TimeSplitters 2 Updated Preview
Check out our exclusive multiplayer impressions of Eidos Interactive's upcoming first person shooter.
Eidos recently popped by and let us play a demo of TimeSplitters 2's multiplayer mode. Given developer Free Radical's experience with multiplayer mayhem--many of the people on the staff worked on the previous TimeSplitters game and GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64--we've been eager to see what they've cooked up. In a cruel twist of fate, the demo offered us only two levels to explore and teased us with 11 levels that were listed but locked. Still, we were able to get a taste of how the game's multiplayer mode is shaping up, and we're definitely intrigued.
The first multiplayer level we played in, Training Ground, starts you out in the interior of a military installation and opens up into an outdoor area that runs through a canyon and ends up at a waterfall. The exterior is peppered with barrels and stationary machine-gun turrets waiting to be commandeered and put to good use, and rock formations and partially demolished buildings provide decent cover and good vantage points to wreak havoc from. Additionally, the waterfall at the end of the canyon area provides more than a cosmetic touch, as you'll come to rely on it to douse the pain of being set on fire by flamethrower-wielding opponents. You'll find a lethal and satisfying assortment of weapons strewn about the area. You'll start out with a Soviet 547 rifle and come across a sniper rifle, an assault shotgun, and the aforementioned flamethrower in your crazed killing spree. In addition, you'll find the expected health and armor power-ups. The skins for the level stayed close to the military theme, offering a basic assortment of male and female soldiers.
The second multiplayer level we had a look at, the Mexican Village, is a bit larger than the training ground but follows the same general layout as the training ground, mixing exterior and interior areas. The outdoor areas were more wide open in this level, though, offering little in the way of cover and promoting massive shooting sprees. You'll find some respite in the small huts that offer cover and weapon, armor, and health power-ups. On the other hand, the cramped interiors, which are reminiscent of a typical Spanish mission, force you stay alert or risk being cut down before you can draw a bead on your opponent. The level also contains a fountain that serves the same purpose as the waterfall in Training Ground. Your arsenal will consist of stylish dual Lugers, a plasma rifle, a shotgun, and the reviled flamethrower. You'll find the various power-ups in strewn in some rather sadistic places throughout the level. Sure, that plasma rifle sitting in the middle of the courtyard looks tantalizing, but you're likely to be plugged from all sides as you race for it. To add insult to injury, the character skins in the Mexican Village provided some seriously potent ego checks--along with your assortment of Western-themed men and women with gravity defying bosoms, the level featured a monkey skin. While we applaud the inclusion of the skin--after all, there's something innately satisfying in seeing a cute monkey wielding all manner of firepower--it's not very cool to be killed by said simian and have "Killed by Monkey" come up onscreen for all to see.
TimeSplitters 2 Quick Links
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- Eidos Interactive
- Free Radical
- Sci-Fi First-Person...
- Release: Oct 16, 2002 »
- ESRB: Teen
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