The long awaited TimeSplitters 4 is supposedly on its way and we're already anticipating another classic FPS in the making.
Clearly, in the absence of throwing virtual bricks at virtual windows, English youths have been forced to practise such operations for real. Thank God then that Timesplitters coming back because, frankly, we've never needed it more.
After quirky game developers Free Radical went into administration in 2008, the future certainly didn't look too perfect for the franchise and, for quite some time, it looked like a fourth in the series was nothing more than a childish fantasy.
All 3 previous TimeSplitters titles received wide acclaim across the board (although the third, admittedly, was missing something compared to its predecessor), due in part to its ace first person shooting, offbeat and often hilarious characters, and unbeatably fun multiplayer.
Needless to say, fans of the franchise are expecting something pretty sensational. This is what we think would make it so:
BRICKING ITAn aspect that made the Timesplitters franchise standout was its rather bizarre, yet immensely enjoyable challenges that often involved such activities as beheading the undead, obliterating helpless melons with machine guns, and lobbing bricks through a hundred windows in as little time as possible.
The bricks featured for added multiplayer mayhem as well; a strategic combination of 'brick only matches' with 'one hit kills' truly was a match made in heaven.
Watching your enemies slump pathetically to the ground after getting a fresh dose of brick to the face is just one of the unique details that made TimeSplitters an absolute gem of an FPS. Hopefully, the forth outing will bring a similarly alternative weapon set to current, more serious shooters.
FUN, FUN, FUNYou could say that most recent FPS titles have lacked a certain fun-factor. Epic, yes, entertaining, certainly, but we're talking about a different kind of fun. We're talking chimps with crossbows fun.
As we've mentioned, TimeSplitters is a game that's never been one for taking itself too seriously, something we hope to see in the upcoming next-gen version.
It's long list of lovable characters alone is enough to separate the franchise from the standard military shooter. The likes of disco hippy Harry Tipper and the terribly posh and delightfully mad Captain Ash make TimeSplitters about much more than mere shooting. That's without mentioning the Ninja Monkeys.
Many fans were left in dismay upon playing Future Perfect when they discovered that the fan favourite multiplayer mode, Flame Tag, had been cast aside. A criminal misjudgement that won't ever happen again, will it Crytek?
Flame Tag was a multiplayer great because - and you'll notice the theme here - it was all about having fun.
Comments
22 comments so far...
fyro11 on 21 Aug '11 said:
Make it so.
kenneth50 on 21 Aug '11 said:
Epicus Maximus!
I'd really like to see TS2 on Android devices however. That would rock!
Legendeer on 21 Aug '11 said:
/sigh they only ditched flame tag because it was the dullest timesplitters multiplayer mode, 4 players and 9 AI Bots vs one AI who has to make contact with one person to pass the flame on just got gunned down before they reached anyone.
Virus>flame tag
Virus was a lot more tense than flame tag, as soon as someone was tagged, the original flamer was kept on fire so within minutes it became 4 players vs 10 flaming AI Bots who as soon as you got touched you became one of them (As the AI were pretty crap at shooting the infected), and with every one of them you killed, there became a chance that they would respawn right behind you.....
The maps gave great variety too, with larger ones with lots of sniper rifles and miniguns, allowed lots of easy circle strafing and kiting. But playing on small enclosed maps or single path maps (Training ground is the best map ever for this) with radar turned off has never made going round a corner so scary.
Thus making one of the best 4 player Co-op shooters on console, with a distinctive Arcade feel to it, because it recorded how long you survived each time.
Add into this mix, invisibilty and speed powerups, bricks and Proximity mines and you have hours of fun.
Legendeers review of Timesplitters 2/3 virus mode match setting 10/10
casshern09 on 21 Aug '11 said:
What I want to see? I would like to see them not make it. Never understood why anyone ever liked this game.
For me it was below average at best. just my opinion though.
Wakacha on 21 Aug '11 said:
What!? When? I never saw anything about this.
iucidium on 21 Aug '11 said:
We need 32 player virus NOW.
iucidium on 21 Aug '11 said:
You sir are Dale Winton's foreskin.
corkymcr on 21 Aug '11 said:
cant wait to here that crunch when shooting someones head of this is the grail of fps
rbt2 on 21 Aug '11 said:
What we want to see?
Timesplitters 5 judging by those screenshots.
slick loose on 21 Aug '11 said:
You must not had many friends come over and play PS2 with you. This was the holy grail of split screen mayhem
wrightandrewjame on 21 Aug '11 said:
Just yesterday my brother and I were trying to find a game to play where we could kill a few bots in split-screen. There are so few games that do it now, but some of our best memories from playing multiplayer come from TimeSplitters (especially Virus mode - 3 of us against the world / 13 bots). We had to settle for Resistance 2's co-op (which sucks) and we used to play RB6:V2 but that's got pretty old.
So bring back TimeSplitters and keep what made it great - split-screen! (and Bots - don't forget them)
hicken_t on 21 Aug '11 said:
There has to be hundreds of characters, loads of weapons. Challenges galore. Mental maps. Map maker of course. Finally a story about going through time that make no sense.
rrrrzeeay on 21 Aug '11 said:
I loved Time Splitters 2 but I always wanted the game to look a bit more like the awesome cover art.
edtututu on 22 Aug '11 said:
@casshern09 - fair enough, if you don't like it you aren't interested, but why on earth should a game not be made because you won't personally play it?
I'd like to see more multiplayer options than you can shake a stick at (another of the series' stand-outs - we invented another 4-5 great game-types with those options - get in contact Crytek and I'll let you have them gratis
), a mapmaker so good it can genuinely extend the longevity and broaden the community of the game and a healthy disregard for modern shooter tropes. I do not want to see kill-streaks in TS4.
The art style surely lends itself to a concentration on speed rather than pushing textures and polygons and that should hopefully assist in making possible a fast action game with lots going on, great 4p split-screen co-op and a mapmaker with some real possibilities. And perhaps a proper co-op campaign?
And stick to the film references - game references just won't work in the same way, the field of reference is still too narrow for more than a few to be chucked in the mix.
ensabahnur on 22 Aug '11 said:
Just give me my Viola skin and a shotgun and your all dead!
Except all those buggers who picked either a monkey skin or a headless character, cheating bastards!
TS2 or3 on XBLA/PSN please if number 4's gonna take any length of time.
slick loose on 22 Aug '11 said:
I'm not gonna lie, I used the monkey! He was slightly faster than most characters AND he was smaller then them. Brilliant character who I decimated with!
flash501 on 22 Aug '11 said:
sonicsimian on 22 Aug '11 said:
relax... that's last gen 'splitters. Not 'splitters 4 as labelled.
ensabahnur on 22 Aug '11 said:
Swine!!
(waves fist in disgust)
Here's what The Picard thinks of those who use the monkey.
http://images.ebaumsworld.com/thumbs/avatars/PistolChanning/PistolChanning-1258176817.jpg
Imaduck on 22 Aug '11 said:
Fun frankly, and a suitable, colourful visual style. f**k "balance", just go mad with the guns, do it right
Godlike Ape on 23 Aug '11 said:
Robofish FTW! Such a quality franchise. I want everything that CVG has listed and probably more. More that I can't remember. But bots are a must.
more_bots on 24 Aug '11 said:
Bots, Bots, Bots and Bots. Not enough games have bots. I still play TimeSplitters 2 because it has bots. the new game also needs to have a map maker.