TIME SPLITTERS 2
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Lock, stock and 612 smoking barrels

By TOM FAHEY

If only Eidos made more games like this one.... TimeSplitters brought a new face to first person shooters, and its sequel will no doubt blind us again. Along with the same old running around killing guys and decapitating zombies come a lot of all-new gameplay techniques to keep you entertained for hours. Not that zombie blasting isn't entertainment...

Much alike the fist title, your main mission objective in TimeSplitters 2 consists of obtaining a "time" related object. You do, of course, travel through time and see many ages through the sight of a gun. And that is the greatest aspect of this first-person shooter - the wide range of game play.

One level you could be shooting an old western style "six-shooter" and the next level throwing plasma grenades, disintegrating transvestite alien reptiloids. Or something...

The gameplay is vey reminiscent of GoldenEye, which has to be a good thing. It's not a huge surprise as, after all, most of Free Radical's developers currently working on TS2 actually created the blockbuster 007 game for the N64 way back in 1973. Or something...

The enemies you come across in TS2 have some really cool and amusing responses to your actions. As well as that, they actually walk around and do normal (well almost normal) human activities, for example scratching themselves.

If you shoot at them from a distance with a sniper rifle or the like, and they don't see you, they look around the place not knowing what the hell is going on. Ah... Toying with prey... Who wouldn't love this game?

The graphics are very impressive, and still follow the same old unique style. The 3D models of the common human are slightly comical, with extreme facial features, big arms and legs, and small hips pretty much sums it up. But, man, it looks cool!

The weapon effects are where the most credit goes, though. From the muzzle flash, to the explosions, it's all top quality.

It's kind of hard to give credit to a game for sounds which consist of "bang" and "boom". But somehow, TS2 deserves recognition for it. Besides, there is a little more to it than that. When you shoot a gun, the bullet usually deflects off something, and gets propelled around the place. The added sound effects create a war-like atmosphere, which one could quite easily get captivated in, while the explosion sounds are entertaining. What more can I say -- I like low-budget action films. But seriously, the sound effects in TS2 are pretty good, in general.

In the end, TimeSplitters 2 looks to be one of the best first person shooters on the PS2. It has many unique features, which make it stand out from the crowd. Everyone with a PS2 and an itchy trigger finger should definitely look forward for this release. While we tested an early version of the PS2 title, the game will also be coming to Xbox and GameCube too. And it's good to see that Eidos hasn't lost all of its touch. For now...