Despite launching just three years later and on the same hardware as TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect looks like a title from a completely different console generation. This is both a good and a bad thing.
Visually, things are substantially better, with far cleaner textures, more complex environments, and so on. Controls are also notably better, and while they might not feel quite on par with that of a modern shooter, the gap is much smaller than it was with TimeSplitters 2.
The amount of content is once again staggering. You get an even more fun and varied campaign, as well as many returning modes: map maker, challenges, PVE arenas, and local PVP. The big new addition is online PVP, though sadly, while the menu option for it remains, the functionality is absent in this emulated edition.
While the brunt of Future Perfect has a “bigger is better” mentality to it, this does feel like it saps a lot of creative energy from the experience. Whether this is due to EA taking over publishing duties from Eidos, or just the trends of the gaming market at the time, the title is definitely missing a lot of the creative spark that made TimeSplitters 2 a classic in its day.
Much of the content, particularly challenge modes, are rehashes, and the vibrant insanity that you would often find while playing TimeSplitters 2 is notably absent this time. Future Perfect feels much more, for lack of a better word, corporate.
Even so, if you liked TimeSplitters 2 back in the day, then Future Perfect will unquestionably remain a fun time. But for all of the steps forward that the final TimeSplitters title takes, it loses a huge amount of the charm and creative energy that generated fan fervour in the first place.
Comments 27
This was always my personal favourite game of the series. I realise that I am in the minority here but in my opinion it took everything good about T2 and made it better. It is the Vice City to T2's GTA3.
I completely disagree that this game has lost charm and creativity over the previous game. Every quotable line comes from this game. Cortez has transformed from a cut price Riddick into a character that is actually memorable. And who can forget Jo-Beth Casey? She was such a breakout star at the time that she was on the cover for Timesplitters 4. Corporate is not a term that applies here, sorry.
Same verdict as Outlaws.
Timesplitters 2 was cool....
Must try this....co.op.
Timesplitters 2 wasnt really much better than the original, stringing together a loose campaign to pad out its exhaustive multiplayer.
Future Perfect gave it an amusing story and some spit and polish on top of the still top-notch multiplayer. Easily the best in the series.
And yet none of the trilogy have a multiplayer as good as Perfect Dark. I always found that curious.
@RadioHedgeFund i think most people will disagree with you, I think Timesplitters 2 is loads better than 1. Have you played them recently or going by memory from back in the day? Because I was shocked how primitive TS1 is now when playing it on PS5.
My personal favourite of the series. Mostly due to the much more robust and well presented story mode.
I'm struggling to understand 'corporate' as a criticism. As I understand that word, many games since the era of microtransactions have a strong whiff of 'corporate' about them and in a way that's fundementally worse than this game will ever be.
So, what is corporate about his game? In what sense do you mean it? Is it just because it's not innovative? Every game Ubisoft make is reeking of corporate, for example. Most games are corporate in some sense. Am I understanding it right?
I dont really understand the "corporate" critique. Moreso that I don't really understand what you mean by it, but I'm not sure, based on the rest of the review, that I really agree.
Most things about Future Perfect are far better than 2, although I played 2 more and have far more fond memories of it. I just played them both last night and the difference is pretty big, but not in the way you're describing to me. Everything either seems the same or better than 2 from what I see, and this is coming from a big fan of 2.
Definitely prefer 2. Future Perfect is good but it doesn’t scratch the same itch.
This is easily the best timesplitters and way better than a 6 like holy hell lol
@NoWayJose exactly the third no pun intended perfected timesplitters
@BecauseBecause yeah 1 is like a proof of concept and easily the worse of the three
@NoWayJose @riceNpea Well the obvious implication is that it feels like a mere product rather than a passion project. It's polished and refined but lacks soul - that's what I'd infer from that.
@BecauseBecause 2 is loads better than 1; it’s just it still has a ‘duct taped together’ feeling.
@Matroska thank you. That sounds so highly subjective that it doesn't bear mentioning as the main criticism of a game. Especially when it can't be demonstrated or backed-up.
@riceNpea the good news is that reviews are subjective.
@LikelySatan they are, but the subjective details are usually demonstrated. In this case I'm not seeing how the review shows that this game is devoid of creativity to the degree attributed to it, which is why I asked my question?
At least I asked for clarification. I wasn't sarcastic or insisted the review was wrong. It would've been nice if you treated me the same way, but you'll get your likes on your reply to me I'm sure.
@riceNpea it's not that deep. I think the issue is it's a mini review. They didn't touch on much here.
This review makes me a bit sad (so does the T2 one, to be fair) as this is an all-time great for me, in the same pedigree as its predecessor, as well as Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. It is anything but corporate, mainly acting as pastiche (albeit a deliberately crummy one, in a very British way) of other FPS games of the era. I genuinely wish these were on the Switch as well (GameCube versions perhaps?) but glad they are being preserved
Again, giving this a 6 (while I get scoring is subjective) is a real shame. This is a top tier fps, and even with its age, is worth playing than most fps today, imho. I’d say a strong 8/10 on a bad day.
@Matroska nailed it!
@Steelhead I would kill to see what a creative studio could do making a TS campaign now!
@riceNpea "corporate" ties directly in with my mentioning the missing creative spark. TS2 is just absolutely filled to the brim with so many goofy and creative elements, and for me Future Perfect scales a lot of that ingenuity and fun back. In a sense feeling like there's more corporate oversight, trying to scale back a lot of the creativity for 2. It provides a lot of content still like 2 absolutely, but even within the challenge modes, a lot of it is "what if we did exactly what we did in 2?" So you are basically thinking along the lines of how I meant it haha. While the game isn't devoid of creativity, it feels more like a game that the studio "had to" make than one they "wanted to" make which I feel is more clear on TS2 than on this one! (cc @NoWayJose as well!)
@Zeldork TS2 was one of my absolute favorites growing up, and a number of the games I grew up loving hold up playing in a modern setting, I just don't really feel that way about in a contemporary context. Future Perfect as well, though for different reasons as it's unquestionably improved in a number of areas.
Definitely still happy with the preservation of them as well though!
@gbanas92 oh so you mean it in direct comparison with 2 rather than as a game overall. Right, that I understand, because as a general criticism I thought it unfounded. Ta.
@riceNpea Oh, yep that makes more sense for the confusion then haha. I mean it in direct comparison to TS2, exactly!
I feel that the gunplay is this game's weakest trait. Compared to Perfect Dark, guns pack a a bit less of a punch, and enemies react less to being shot. The shotgun doesn't have a spread, only hitting one target at a time. Still, I feel that this is one of the best FPSs ever made in terms of content and replay value.
Hmm. Mini-review seems to leave out a lot of context of the day. Or maybe it’s ranking it more as a PS5 game than a PS2 game. 6/10 is too low, in my “I’ve owned this game since it came out and came to the article from the Time Extension page” opinion.
Want to enjoy this game? Unlock the characters. Then play against a full team of bots on the Mars Prison map, with you and a friend or one bot protecting the prisoner. See how long you can keep the invading squad at each checkpoint.
For a real challenge, have all of the bots be chimps. Short and fast.
Some of the best shooting fun on the system.
TS was always one of my absolute favorite franchises. It's a dream in COOP and I spent hundreds of hours creating maps to enjoy with my friend. TS 2 and Future Perfect both were great.
6 seems very low for me, even by today's standards.
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