Virus

Icon for TimeSplitters 2.

Virus is an Arcade mode in which one player starts off as the "virus", with green energy, and other players must run away from them. It is available on almost every level, barring Robot Factory in TimeSplitters 2 due to the many straightforward paths, and Siberia in TimeSplitters Future Perfect due to the enormous open space that the map is based around.

Aim

The aim of Virus is to be the last person to become "infected". You become infected if an infected character touches you, or you kill yourself, and you remain infected until the end of the match, and any attempts to extinguish (if fire extinguishers were allowed in the match) will reburn the infected character. In Arcade League, virus has a slight difference, where the match is over the moment you get tagged by a virus, and the match still keeps going after everyone but you is infected. This is to make the match dependent on surviving as long as you can, instead of being the last one.

In TimeSplitters 2, it's always the bot at the top of the bot set who starts as virus, while the "virus" bot in TimeSplitters Future Perfect is random. A human-controlled character can never start off as the virus, and so will always be running from them. In TimeSplitters Future Perfect, infected characters gain a slight speed boost, making it impossible to escape if you just run in a straight line. The match can be set with a time limit, or you can just play until there is only one winner.

Bots never tries to kill anyone, not even viruses. They only attack sometimes if being attacked by a player. They may still search for weapons, despite not even using them.

Advice

To get the most out of this game, create a custom weapon set consisting entirely of "unarmed". This will leave you unable to simply shoot pursuing viruses and make the game much more challenging. It is also best to play on a small or a medium-sized map, since there is more chance of running into an infected character. Levels with small corridors are also perfect for playing Virus in.

In TimeSplitters Future Perfect, the Virus mode also emits a Geiger counter (a "clicking" sound used when detecting radiation) once you start playing that specific game mode. This clicking sound alerts you of approaching infected enemies. The more frantic the clicking, the closer you are to an infected enemy. This technique only applies to player one, and not others in the multiplayer modes. The Geiger counter disappears after getting tagged.

Also, Character Abilities are lost, so all the characters are evenly-matched to run away from the Virus. The best weapon of choice is the Mag-Charger, because it can shoot through walls, making it easier to find and kill the virus. The Mag-Charger is looked down upon by users however, especially in virus mode. Using the mag-charger almost ALWAYS results in the infected characters collaborating in an insane bumrush upon the offending character, frequently killing him after infecting to rub it in further. It should be noted that killing the virus causes it to spawn again and may cause your route of escape to become blocked.

A common strategy attempted by novices is to commit suicide if a virus is on their tail. However, this was predicted by the Free Radical Design staff; if someone is to die by their own hand, they are respawned as an infected. This makes certain levels, such as Zeppelin, even more fun to play Virus in due to the possibility of trap-doors causing you to plummet to your doom, which the game interprets as suicide.

Another great tactic is to stay away from ALL enemies, partially eliminating the chance of getting tagged in the first place.

In TimeSplitters Future Perfect, rounds takes longer than TimeSplitters 2 due to the line of sight glitch, where bots can only tag others by the player's sight. This can make the match difficult, especially with many bots around, because bots are safe outside your sight while you still get chased, and you have to meet bots without the Virus to become last one standing. The match is a bit dependent on your sight to win.

Trivia

• It is possible for a human player to be a Virus, but this is mostly pointless, as it requires all other bots to be removed (Thus the game ends as soon as it begins). However, this can be used for 3 or 4-way multiplayer.