effects"
Sound 10 - " Epic score and genuinely funny speech"
Gameplay 9 - " A worhty successor to GoldenEye's throne"
Life span 10 - "Story mode wont last forever, Multiplayer will"
Overall 10/10 - "Expansive in every sense, this is an essential purchase for anyone in possesion of a Playstation 2 and a central nervous system."
...Oh yes, you WILL buy this game...
SAME ED TIME, SAME ED PLACE!!Edited by: Edweirdo at: 9/29/02 10:26:20 pm
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Edweirdo
Warning: 25%
(Warning Level 1.0)
(9/29/02 2:07 am)
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Re: TimeSplitters 2 Funky Hype Machine: Magazine Review(s)!
AFJSGLJNSAPODLF!@$% (Translation: Stupid Ezboard. Review of the Cube version will be up soon enough, but they do say it could very well be THE BEST FPSER EVER.)
SAME ED TIME, SAME ED PLACE!!Edited by: Edweirdo at: 9/29/02 2:10:37 am
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Kulock 
...So... much writing...
(9/29/02 3:22 am)
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Re: TimeSplitters 2 Funky Hype Machine: Magazine Review(s)!
"which mixes Georgian chants"
"Y'aaaaaaaaAAAaaaaaaallllllll..."
Just asking, did you retype this yourself? I'm not ragging on you, that was a serious amount of retyping if you did. (I'm unsure of the correct spelling, but it's closer to Gregorian, I just couldn't resist the joke.)
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Perfect Dream Leo 
One man.
Over 10 accounts.
The odds are against him, in the..
MOOGLE CAVERN ZONE.
(9/29/02 9:32 am)
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Re: TimeSplitters 2 Funky Hype Machine: Magazine Review(s)!
Meanwhile, southwest of Russia...
"What the heck? We don't chant like that."
Oh, and I've never played Time Splitters, but it sounds good from that review =D
The Board · MKC Comics · Doom Network
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Edweirdo
Warning: 25%
(Warning Level 1.0)
(9/29/02 10:19 pm)
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Re: TimeSplitters 2 Funky Hype Machine: Magazine Review(s)!
What? All that stuff and all I get is two friggen replies? (And Leo, I hope you mean TimeSplitters 2)
If I don't get any more replies, I'll change the topic title to "Porn!"
Anyways.. Here's a review of the Gamecube Version from the UK GCN Magazine..
ONE FPSER TO RULE THEM ALL
The best shoot-'em-up in the world…ever? It looks like Free Radical might have actually cracked it…
Mention the words "first-person-shoot-'em-up", "Nintendo" and "best game ever" in the same sentence and you'd be surprised how many people jump to the conclusion that you're talking about GoldenEye. It seems that Rare's N64 opus has had more of an impact on console gaming than some would give credit - practically every FPS game that comes out these days is compared and contrasted against it, but not many manage to make the grade according to most people who'd be interested enough in giving you an answer. So if we were to turn around and tell you that there's now a new game on a Nintendo console (made by most of the same team that worked on GoldenEye) that managed to not only best the Rare classic, but take it outside and give it ten of the best, trousers down…well, would you believe us or simply demand that we be burnt at the stake for such comments? Hmm, tough call.
In any case, even the most hardened GoldenEye fanatic will have to open their eyes and pay attention when Timesplitters 2 hits the shelves this October - its not just a game, it's THE game for console-owning first-person shoot-'em-up fans the world over. Never mind the fact that it's also out on the PS2 and the Xbox; you could be the most narrow-minded Nintendo fanboy ever and still find a soft spot in your heart for a game as good as this. Put your prejudices and preconceptions to one side, then grab some friends and extra pads - this is as good as it gets, folks…
It's not surprising given the jobs we do, but a lot of games pass through the hands of the CUBE team in the space of a month. Much of the time they land on our desks, we play them for a while (or in the case of highly anticipated games like Eternal Darkness or Super Mario Sunshine, until we've finished them) and then into the cupboard they go, never to be played again. Every now and then though, a game comes along and not only stops us from working on the mag for a good couple of hours, but actually keeps us away from our desks enough to bring us threats of the sack from the Editorial Director. Super Monkey Ball (and specifically Monkey Target) did it way back in 2001, Bomberman Generation did it when we got the US version and now it looks like Timesplitters 2 is going to do it too. We'd ask the Editorial Director to get the P45s ready now… but he's too busy playing the game alongside us. Damn.
GOLDEN SPLITTERS
Much as we know how a lot of you will baulk that Timesplitters 2 manages to out-GoldenEye GoldenEye every turn…fact. True, Bond's first N64 outing was something special but having gone back to it recently, we're pretty sure that everything that made Rare's classic so perfect (the enemy AI, the wide variety of weapons, the stealth factor and the whole "feel" of the gameplay) is either just as good or even better in Timesplitters 2. What's more, Timesplitters 2 offers more play modes than GoldenEye ever did, a more expansive multiplayer game with enough stages and characters to keep you going for ages and even a full-on level editor on top of everything else…is that enough to whet your appetite? Though so.
BESTEST GAEM EVAR
Of course, it should be pointed out that while Timesplitters 2 manages to cross the divide between playing alone and playing with mates incredibly well, Free Radical have certainly put every effort into making this the very best FPS game ever. Not just on the Gamecube, you understand we're talking any console here (simply because the PS2 and Xbox versions are also both amazing), which means compared to GoldenEye, Quake 3 Arena, Red Faction and even shock horror! - Halo. Quite simply Timesplitters 2 manages to take everything that's good about first-person shoot-'em ups and bung it all togetherinto a single game; it's not easy to pin point exactly what makes everything work so well together, but when you play the game it all seems to feel spot-on. Yes, we know it sounds crazy but anyone who feels strongly about GoldenEye being the best FPS game around will know exactly what we're on about…
Despite the fact Timesplitters 2 is primarily a first-person shoot-'em up, its not all just charging in with guns blazing and blasting people in the face…good lord no. On top of all that shooting and…er, shooting you've got to do in the main story mode, there's also a fair bit of brainpower required thanks to numerous puzzle-esque elements - for example, trying to work out how to save your mate from the Wild West jail will have you scratching your head for a bit, due the fact going in the front door isn't the smartest move. There's a whole stealth element going on at various points, meaning that you'll have to hold off fire power and instead whip out your Temporal Uplink instead, using it as a radar to see where all the enemies are. The Neo-Tokyo stage, for example sees you tailing a member of a rouge hacker group through the streets and into their underground head quarters; not only have you got to stay out of site so she doesn't know you're there, you also need to worry about the security cameras and the police vehicles that are constantly scouring the streets. Believe us, it's not easy…and that the first part of the level. Blimey.
If there was one thing about Timesplitters 2 that makes it stand out as a killer app for the Gamecube though, it has to be the sheer sense of replay value that the whole thing offers; not even Nintendo's own titles have kept us coming back to them as much as we have (and no doubt will) with Timesplitters 2. There's just so much to do in the game, we doubt anyone will finish everything any time soon - while ten stages of story mode are obviously beatable after several days play, all in different leagues, challenges, secrets and other goodies will keep you playing for an absolute age. Combine this with virtually infinite amount of enjoyment that you'll get from multiplayer mode (especially if you're keen on creating your own stages) and you've got a game that, as far as we can see, will never EVER get tired - which is pretty much status that GoldenEye holds among many people now.
Visual - As lovely as you're going to get from a FPS. Well animated and tasty textures on top.
Audio - Music that fits every situation and leve, top speech and spot-on weapon and extra effects.
Gameplay - Take everything perfect about GoldenEye and multiply it by ten…that's how great this is.
Lifespan - The huge amount of leagues, Challenges and multiplayer modes will keep you going forever.
Originality - While it cribs from the best of them, TS2 also has a ton of nice touches and new ideas.
2nd Opinion
Split Me Sideways!
"So…GoldenEye 2 anyone? Come on, you're not going to say no, are you? I really can't find any faults with this. Can I get back to playing?"
SAME ED TIME, SAME ED PLACE!!Edited by: Edweirdo at: 9/29/02 10:33:50 pm
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Edweirdo
Warning: 25%
(Warning Level 1.0)
(10/1/02 12:18 pm)
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AGHLAGHLA!
AGH. DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO NOT REPLY TO MY TOPICS?
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