Something I really admire about Timesplitters 2 was just how well it has aged. I remember playing old PS2 FPSes I used to play growing up a few years back and being disappointed because of how bad they felt. But TS2 was different; so fluid and fun 2 decades later. The music also kicks major ass! This and Black are cream-of-the-crop shooters on the console.
Killzone pushed the PS2 to its limits. Very ambitious for that console. I think Area 51 was also fun, plus Darkwatch. And Soldier of Fortune had a decent port unlike the Sega Dreamcast. Best to forget Warhammer 40k Fire Warrior.
Rest in peace, Free Radical Design. Your second chance at life was cruelly snatched away from us far too soon, and we all mourn your second passing :'(
I actually got Homefront The Revolution at launch and played the two levels of Timesplitters 2 I could at the time. Didn't know until later there's a code to unlock the entire game. Gonna have to get it again. Shame we couldn't even get an official HD Remaster for the trilogy . Freakin Embracer Group.
@@Gruntvc I think there was supposed to be a trilogy on the PS3 when they were doing trilogies of PS2 games with added 3DTV stuff. But Does EA own Future Perfect?
Played this game as a kid and almost didnt want to play it anymore because of the snow mission where you had an objective where you had to throw a c4 on an antenna and didnt know what an antenna was so i just threw c4 everywhere. Im glad i didnt give up. I remember the countless times I would play astrolander just to hear that song over and over again and how i kept falling in love with that song. Beautiful game from start to finish...
@@NothingHereForYou yeah I played through it a few times on GameCube first, I feel like I remember the PC controls being a bit strange when using telekinesis. I think I got used to it eventually, but I could see how it's not as easy to get into.
I think TS2 and TSFP are perfect games; so much content, charm, and love was poured into them. I still play them to this day, Timesplitters aged like wine
The most accessible way to play this game today is by buying Homefront The Revolution (often for as low as like $5 on sale) the game includes a fully remastered version of TimeSplitters 2 but only one playable demo level, a simple mod can unlock the entire rest of the game, and even optionally remove all Homefront assets so you only have Timesplitters, lowering the game's size from like 50GB to 2GB
It never occurred to me that less detailed environments can be a boon. Your argument makes sense since current systems are so advance that designers can't bring focus to a specific object now without waypoints. This is why I love your videos so much. They make me realize things I haven't before.
A timeless classic that is getting more and more recognition, its a shame that free radical recent was able to open their doors just to immediately get closed again. I hope someday we can get something like this again, I dont think there's been a game that has been made recently that is able to capture the feel Timesplitters had.
I wish games did difficulty the way GE/PD/TS did. It's a wholly unique style of game, and I think it's a genre in and of itself. I call this genre a "Gauntlet Shooter". Specifically, a Gauntlet shooter adheres to these core properties: 1 - difficulty is not based on raw increases to damage values, but rather, more enemies and longer levels, actually giving you more things to do. In addition, harder difficulties are locked behind easier ones, rewarding you with an incentive to actually play on harder difficulties to experience new things. 2 - You do not regain health in any way. You DO get armor which acts as health, but your actual health bar never increases. This makes, especially as levels get longer, a game of resource management and strict planning; "Do I have enough health to take on this next room? Do I have enough ammo?" At the same time, ALL weapons are projectile based, making dodging attacks and your movement part of the experience things like Wolfenstein/Doom and Halo only did sparingly - here, ALL attacks can be avoided. 3 - Gun aiming is decoupled from camera movement. while this was done in Goldeneye as a way to work around awkward control design, in modern times, this allows for fast, pinpoint, and surgical shots to any enemy at all times while moving at max speed. To compensate for the (by most standards) awkward aiming, headshots ALWAYS kill, and limb shots cause staggering. Enemies also stumble around a bit when first spotting you before attacking (also a holdover from the 64's framerate), but it helps balance the unorthodox controls. This type of game needs a comeback. It's a dead SUBGENRE that has no real love anymore.
1. The games literally give raw increases to damage values on higher difficulties. 2. "Resource management" implies that you're making decisions which is not the case. It's actually just an arbitrary limit to the health you're allowed to lose in a linear level. It's not much different than giving you a time limit. Most weapons are hitscan, not projectile. The few projectile weapons are so fast that they are essentially impossible to dodge except at very long range (most fights happen at close range.) 3. Aiming is not "fast" or "pinpoint." They would not need to "compensate" for the aiming if it was.
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect had the best mapmaker at the time for the age demographics they were targetting. I struggle to think of a more powerful yet accessible level editor/mapmaker within console games besides the eventual FarCry2 map community.
Oh boy get ready to both bemoan the differences and LOVE TSFP! Here's a secret: Part of the planned TSFP remastered PC port is literally IN another game you can play!
Reminder that Timesplitters 2 and Future Perfect are both on the Xbox One / Series backwards compatibility list, for those into that sort of thing instead of pulling out PCSX2 or Dolphin and the like.
You covering the first game gave me such a jolt of nostalgia I couldn't resist not buying the sequel on Xbox Series X and replay it. This game still rocks. Also, even though it's been nearly 2 decades since I last played it, I still remember so much from it. Enemy placements and tricks. Still got it.
timesplitters 2 and 3 are both some of the greatest console shooters of all time, and the mapmaker for ts3 is still so fun to play around with. unrelated, but you've gotta do a video on maximo 1 and 2 some day, some of the best ps2 games in terms of raw game feel i happen to love goldeneyes aesthetic btw, it has a surreal, almost ghost like beauty when played on a CRT
Honestly one of the coolest and most memorable games I played as a kid. the different level themes being their own tiny stories is something that hasn't been explored enough.
I know this info is probably old hat at this point but if you put an easy to find and install mod on "Homefront: the Revolution" you can play all of Timesplitters 2 on modern hardware, with mouse and keyboard if you wish.
Honestly regret never picking up any of the timespliters games. Sadly I didn't care much for shooters when I was a kid. Most I really knew about them at the time was Halo and medal of honor but I feel like I could have sunk as many hours into a game like this as I did with something like Tony Hawk or Kingdom hearts or something. I wonder what competitive gaming could have looked like if TimeSpliters took off to the same degree that call of duty or counter strike did in the early to mid 2000s
Going back to the first game, that was originally just an engine Steve Ellis put together as they were forming. Their main interest was a far bigger game called Second Sight, but they were having problems with getting that out, so built upon the other engine they had which was just a simple multiplayer FPS game, and it became their Timesplitters. As far as I recall, they had planned for it to be just a multiplayer FPS, but Eidos wanted a single player campaign. Which is why it is so bare bones.
I still can't believe i managed to find this golden gem of a game for less than 2.50 euro at a flea market only a month ago in 2024. I have only played the first level but the level atmosphere and soundtrack is already burned in my memory, i have to finish it all :D
Timesplitters 1 story has the honesty to no pretend to be more than a capture the flag but modern fps feel like that, but with a lot more talking and flashy visuals to make you forget that you're literally going from point A to point B
If the AI functioned like they do in Goldeneye/Perfect Dark I'd love this game. But no, on hardest difficulty they are aimbots with way too fast reaction time. Big fucking shame. The Wild West stage is my favorite.
Dude, if my gf who hates first person shooters and is a very casual gamer got hooked on TimeSplitters 2 when we played it on an emulator back in 2020, you know the game is fucking awesome. The only other first person shooters she got into were Left4Dead 2 and Darkwatch on the PS2. (Tho she liked L4D2 more by a long shot xD )
I'm really liking the Timesplitters focused content in these past couple videos. Countless hours were spent on these titles by me during my adolescence.
I just recently got this game for my PS2. Last night I was trying to figure out how to beat the first level, because this game does not hold your hand, so you had to have figure things out by yourself. But I still had fun playing the game, so much so that after beating the first level of the story mode, I lost track of time and went to bed without brushing my teeth. Oops. 🤣
Try playing on the hardest difficulty. This game doesn't mess around. And if you're interested in playing another fun PS2 FPS that is an exclusive? Track down a copy of, Cold Winter. It's like a more violent and gorey James Bond game.
@@Gruntvc I mostly bought TimeSplitters 2 because I never played the franchise before. For a long time I never even heard of it, until I saw GManLives review of the game. So I bought a used copy of the game from Amazon and it is in a pretty solid condition. I even played around the multiplayer or the arcade aspect of the game with bots and it's a fun experience. I even did one of the challenges, which took multiple tries to get a gold trophy for it. Yeah, I heard that the hard difficulty in TimeSplitters 2 is an ass kicker, but I'm playing on Normal for my first time, like I always do with most games & if a game does something right that doesn't make me bored playing it, then I have no issues. 👍
As someone who's only read about Timesplitters before, I didn't know it's soundtrack was such a draw. I probably won't play it much still since I've little time, but I'm definitely hitting up the OST on youtube!
I was so young when I first played TimeSplitters 2 that the zombies scared me and I avoided the story mode and instead played Capture the Briefcase vs the CPU tons, was a lot of fun.
I have all 3 somewhere and played the hell out of 2. Never was able to make it past the zombie level in Future Perfect because it felt so real (for the time) shame coz that disc is knackered, stopping when it tries to load the Harry Tipper train level (a bloody fun level too IIRC). Sad that it will probably never get a official remaster, I'd pay £70 for bundle of all three especially if they had multiplayer for 2 and Future Perfect.
I'm still surprised they haven't plonked out even a barebones port of the games. There's the game living inside Homefront and the weird reference again in Dead Island 2 so it's not like there isn't like a modicum of appreciation for the series.
If I have one complaint with this game its that I always found it odd how the campaign levels don't have any healthpacks in them. They have shieldpacks sure, but there was no way to restore your health during the level. I always felt that was a weird choice. But, other than that, Timesplitters 2 freaking rules.
I think the extremely short videos are why you don't get more views. I loved watching your stuff and I honestly thought you left because I wasn't getting your videos recommend. Hope you go back to stuff like the Jak and Daxter or Another Code
If you own Homefront: Revolution. You already have TimeSplitters 2 (remastered?). Sadly, you'll have to get near the end of the game and play it. Still, I think it's pretty funny and nice idea of playing a game within the game.
