Whether you love first-person shooters or not, you can't go wrong with this game.
Since I have never owned a PS2, I have never experienced the first TimeSplitters for myself. But, I bought TS2 on my Cube because I heard from various sources and review sites that the game was really good. And as uncommon as it is, they weren't kidding. TimeSplitters 2 is the most fast-paced, challenging, and engaging shooter I have played in my life. Let me start from the beginning.
First off, TS2 doesn't have much of a story. These time-traveling aliens come to take over earth, and these guys have to stop them. You may wonder how such an unoriginal story can keep a game from failing, but that question is answered now; the game itself is so fun that it doesn't even need a storyline to shine.
Throughout the single player campaign, each level takes place in a different time period in history; in the present, past, and future. The first level takes place in 1990 at a Siberian dam, similar to GoldenEye 007, in which the first level was also at a dam. You start off with a silenced pistol and a sniper, and you take out a couple of guys without being seen. Typical FPS gameplay so far. But no matter. The campaign can be played cooperatively with a friend or alone, in 3 difficulty levels; Easy, Normal, and Hard. Again, typical. Or is it? NOT!! What is cool about the difficulty changes in TS2 is that when you play it on a difficulty level higher than the previous one you played with, the coolest thing happens. Instead of just the enemies getting stronger and you being weaker, brand new, more challenging objectives and new areas are added to every single level. Playing on 'Normal' adds a few more, and playing on 'Hard' adds the same objectives from 'Normal' plus even more! Talk about replay value! Sound good so far? Well, there's more.
Aside from the totally awesome (though unfortunately, a bit short) single player mode, there is also an Arcade League and Challenge Mode. In the Arcade League, you can select from several characters to play as and go through arcade-style challenges. For each match, you are awarded with either a Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum medal. Platinum is really hard to get, because you have to beat the game's best time. I have only gotten one Platinum medal so far, and I haven't gotten another. I guess I just got lucky. Ha, ha. In Challenge Mode, you have to do all these challenges such as breaking glass with grenades, shooting the heads off zombies, and sneaking into places without being heard, seen, or detected in any way. Doing these fun modes unlock characters, weapons, multiplayer maps, and more, which adds even more value to the game.
What makes this game stand above the crowd is its HUGE arsenal of weapons. FPS games like Halo, MW2, Resistance, and Left 4 Dead only have about 10 guns or so, whereas TS2 has at least 30-something. Each gun has its own special mode of fire, its own time period of usage, and damage capability. You get guns from the 1800s, 1900s, present day, and future. You can even use your fists for a little hand-to-hand action, and aim your gun at any point on the screen, thanks to the same aiming system as GoldenEye 007. My personal favorite guns are the SBP90 Submachine Gun, Soviet S47, and Tommy Gun. You can also dual-wield nearly a third of all the weapons, which makes the game seem like it has even MORE weapons. You also reload incredibly fast, unlike other FPS games.
There is also a feature called MapMaker, a feature that allows you to create your own multiplayer maps. Doing this takes up a lot of memory, however, so I recommend a 251 if you are a casual gamer, or a 1019 if you are a serious gamer or play a lot of sports games.
Now for the best, most fun, most fast-paced, most addicting, and most well-known and well-liked part of this game; the multiplayer.
The multiplayer mode for this game is simply amazing. There are over a dozen maps, and each map has its own soundtrack, weapon set, bot set, and size. You can also choose what weapon set you want to use, customize your OWN weapon set, set the difficulty of the bots, choose your OWN bots for the map, and set basic settings such as turn sensitivity, controls, one-shot kills, and others. But, what is so special about TS2's multiplayer is its challenge, fast pace, and enormous amount of fun. It moves so smoothly, that enjoyment is almost guaranteed.
The game's graphics also look really good, although a bit cartoon-ish. There isn't any blood either, so you don't have to worry about the little ones.
BOTTOM LINE: Whether you love first-person shooters or not, you can't go wrong with this game. TimeSplitters 2 has polish, creativity, variety, loads of game modes, extra goodies, and best of all, tons of fun for everybody. It looks great, flows extremely nicely, plays like a FPS classic, and is simply an amazing game. If you own a Cube, PS2, or Xbox, and you have missed out on this game, you simply shouldn't wait. No matter what your taste, buy this game now, and see what you've been missing.