You'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't enjoy TimeSplitters 2- the best true FPS to grace our fine console, even after almostthree years since its release. The single player mode was decent, andfairly challenging, but the superb, highly addictive multiplayer modemeant gamers are still playing it today. TimeSplitters: FuturePerfect, the third installment of the TimeSplitters series looks setto considerably improve a game that was quite frankly brilliant tobegin with.

 

Gameplay wise, it seems Free Radical will be keeping to theirtried-and-tested TS2 formula, so the game will play very similarly toits predecessor. The visuals look a lot crisper and sharper thanbefore, and apparently there will be a stronger puzzle element inFuture Perfect, but otherwise the style of play will be much the same.

The main gripe with TS2 was the length of the single player and toolittle emphasis on the story, but Future Perfect looks to remedy thisby fleshing out the story mode, giving the plot - which involves yourcharacter, Cortez, moving through time periods from 1914 to 2041,attempting to trace the roots of the TimeSplitters creatures and savehumanity from destruction - much more depth than before. An integralpart of the plot that will be new to the series will be the freedom towork with your past or future self during the game - in other words,you will be able to meet up with own character from the past or futureand work in tandem with what is effectively yourself to successfullycomplete missions.

 

The early game footage suggests you will be able to drive vehicles andshoot from mini-guns mounted on the back. As for new weaponry, it looksvery similar to before, bar a new gravity gun that enables you to moveobjects that are out of reach, Ã la Half Life.

The enemy AI has also been given an overhaul, so expect them to be farmore intelligent than before, meaning you'll have to use your headmore often as opposed to charging through the levels, all gunsblazing.

 

The arcade and challenge modes will also make a welcome return (withthe promise of hundreds of un-lockable extras such as multiplayerskins), as will the famed multiplayer Deathmatch and thetime-absorbing co-operative mode, with new game modes rumored but asyet unconfirmed by EA and Free Radical. The mapmaker feature is alsoreturning, but fortunately with a much more intuitive interface, sodesigning your multiplayer maps will be much easier than before.

Liked the sound of that? Well, prepare to have your bubble burst -Future Perfect is not going to be released until Q1 2005 (that's Marchfor all us Europeans). Start counting down the months, FPS fans -let's see if the future really is perfect for the TimeSplittersfranchise.