Review By: Joe Rolfe
Developer:	Free Radical
Publisher:	Eidos
# of Players:	1-4
Genre:	First-person Shooter
ESRB:	Teen
Date Posted:	01-04-00

The overall presentation of TS is rather, well, average. The visuals, though good for a console, really never surpass what is done (or even what has been done) on for PC shooters today. Still, TimeSplitter's developers were never out to feature new, dynamic lighting or gazillion-bit textures; rather their intentions were to deliver a solid, fast frame rate that never drags down the high-velocity pace that is TS. Do they live up to their own words? For the most part, yes. With only a hint of slowdown in the game appearing when a jumbo of characters flood the screen, TS' frame rate stays consistently smooth throughout the whole game, even with four players going at it and a legion of bots going blitzkrieg in the background too. The textures are average and specials effects are practically non-existent, but nevertheless TS is still a pretty game and a showcase title to how the PS2 can push polygons and maintain a firm frame rate.

Audio-wise, TimeSplitters is average at best. The music is pretty generic, featuring weird beats and rhythms that really don't fit any game in mind beyond TS itself. The sound effects aren't exactly inspiring beyond the normal bullet clangs. However, TS does claim home to some rather funny character voices. Even with the humorous personalities, the quality of the small taunts at the character selection screen is pretty humorous. Otherwise, the aural showing for TS isn't exactly spectacular, while it's not totally bad, either.

So, is there really anything terrible about TimeSplitters? Not really. Sure, I'll be the first one to admit that it isn't a visual tour de` force, it doesn't have engaging solo play and the geometry of the environments aren't exactly mind blowing. However, for a first attempt on the PS2, TimeSplitters gets most of the gameplay standards correct by resurrecting a classic console form of shooter that is apparently distant from our normal every-day PC shooters. Featuring a wonderful multiplayer mode and a surprisingly addicting map-creator, TS should keep most PlayStation 2 action fiends pleased for quite some time - until TimeSplitters 2, of course.

It may not have the pizzazz and flash of other high-caliber shooters on the market today, but what it all comes down to is fun - and with that in mind, TimeSplitters delivers big.

Overall Score: 8.0