Why TS2 is my favorite FPS

I have never really been a die-hard FPS fan, but I have played great games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. Before TS2, my outlook on FPS's was very negative. TS2 changed the way I look at FPS's.

There are three modes in TS2; the Story mode, the Arcade mode, and the Challenge mode. The single player story mode is relatively short, with only 10 missions and 3 difficultly levels. Players go from Tokyo to The Wild West to 17th Century France as they try to gether the time crystals from the evil alien Splitters (hence the name TimeSplitters). The weapons in each level are from each time period as to not mix up and make it confusing. The story is pretty lame and not very engaging. Throughout the whole game, players barely see their partner. All the jumping around time periods really boggles up the story and makes the player forget the whole point of the time traveling in the first place.

Now, a single person playing alone can also play in the Arcade mode, story mode, and challenge mode. Arcade will be covered in the next paragraph. Challenge mode is a mode in which the player will do some pretty crazy, but challenging missions. Some of those missions are fighting off wave after wave of zombies to shooting monkeys out of the air to breaking windows. A very cute and fun addition.

The arcade mode is split up into the arcade league and the free arcade. The arcade league is basically a set of challenges. The league is split up into three levels; gold, silver, and bronze. Within those levels, are five genres of challenges and there are three challenges within each genre. That makes a total of 45 (may be off) challenges, plus those challenges in challenge mode.

The Free Arcade mode is where this game really shines however. With many styles of gameplay, from deathmatch to assault (a raid the base sort of game) to flame tag, there is a style for everyone. I have spent limitless hours playing in this mode with friends or just by myself. The arcade mode is very addicting and very fun. There are over 100 characters to choose from and many weapons as well. My personal favorite is Virus. In Virus, there is one character that is on fire and everyone he touches also goes on fire. The goal is to be the last one untouched.


The controls of this game are very crisp and tight. I never had any problem with my turning or aiming. There was absolutely no jerky movements at all. The aiming was simple and at times, aided. Now the aided part really helps when the opponents are moving around you very fast.

Another thing that I noticed right away, is that the game is extremely fast. I hadn't played a FPS since Perfect Dark and right away the speed of this game caught me off-guard. Not only is it fast, but smooth while it is going at such high speeds.

As soon as the game starts the visuals aim to please. They are brilliantly designed and very crisp. Going for a more futuristic look, TS2 doesn't fail. The beginning of the game isn't the only place where I noticed the brilliant graphics. Throughout the entire game, the graphics are crisp and well-done. I was shot many times just because I was staring at a waterfall in the game.

One thing that might turn people off, is that it looks more whimsical than other FPS's out in the market. Don't let that disillusion you though, the game is still very vivid and fun. The monkeys and other assorted odd ball characters help to shape the games attitude and make it the ball of fun that it is.

Each level has its own theme music and that really helps to make each level unique. The theme music brings life into the levels like no other game has.

~~~~~~Nutshell

TS2, though whimsical in look, blows away all other FPS's I have played in gameplay, graphics, and sound. I have never had more fun with a game. I have put in a total of 5 Days worth of playing time (yes, it keeps totals for you as well as otehr stats)

While the single player story mode is rather disappointing, the Arcade mode completely overshadows that. With so many different styles of intense play, you will be playing the night away.

UPDATE 1: Redid the mode play and cleared up some story problems. Mar-12-05