There were the expected incremental improvements, as well; visual effects were refined (and blood added for the first time), the cast of characters was carried over and greatly expanded, and a number of well-executed vehicle segments spiced up game play. Challenges and arcade league returned. The multiplayer was much the same as before, except perhaps for some subtle improvements (not counting the unfortunate announcer).
The overall level design felt like it had come together even more than in the previous games. While the various time periods had always had their own arsenals and aesthetics, the levels in Future Perfect were even more distinct in their senses of space and play styles. Weapons, some with unique functions, were often incorporated into the level design, becoming means of progression as well as mere boomsticks. This level of variety and intricacy of design, together with the newly fleshed-out story lending context to the player's actions and objectives, are why I consider Future Perfect the culmination of Free Radical's design prowess.
Free Radical's website features a bare-bones teaser of TimeSplitters 4, meaning that it must have been in early development when tragedy struck. According to the firm handling Free Radical's situation, news of a sale could come as early as this week. With luck, the studio will live on in some form or another, and TimeSplitters 4 will have a chance to grace the gaming world as a needed counterpoint to all the other shooters out there fighting to become more like each other.
A game where you can go head-to-head against an army of ninja monkeys, where you can be shot to death by a sock puppet or a wayward group of ocean life, or even that you can come back to again and again for nearly a decade and still enjoy its endlessly satisfying and twisted game play is very, very special. TimeSplitters spoiled me. I still feel cheated every time I play an FPS with a clunky frame rate, trite and humorless story, or no bots to fill a match when I've been without roommates or online capabilities.
There are FPS developers out there who could stand to learn a lot from TimeSplitters, and sadly, Free Radical itself can be included among them. If it dies now, it'll be that much more tragic with the badly incongruous Haze as its last offering to the world.
More on Haze (and the largely forgotten Second Sight) in part II. Until then, I've got some weeping to do.
Article comments
1 - Derek viases
Its sad that free radical is bankrupt, I so wanted to get the next timesplitter game, I think timesplitters is one of the best game franchises ever made
2 - Mark
TS: FP is indeed a grand game, one of the best on the PS2. This story really begins with GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on the N64, though, as Free Radical was made up of former Rare team members who worked on those games. Ever wonder why they felt kinda familiar, and had the same replete options for game customization, bots, splitscreen, etc., when everyone else shunned such elements? TS: FP was to the PS2 what Perfect Dark was to the N64, which is why I still dabble in both to this day. R.I.P. Free Radical. You will be missed (even if the pointless dialogue in Haze went on far. too. long.).
3 - Gabe Carr
I never had an N64 myself, though I've heard the Rare connection mentioned elsewhere. It seems they've had pretty proficient and enlightened design since the beginning...which does make Haze all the more shocking.
4 - Jason
i hope some kind of miracle happens and timsplitters 4 comes out i have ts2 and ts3 fp there can be some improvements like i want to be able to jump cause on my version u cant but the game has everything explosions, humor, vehicles,u can create ur own maps,there is pretty good graphics,and u can fight in different time periods from 1924 to 2401