TimeSplitters 2

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Revision as of 17:33, 23 July 2007

Europe, France, Japan, North America and Korea's Box Art

Timesplitters 2 is the second game in the Timesplitters series, published in October 11, 2002, by Eidos, for the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox in addition to the Playstation 2, which TimeSplitters 1 was exclusive to. It received a rating of T from the ESRB and a 15+ rating. The game has 10 story missions starring Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart as they attempt to stop the TimeSplitters from destroying history.

This game ends with a cliff-hanger ending followed by TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, which is a direct sequel to this game, released in 2005, that starts off right when TimeSplitters 2 ends.

Improvements over the original TimeSplitters

• The MapMaker in this game gives the player the ability to create story missions in addition to arcade levels.
• Levels in Story mode now include based objectives that the player must accomplish in order to complete the level. Also, there is a somewhat coherent story.
• Up to 16 players can play via i.Link or LAN network.
• There are over 125 characters available in Arcade mode.
• There is an Arcade League mode (which is very similar to TimeSplitters 2's Challenge mode).
• Each Arcade character has set statistics varying from speed, stamina, and many more.

Story

The game starts in the year 2401 when Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart are sent to a TimeSplitter infested space station where a time portal is being built. Their objective is to retrieve the Time Crystals. However, before they can reach them, the TimeSplitters take them into different time periods of the past. They must be followed and the time crystals retrieved.

Arcade mode

Arcade mode features yourself trying to beat your enemies. You can have up to 4 human-controlled characters and 10 bots. You unlock nothing, but things unlocked are for this mode. There is also a Network mode in TS2, which allows more than one console to be connected to each other for up to 16 players; however no bots are present in network games.

Modes

• Deathmatch- Every man for himself. The player with the most kills at the end of the game wins.
• Team Deathmatch- A Deathmatch with players divided into teams. The team with the most kills wins.
• Capture the Bag- Two teams attempt to take the opposing teams' bag back to their base. The team with the most bag-captures wins.
• Bag Tag- There is a bag placed at a single point on the map. The player who holds possession of the bag for the longest time wins.
• Elimination- A Deathmatch in which each player has a limited number of lives. The last player standing wins.
• Shrink- A modified Deathmatch. Players with a lower ranking shrink in size, making them a harder target.
• Virus- One player starts the match with a non-damaging green fire and tries to spread the fire to as many people as they can. The last player standing wins.
• Flame Tag- Can be described as Bag Tag in reverse. The objective is to avoid the person on fire. The player who spent the smallest amount of time on fire wins.
• Vampire- A modified Deathmatch. Your character has a "Bloodlust" meter, which can only be replenished by killing other players. If the Bloodlust meter runs empty, your character dies.
• Leech- A modified Deathmatch. Shooting other players returns health to the attacker.
• Regeneration- A modified Deathmatch. Players' health regenerates at a slow rate.
• Thief- Kills do not count in this mode, but players drop special coins when killed, which must be collected. The player who collects the most coins wins.
• Gladiator- One player starts as the Gladiator, and only the Gladiator can get points for kills. Any normal player that kills the Gladiator becomes the Gladiator themselves.
• Zones- A series of zones are scattered around the map. Capturing zones gives the capturing team points. The team that scores the most points by capturing zones wins.
• Assault- The Red Team is tasked with completing certain objectives within a map, and the Blue Team must stop the Red Team from completing their objectives.
• Monkey Assistant- A modified Deathmatch. The player in last place has monkeys help him by attacking the player in first place.

Arcade League

The Arcade League allows the player to set their wits against a series of pre-set multiplayer matches. There are 3 leagues with 5 groups of 3 matches in each. Successful completion of a match will result in a trophy, coloured bronze, silver or gold depending on the criteria met. A silver and/or gold trophy is usually accompanied with new characters, arcade maps or cheats. In addition, a platinum trophy can also be earned for an outstanding performance in a match, but results in no additional reward. Each group is typically linked by a common theme. Any group can be selected from the start, but you must complete each match within a group to unlock the next in that group. At the beginning of the game, you will have access to only the Amateur League; completion of Amateur League matches will unlock the Honorary League, which in turn unlocks the Elite League when completed.

Challenge mode

The Challenge Mode returns, but this time is accessible from the beginning of the game. As before, the objectives are to complete set challenges in the hope of a trophy (coloured as in the Arcade League) and reward. The said objectives can be anything from shooting the heads of zombies to collecting bananas. Again, the challenges are found in groups of three, typically linked by a common theme. Completion of challenges unlocks the next group and so forth. Characters weapons, and maps can be rewarded for good performance as well. Gold trophies are needed to unlock the maximum charcters for that specific mission.

Trivia

• The first level of the game, that takes place in Sibera, is based on the first level of Goldeneye 007; both levels take place in a Russian dam. This is because Free Radical, the company that developed this game, is made up of people that previously worked for Rare and made Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64.
• The Arcade Level, "But Where do the Batteries Go?" is a possible parody of the last episode of series 3 of Red Dwarf, in which the line "But where do all the calculators go?" is used frequently"
• TimeSplitters 2 was featured in the 2004 movie Shaun of the Dead. The Streets level and the Chicago level can clearly be seen being played. Free Radical payed them back by having the character Clip Clamp in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect murmer a line from Shaun of the Dead when being picked to be played.