Also available on PlayStation 2 and Gamecube TimeSplitters 2 was exactly what I imagine Goldeneye in the 21st Century being like, but TimeSplitters: Future Perfect took that a step further. This game is like Free Radical took their previous game and asked themselves, "How can we make literally everything just a little bit better?" These screenshots were captured with the Xbox Series X's backwards compatibility. Future Perfect (or, sometimes, TimeSplitters 3) keeps with the premise of the TimeSplitters trying to destroy humanity by going into its past. There's actually a story here, though. You play as Cortez, a human soldier (the protagonist from TS2) who's just returned to Earth with the time crystals that you spent the second game gathering. His ship is shot down, though, as the TimeSplitters are attacking the humans' headquarters. The human general gives him a new mission - travel to the past and investigate the origin of the TimeSplitters' attacks and, hopefully, stop them before they begin. This game's levels range from 1924 to 2401, and rather than being isolated missions like in TimeSplitters 2, there's a connected story here that actually gives some context to why you're in each period of time as well as voiced cutscenes and some witty even if somewhat dated dialog. Visually, the game looks about like TimeSplitters 2, but the controls have gotten a revamp. The Goldeneye-style aim assisted hip fire works about like it did in TimeSplitters 2 with a bit tighter control. You still don't use the left trigger to aim unless you customize the controls, but what really got a change here was the way the aim works. Rather than moving your crosshair on a static camera, you move the camera with a static crosshair the way that modern shooters works. This is a MUCH more comfortable way to aim, and it makes sniping weapons actually usable in Future Perfect unlike TimeSplitters 2. The result is a game that just plays a lot better overall. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is almost what the name suggests - perfect. The dialog is humorous, although it does lean a bit too hard into this to the detriment of the game's story. That said, they do a pretty good job of storytelling in light of the late 90s/early 2000s humor style. The gameplay is absolutely incredible feeling and strikes the perfect balance between nostalgia and modern quality of life. There are a couple of aspects of the game's controls and mechanics that definitely feel dated, but for being two decades old, it remains shockingly playable and enjoyable. Given that it's playable (and downloadable) on Xbox Series X with backwards compatibility, it's definitely worth playing, especially if you have nostalgia for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. My Rating - A |
I'm a teacher.And I like to play video games. I like to collect video games. I like to talk about video games, and I like to write about video games. During the day, I teach high school history; during the night, I spend my spare time gaming. Then I write about it. Archives
April 2024
|