The Timesplitters return for their 3rd outing on this generation of consoles as the developer, Free Radical opts to bring even more carnage and mayhem to all formats in the form of an expanded single player game and of course the hugely popular multiplayer game modes. Enter Timesplitters: Future Perfect a foray into the past present and future in this first person shooter extravaganza!

Gameplay:

Well a few things have obviously been put under the knife since its last outing on Xbox where things have been improved for the better. For starters the story portion of the game has been given a little more cohesion as the story actually works as its supposed to rather than being a series of levels that were somewhat disjointed in the previous games. This time players get to fill the shoes of “badass” Cortez (who looks very much like Riddick) as he travels across time to various battle zones and hotspots; chasing down your typical megalomaniac whose intent on world domination with the use of a time machine and of course those time crystals. Rather than switching characters across the levels players will simply play as Cortez throughout the entire story. Some of you may scoff at this, but it actually works very well, as Cortez is quite a loveable character in his own right, albeit a little cheesy at times.

Cortez is mostly joined by an individual from that time period when he arrives and this is somewhat new as quite often you will be fighting along side your companion during the many shootouts in the game. This team element works really well and adds that little more atmosphere to the game, especially as some of the character conversations are very funny indeed.

What is also quite neat and as the title implies are the interactions that Cortez has with his future and past selves. There are quite a number of gags surrounding this issue and its implementation is clever and funny at the same time. Usually you will have to do the job of protecting your past or future self whilst your other self is protecting you, sort of?

The levels themselves seem to be better designed this time round and some even being similar to certain levels in the classic games of yesteryear- Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. In fact the game is full of references to other games and movies including a section where you become disguised as a Dr. Gordon (Gordon Freeman from Half Life perhaps)? There seems to be a lot more action going on around our hero as well this time, which is great and adds some much needed scale and atmosphere to the levels.

Other changes to the single player are minor thing such as the control method, namely the aiming which lets face it put a lot of people off having to hold a button to see a crosshair on the screen. Well it seems that the developers have addressed this and not only included a number of control options to suit many gamers needs but have opted to have the crosshair on screen permanently. Players are also able to play the single player co-operatively via split screen play which again adds a little replay value to proceedings as there are only 13 missions which can be completed rather quickly if you opt to play on easy or normal difficulty settings. That said hard isn’t much harder either although some sections can be a real pain!

The arcade and challenge modes make a welcome return and to be honest is the real “meat and two veg” of this game. Here players can take part in leagues which are prefixed events where the aim is to score highly to unlock further characters and cheats. There are a wide variety of game types to play here and really is a lot of fun. There is also the single and multiplayer arcade mode which allows players the chance to create their own game setups from the modes available. It is here where players will get to choose which of the 150 or so characters that is in the game (although many will have to be unlocked by completing the story, leagues and other challenges). Single players are also kept happy with the inclusion of bots in these modes which are great for those of you with few friends into gaming or if you’re having a session to practice some techniques against formidable opponents. Either way these modes are great fun and in small doses remain highly entertaining.

Timesplitters:Future perfect also has a tweaked and reworked map maker mode which will allow those with a little patience the chance to create some of their own multiplayer or story mode maps. This is a great feature and if you’re prepared to invest the time here can be very rewarding indeed. What is more players can share their maps with other gamers via memory card or over the Xbox Live service.

Graphics:

With the game being a multi format release then it’s obvious the graphics are going to suffer here on Xbox as the game looks very much like a PS2 game. That said there are some really cool looking effects throughout the levels and the “cartoony” look that Free Radical has stuck with works a treat. There are some moments of slowdown during the more intense moments of the game, but this doesn’t really hamper the enjoyment factor of the game. It’s just a shame that no Xbox exclusive effects or graphics techniques have been employed here as I’m sure the game would have benefited from this. Either way Timespitters: Future Perfect is a fairly smooth and crisp looking game.

Sound:

Sound is of a very high standard as there are a wide number of weapons to use across the various time zones that our hero travels to. Each weapon has a distinct sound effect which is great and suitable when it comes to killing. What is also very good is the level of voices in the game as each character has their own personality during the story modes tongue in cheek delivery. This continues to the multiplayer as each of the 150 characters has their own intro sequence and of course a few lines of vocabulary, often being quite funny here as well.

Longevity:

Well this is a complex one, as mentioned earlier the single player story can be completed extremely quickly on the default settings. However there are some benefits to beating the story mode again on the hard difficulty setting, plus most of the levels are fun enough to warrant multiple plays anyway. What really will take the time is the unlocking of the various characters for the multiplayer modes. This will take quite a long time of beating the challenges and leagues. What is more the Arcade mode has an infinite level of replay value and is only limited to your own boredom threshold. The inclusion of AI bots is a welcome one for the single players out there and will greatly add longevity for these types of players.

Timesplitters: Future Perfect also brings the mayhem to Xbox Live and is system link compatible. The Xbox Live component is a great one for increasing the longevity of the game, as well as the map making community that has been built since the game’s release offering infinite levels of maps and new single player missions, without the need to wait for downloadable content from the developers. Overall there is enough here to keep players entertained for quite some time.

Overall:

Timesplitters: Future Perfect is a no nonsense first person shooter that provides action on all fronts. With its comedy roots offering some light humour and its fast paced action aimed at pleasing those with twitchy trigger fingers, I think the game works really well for what it offers. Whilst some may complain at the improved yet extremely short single player portion of the game I think when you look at the whole picture there is definitely plenty to do here. I would say that this incarnation of the series is perhaps the best so far and although once again Xbox suffers in terms of none of its capabilities being used, the game still remains fun and entertaining despite this fact. If you’re looking for a single player story only then may I suggest that you rent this title. If you are looking for a wide variety of single and multiplayer game types then I would say that this game is well worth a look.