TimeSplitters 2

TimeSplitters 2
PAL cover (UK)
Released	PlayStation 2 NA: October 8, 2002 EU: October 18, 2002 Xbox NA: October 16, 2002 EU: October 18, 2002 GameCube NA: October 16, 2002 EU: November 1, 2002
Platforms	PlayStation 2 Xbox GameCube
Publisher	Eidos
Characters/Maps	128/16
Modes	Deathmatch Team Deathmatch Capture the Bag Bagtag Elimination Shrink Regeneration Leech Assault Flame Tag Virus Vampire Gladiator Thief Zones Monkey Assistant
Max Players	16 (i.Link/LAN)

TimeSplitters 2 is the second game in the TimeSplitters series, released on October 2002, by Eidos, for the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox in addition to the PlayStation 2, which the original TimeSplitters was exclusive to. It received a rating of T from the ESRB and a 15+ rating from the ELSPA. The game has ten story missions starring Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart as they attempt to stop the TimeSplitters from destroying history.

This game ends with a cliff-hanger, followed by TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, which is a direct sequel to this game released in 2005, that starts off right where TimeSplitters 2 ended.

On November 15th, 2021, the Xbox version of TimeSplitters 2, alongside Future Perfect, were made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility.

The PS2 version of the game is expected to be added to the PlayStation Plus game catalog, alongside the original game and Future Perfect, on August 20th, 2024 for PS Plus Premium members.

New Features

• The Mapmaker in this game gives the player the ability to create story missions in addition to Arcade levels.
• Up to 16 players can play via i.Link or LAN network.
• There are over 125 characters available in Arcade mode.
• There is an Arcade League mode (which is the original TimeSplitters Challenge mode split up into Arcade League, and also Challenge).
• Each Arcade character has both a Skill level and a separate set of Abilities, which together, determine agility (speed), stamina (defence), and accuracy (reticule expansion and bullet spread).
• Gameplay difficulty settings of Chilled, Normal, and Frantic are available for custom use in Arcade Custom.

Story

The game starts in the year 2401, where TimeSplitters have taken over a space station, where a time portal is being used. A TimeSplitter discards a dead solider as the others work on activating the portal. Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart are sent to the TimeSplitter-infested space station. Their objective is to retrieve the Time Crystals that serve as the portal's power source. Arriving, they shoot down the TimeSplitters there, though one escapes. They fight their way to where the portal is. However, before they can reach it, the TimeSplitters take the crystals into different locations and time periods of the past. After sealing the room's entrance, Cortez follows the TimeSplitters through the portal while Hart holds off the ones still in the station.

Unlike the original TimeSplitters, each level in story mode contains objectives that must be completed before finishing the level. Also, the objectives depend on the difficulty level selected, which can be either Easy, Normal, or Hard.

Like all the TimeSplitters games, story mode can be played co-op.

Arcade mode

Arcade mode is divided up into two parts: Arcade League and Arcade Custom.

Arcade League

The Arcade League allows the player to set their wits against a series of pre-set multiplayer matches. There are 3 leagues with 5 groups of 3 matches in each. Successful completion of a match will result in a trophy, coloured bronze, silver or gold depending on the criteria met. A silver and/or gold trophy is usually accompanied with new characters, arcade maps or cheats. In addition, a platinum trophy can also be earned for an outstanding performance in a match, but results in no additional reward. Each group is typically linked by a common theme. Any group can be selected from the start, but you must complete each match within a group to unlock the next in that group. At the beginning of the game, you will have access to only the Amateur League; completion of Amateur League matches will unlock the Honorary League, which in turn unlocks the Elite League when completed.

Arcade Custom

Arcade Custom is the main multiplayer mode of TimeSplitters 2. You can have up to 4 human-controlled characters and 10 bots. There is also a Network mode in TS2, which allows more than one console to be connected to each other for up to 16 players; however no bots are present in network games. An "Arcade Pace" function also allows the speed of characters, from "Chilled" being a slower average speed, to "Frantic" being a faster speed. The selectable modes are as follows:

• Deathmatch- A Free-For-All. The individual with the most kills at the end, wins.
• Team Deathmatch- This is the same as the above except there can be up to 4 teams. The team with the most net kills wins.
• Capture the Bag- Two teams attempt to take the opposing teams' bag back to their base. The team with the most bag-captures wins.
• Bag Tag- There is a bag placed at a single point on the map. The player who holds possession of the bag for the longest time wins.
• Elimination- A Deathmatch in which each player has a limited number of lives. The last player standing wins.
• Shrink- A modified Deathmatch. Players with a lower ranking shrink in size, making them a harder target.
• Flame Tag- The objective is to avoid the person on fire. The player who spent the smallest amount of time on fire wins.
• Virus- One player starts the match with a non-damaging flame-like energy and tries to spread the fire to as many people as they can. The last player standing wins.
• Vampire- A modified Deathmatch. Your character has a "Bloodlust" meter, which can only be replenished by killing other players. If the Bloodlust meter runs empty, your character dies.
• Leech- A modified Deathmatch. Shooting other players returns health to the attacker.
• Regeneration- A modified Deathmatch. Players' health regenerates at a slow rate.
• Thief- Kills do not count in this mode, but players drop special coins when killed, which must be collected. The player who collects the most coins wins. A team variant of this game mode can be played in one of the arcade league challenges.
• Gladiator- One player starts as the Gladiator, and only the Gladiator can get points for kills. Any normal player that kills the Gladiator becomes the Gladiator themselves.
• Zones- A series of zones are scattered around the map. Capturing zones gives the capturing team points. The team that scores the most points by capturing zones wins.
• Assault- The Red Team is tasked with completing certain objectives within a map, and the Blue Team must stop the Red Team from completing their objectives.
• Monkey Assistant- A modified Deathmatch. The player in last place has monkeys help him by attacking the player in first place.

Challenge Mode

The Challenge Mode returns, but this time is accessible from the beginning of the game. As before, the objectives are to complete set challenges in the hope of a trophy (coloured as in the Arcade League) and reward. Said objectives can be anything, from shooting the heads off zombies, to collecting bananas. Again, the challenges are found in groups of three, typically linked by a common theme. Completion of challenges unlocks the next group, and so forth. Characters, weapons, and maps can be rewarded for good performance as well. Gold trophies are needed to unlock the maximum characters for that specific mission.

Foreign Releases

Japanese box art, Time Splitter: Invaders of History

Aside from its NSTC and PAL releases, TimeSplitters 2 is unique in the series in that it was released in Japan as Time Splitter: Invaders of History (タイムスプリッター 〜時空の侵略者〜 Taimusupurittā ~Jikū no Shinryaku-sha~) for PlayStation 2. This version of the game is missing the Mapmaker.

TimeSplitters 2 also received a Korean PS2/NGC release.

Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility

The Xbox Version of TimeSplitters 2 is currently not backwards-compatible on Xbox 360, but there have been petitions on the Xbox websites for the game to be included in the next system update.

The main reason is because the part that controls the Xbox Controllers, when the Xbox 360 is in Xbox Mode, seems to not being able to send the commands right. This can be checked with a modified Xbox 360.

Gallery

A Bronze trophy

A Silver trophy

A Gold trophy

A Platinum trophy

Splash screen background

Main menu header

Alternative main menu header with Reaper Splitters

Trivia

• The first level of the game, that takes place in Siberia, is based on the first level of Goldeneye 007; both levels take place in a Russian dam. This is because Free Radical, the company that developed this game, is made up of people that previously worked for Rare and made Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64.
• The Arcade Level, But Where Do The Batteries Go?, is a possible parody of the last episode of series 3 of Red Dwarf, in which the line "But where do all the calculators go?" is used frequently.
• TimeSplitters 2 was featured in the 2004 movie Shaun of the Dead. The Streets level and the Chicago mission can clearly be seen being played, and in one scene where the game is in the background, the music of the "Scrapyard" level from the game can clearly be heard to build tension.
  • However, in the Shaun of the Dead universe, Ed and Shaun play a fictionalised version of the game, in which you can join and leave a game at any time, and a voice is heard saying "Player two has entered/left the game".
• The NeoTokyo level is heavily inspired by the influential 1982 science-fiction movie Blade Runner. Most obviously, the flying police cars that hunt for the player are virtually identical to the police 'spinners' featured prominently in the film. The level features talking "cross now" pedestrian crossing signals similar to those heard in the movie, and the NeoTokyo music lifts sections from the Blade Runner's end title theme. Furthermore, the mission takes place in 2019, the year the movie is set.
• There are several oddities in all story cutscenes set in the Space Station. Sergeant Cortez will use the Lasergun as an automatic rifle with a far higher fire-rate than possible with the in-game weapon. Also, both Cortez's Lasergun and Corporal Hart's Plasma Rifle make the same noise as the original TimeSplitters' Minigun. In the ending cutscene, Cortez's Lasergun also fires a grenade, similar to the Soviet S47. Every Reaper Splitter also acts exactly the same as their original counterparts in the first game, even using the same animations and weapon sounds.
• The first two levels of the game, Siberia and Chicago, are present in Homefront: The Revolution. They are accessible using an arcade cabinet in the game's Restricted Zone, and although there are no texture/model differences some elements of the GUI, particle effects, lighting and weapons sounds are new. The rest of the game can be accessed through the use of codes or hacks.
  • A mod was created by the TimeSplitters modding community to enable full experience for PC using the aforementioned game, with HD textures, and additional fixes made, notably for NeoTokyo.
• This is the only game in the series where characters have removable hats.
• This is the only game in the series without character select gestures.