‘TimeSplitters: Future Perfect’ Retrospective: The Third And Last One
Following up a massive game like Timesplitters 2 is a seriously daunting task. Consumers expect an improvement on every facet of a game. Oftentimes with a long awaited sequel we find ourselves with a step sideways instead of a step forward.
Free Radical Design had disagreements with Eidos Interactive after the launch of Timesplitters 2. They ceased work with the publisher and joined up with Codemasters for their next game Second Sight. This third person psychological thriller resembled what was originally in production by Free Radical all the way back in the 1998 before switching gears to the FPS that would become TimeSplitters.
Second Sight was not quite as popular or successful as the TimeSplitters games that came before it, and by its release in September of 2004, people were getting anxious for Free Radical’s next shooter. The game was, however, a good look at where Free Radical was going in terms of visual design and storytelling ability. Compared to their previous titles, Second Sight was much heavier on the character work and overall narrative than ever before, and so these aspects of design would inevitably be applied to their next game. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect was announced in May of that same year.
This time Free Radical Design had partnered up with Electronic Arts, EA, for the publishing and distribution of their newest installment. After the announcement, fans would endlessly speculate on where the franchise was going. The hype train was going off the rails and in March of 2005, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect was on store shelves.
Overall, it was evident that TimeSplitters: Future Perfect was probably the first shooter developed by Free Radical without significant budget and time constraints. The sheer amount of content and polish was proof of that. The three signature game modes were present and more flushed out than ever. Story, challenge, and arcade mode were all improved upon and polished to a point where many consider TimeSplitters: Future Perfect the definitive TimeSplitters experience.
The game’s M for Mature ESRB rating was a first in the series and was representative of a studio that did not hold back. There were many disturbingly bloody environments and enemy designs alike. Another series first was the fact that every non-robotic character would bleed and had more significant gore effects when killed than ever before. The game was not just a bloody mess however, the M rating was due in part to the raunchy and overtly sexual themes and dialogue throughout the game. Despite it not being too present in the story mode, the arcade character selection screen did manage to become a stage for seductive poses, crass jokes, and even straight up moaning. This approach to humor was not new for Free Radical, but it was much less restrained in TSFP.
The story mode was a massive step up compared to that of TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters. The cutscenes are more than “hooks” to introduce players to each level. Rather, each level has multiple cinematic cutscenes throughout and constant dialogue between characters as you play through each level.
We tune in to the story just as we left it in TimeSplitters 2. Cortez is escaping from the Timesplitters with the time crystals but Corporal Hart is gone. Cortez crash lands and has to shoot his way back to the Spacetime Marines’ base of operations. There, we meet two new characters: The General and Anya. The General tasks Cortez with tracking down a large amount of time crystal usage in the far past. With the crystals in hand, their new goal is destroying the time crystals in the past so that the war with the Timesplitters never occurs in the first place. This new premise is much more thought out and compelling than the bare bones nature of the previous game.
The General is seldom present in the story, but Anya’s role as the time machine’s engineer allows her to communicate with Cortez as he travels through time. Their dialogue keeps the story moving along and provides a stage for Cortez’s character development. She also gives Cortez a new temporal uplink and is somehow able to see what Cortez and the player see, presumably through his signature cybernetic eye augmentations. This dynamic between the two characters does a lot of footwork in terms of presenting exposition and filling in the quiet between cutscenes.
In addition to Anya in Cortez’s ear, each level introduces a partner character that acts as an era-appropriate attachment to the various settings. These partners include playable characters from previous games and brand new ones. Their involvement is deeper than Anya’s despite often having different motivations than Cortez. For example, Harry Tipper is on a secret mission to take down the dastardly Khallos and Brotherhood of Ultra Science cult. Meanwhile, Cortez discovers that the time traveler Jacob Crow is in cahoots with the cult.
In terms of gameplay, each partner can act as a second gun or door opener of sorts, and sometimes the partner will even wander off or be cut off from the player when the plot calls for it. Though it should be noted that when playing in two-player co-op, these interactions are not present as Player 2 is always present throughout the game and will take control of different characters throughout the story. In all, these interactions with Cortez make for a much more compelling and humorous experience than the story modes in previous entries.
The settings are also much more thought out than before. Once again brought together by the time traveling plot, instead of randomly tracking down the time crystals, we play a game of cat and mouse as Cortez discovers a dastardly plot by villain Dr. Jacob Crow to take over the planet and gain immortality. Every setting is connected to Crow’s plight to develop the technology to utilize the time crystals and eventually deliver his younger self the ability to time travel. Additionally, During Crow’s research and experimentation he also gives life to the titular Timesplitters, who we learn are actually mutated human test subjects. Again, this is exposition and lore which was sorely needed in the previous games in order to fully immerse players in the TimeSplitters universe.
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In terms of the level design, they are made up of even more complex scripting, layouts, and objectives. It is once again possible to take on some sections in a stealthy manner too. The more complex layouts allow for some openness in the player’s approach to completing an objective and allows for experimentation and exploration. The temporal uplink’s return is essential as the map setting proves to be invaluable when making your way through each level. Plus, this upgraded version of the uplink also has a “telekinetic” setting which allows the player to push, pull, and lift in-game objects from a distance. The uplink allows for even more freedom in terms of interacting with the environment that was not present before.
Once again, the single player fun didn’t end with the story mode. There is a ton of action in both arcade league and challenge mode. Challenge mode is made up of challenges that resemble side missions and spinoffs, while arcade league is made up of interesting matches that could be made in custom arcade mode. Like always, completing each level would result in being rewarded with characters, maps, and cheats.
With the expansive arcade mode it was good news that, like its predecessor, online multiplayer was available to those with an internet connection. There is something about playing multiplayer with the entire screen that just hits differently. Not to disparage split screen, but there is a reason shooters became immensely popular as online connectivity grew in the gaming population.
And so arcade mode is bigger and better than ever with 15 maps, 13 game modes, and 150 characters. Maps are once again diverse in aesthetic and layout. Some maps are huge and suited for big team game modes and others are tighter and better suited for smaller, fast paced matches. They’re all set in a wide assortment of time periods, leading to stark differences in design that keep each match fresh.
Mapmaker is back for the third time and comes with more upgrades than ever. Open air maps are now possible with a range of possible skyboxes and weather effects. The themes are much more detailed and pair well with the expanded list of tiles as well – not to mention the improved verticality that new tiles bring to the table with 5 stackable stories. Additionally, improved scripting complexity only further added to the possible game modes and story missions that can be built with the newest iteration of Mapmaker. All in all, the feature rich level editor lived up to expectations and added hours upon hours of playtime for creative gamers.
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In arcade mode, the character stats system was reworked and now everyone has Speed, Stamina, Shock Proof, and Fire Proof all rated at the possible max of 8/8. But that isn’t all that is new to TSFP as the games M rating allowed for some more pretty out there designs. Some were cool, others were gory, and there were some admittedly erotic female designs too. With 150 characters it was easier than ever to find a character that would catch your eye.
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect was one of the very few shooters with a massive cast of characters. At the time, this was a stark contrast to the more evened out, competitive approach to PvP by the likes of the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises. Little did they know, the competitive approach would become mainstream for multiplayer shooters through the years up until the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch in 2016. Only then did the “hero shooter” bring back the concept of an FPS consisting of more drastic differences in how characters look and play.
The reception that TimeSplitters: Future Perfect received was again overwhelmingly positive and an improvement over Second Sight. A return to form, this title fulfilled all if not most expectations fans had for the long-awaited game. Despite receiving fewer perfect scores than its predecessor, the game still garnered a greater amount of positive reviews compared to TimeSplitters 2.
Audiences had similar takes as well. The game sold well and there was little where the game fell short. The biggest criticism was that by 2005, the game felt archaic and the design philosophy behind Free Radical Design’s approach to the shooter was becoming outdated. Personally, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect holds up better than the two previous games simply for the completeness that it delivers.
Looking back at the game, it could be considered a throwback shooter even for its time. One could contend that its lag behind the competitive shooter market affected sales. I would contend that in some ways it was ahead of the curve. Their forthcoming game Haze much more resembled the gritty shooters that were gaining popularity at time, but was received pretty poorly by gamers and critics alike.
After the release of TSFP, perhaps even concurrent to its development, Free Radical was actively developing Star Wars Battlefront III. The game was unceremoniously cancelled, but it also wasn’t publicly announced, either. LucasArts claims that Free Radical missed numerous deadlines. All the while, Steve Ellis reportedly remarked that the game was nearly completed by the time it was cancelled. As the years passed old assets and leaks would be discovered by gamers. One internal showcase displayed massive maps, countless assets, and fully acted out cutscenes. This led people to conclude that Ellis was likely telling that truth and we were missing out on what could have been another awesome shooter from Free Radical.
The team was not new to butting heads with publishers in their time and their eventual work with Ubisoft on the lackluster Haze, their inability to sell a TimeSplitters sequel, and a falling out with Activision while negotiating the production of a GoldenEye 007 remake would ultimately lead to the studio’s downfall. In late 2008 the studio had shut down, and a few months later in February of 2009 they were purchased by Crytek and renamed Crytek UK. The new company developed Crysis 2, Crysis 3, and a console port of Crysis over 5 years from 2009 to 2014.
In the summer of 2014 Crytek UK and the rights to the game they were making, Homefront: The Revolution, was sold to Koch Media and the developers were transferred to Dambuster studios. The studio was built for the purpose of finishing Homefront and also consists mostly of Crytek UK developers. Afterwards, Dambuster Studios finished and launched Homefront: The Revolution in 2016 and Dead Island 2 in 2023. During this time Doak and Ellis worked in conjunction with Embracer to reform Free Radical Design with aspirations of developing a TimeSplitters game.
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Dambuster Studios and the new Free Radical Design existing at the same time under the same corporate umbrella was odd as they were both composed of former Free Radical employees, but alas it didn’t last long. By the end of 2023 the new Free Radical Studio was yet again shut down. So some of the former free radial developers still work at Dambuster, but for the most part the studio is dead. Embracer continues to own the TimeSplitters IP. So they can always make a new one, but there hasn’t been any official news on the franchise as of yet.
In fact, there have been a couple of instances when a TimeSplitters sequel was in the works. After Free Radical’s development of Haze in 2006, the studio was shopping the potential fourth chapter of TimeSplitters around to publishers. They had begun very early development on the game and even released teasers which confirmed the existence of the project, but there was never an official gameplay release. In march of 2024, however, a reddit user found a supposed prototype of the game on a used PS3 they purchased on eBay. The reddit user shared gameplay, which can easily be found on YouTube, consisting of a brand new map, the ability to jump, and new character/weapon models. It is evidently really early footage as the UI is still the same as TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. There was speculation as to the legitimacy of the gameplay, but David Doak went on to verify the legitimacy of the leak after it surfaced on the web.
Receiving footage of what could have been a decade after the fact just salts the wound. Though the same cannot be said about the second time a sequel was in the works. There was only one official image release by Free radical design. It is of a monkey in a mechanized suit of medieval armor. The design seemed to fit well with the map and weapon present in the leak.
Like I mentioned earlier, the reestablishment of Free Radical Design by Embracer and Deep Silver was announced in 2019. Their entire goal was supposed to be to create a fourth TimeSplitters game and effectively revive the franchise. In November of 2023, and after several years of silent development, Free Radical Design was once again a part of Embracer’s restructuring efforts.
In March 2024 there was a leak of an internal development snapshot. Unrelated to the other leak and yet on the same exact day, this snapshot was about five minutes of footage showing off different game modes, maps, characters, an in-game store, and even a battle pass page. The perspective was also changed to third-person and frankly looked a lot like Fortnite. I won’t risk linking the leak here but google “TimeSplitters Next” and laugh.
Fans of the franchise had their disappointment of Free Radical Design’s second death quelled by the fact that the public was not subject to this TimeSplitters X Fortnite unholy union. Though, there is still one vestige of hope for the franchise, known as TimeSplitters Rewind.
TimeSplitters Rewind is pretty much an unofficial high definition remake/remaster of the original TimeSplitters trilogy. After its announcement almost a decade ago, there was a whole lot of interest in the project, but slow progress and the lack of consistent updates have fans weary that the project will ever be released.
The last update was in march of 2024 and before that it was in December of 2022. The developers tend to take several months to years between major updates. Many forgive them because the team is made up of a small team of volunteers, but there are still criticisms about not being communicative enough.
The official discord server for TimeSplitters Rewind has some interesting insight on the process of building this free remaster. Apparently there are plans for a “beta test” of sorts as they near the launch of the game. The debacle with Free Radical and the exchanging of the IP between companies has not affected their work in any way, but the team acknowledges that the current rights holder, Embracer, has the power to shut down operations at will. For that reason the TSR team cannot pay their volunteers nor can they charge money or take monetary donations to support them. To stay in the good graces, and out of the way, of Embracer they have stuck with the decision for this project to remain free in every sense.
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Some of the original developers from the trilogy have also shown support for the TimeSplitters Rewind project, but it is still unknown if Embracer will let this long-awaited remaster see the light of day.
I, for one, would suggest that Embracer pay the team for their time, buy the work already completed, finish the game, and finally give fans what they’ve been waiting for. I seriously doubt a third attempt will be made to revive, or at the very least use, the IP in any way, but there is always a modicum of hope (delusion) in the back of my head as I watch the latest Game Awards or Summer Games Fest showcase.
The Rewind team contends that the launch will happen when the game is ready and it will be free on PC (they have no plans to bring the remaster to consoles). The story of TimeSplitters and Free Radical Design is tragic. Though their journey ended in heartbreak, their legacy remains. It’s too bad that the studio and franchise isn’t around today, considering they left a meaningful impact on the genre and gaming as a whole. Their games will live on as artifacts from a time very much unlike our own. Hopefully, TimeSplitters may entertain and inspire new generations of gamers before Cortez’s adventures are lost to time.
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