TimeSplitters 2 Preview

Many have waited for the next GoldenEye 007 to be released for the consoles since its 1997 debut on the Nintendo 64, and while several games have tried to ride the coattails of Rare's groundbreaking shooter, few have matched the game's ability to surprise and impress. It's no secret that several staffers of the UK development studio Free Radical Design are defectors from the Rare camp. Though the team's first effort, the original TimeSplitters, was rushed to market to make the PlayStation 2 launch, it still managed to show some promise. Now that the team has had the luxury of a full development cycle for TimeSplitters 2, big things are expected from the game.

Look familiar?

Little is known about the plot in TimeSplitters 2, though we've been told that it will be far more prevalent than the cryptic musings that players were forced to piece together for the first game. You play as a male and female team of space soldiers as they travel through time, trying to collect time crystals before an evil force can capture them and use time travel to bring its sinister plans to fruition. While we were able to play only one level of the game, in the finished product, you'll be forced to switch between the male and female characters for each mission--with each mission taking place in a different period in time.

The first thing you'll notice when picking up TimeSplitters 2 for the first time is that the game is all about speed. The game moves so quickly that it's hard to repel the urge to run and gun through each level. But at the same time, you can choose how to attack each section of the game, and your experience while playing may be completely different from the next person's. The lone level we are allowed to play takes place inside a huge dam. The initial sweeping camera shots make the level seem exactly like the first level in GoldenEye 007, called Arkangelsk. It's fine to pay homage to your previous projects, and it's hard not to at least elicit a chuckle when you first set your eyes on the uncanny similarities between the art styles of both TimeSplitters 2 and GoldenEye.

From what we've seen of the game so far, weapons will be specific to the time period of each level. The dam level we were allowed to play seems to take place in the present--therefore, we were able to brandish traditional weaponry such as a silenced pistol, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, a machine gun, and a flamethrower. There's also a small radar device that detects enemies to help avoid any unpleasant surprises. Other levels we've seen feature futuristic weapons with bouncing ammunition, and we can only imagine the fun of wielding pistols in the Old West. The weapons also seem to feature collateral damage. One enemy was set ablaze by the flamethrower, only to catch other enemies on fire upon contact.

Staying in line with the game's pedigree, each level has a variety of mission objectives, though they seem to be accomplished in a linear fashion complete with midlevel checkpoints. You'll have to employ several different fighting techniques within a relatively small area if you want to survive, though players with enough talent should be able to get by with their own tactics. The initial moments of the lone playable level start you out in a tunnel, where you're given a sniper rifle and a silenced pistol. Here, you can choose to take out patrolling enemies from afar with your pistol or switch to your sniper rifle and use the scope to take out cameras perched on the side of buildings. Failure to do so will set off alarms that will flood the area with enemies.

There are plenty of places to hide and snipe.

Once you've cleaned up all the enemies in the area and flipped a switch, it's time to infiltrate the dam. Once inside, you'll be asked to shut down three steam valves and restore power to the facility. But once this is done, you'll get deeper into the dam, where the full ramifications of the mission are established. Whoever has set up the base inside the dam has also been performing experiments on humans and is keeping them locked up in two different cells. But the moment you unlock the cells, it becomes apparent that the experiments have gone terribly wrong. Humans missing limbs will stumble toward you with empty eyes--leaving you no choice but to put them out of their misery. Throughout the playable level, you'll have to commandeer gun turrets, and you can even draw enemies to the turrets and then use their superior firepower to take them all out at once.