TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is the third entry in the first-person action shooter from Free Radical Design, a studio founded by former GoldenEye 007 developers. Agent Cortez travels through time in it to stop an invasion by an alien zombie race trying to rewrite history, and the player gradually visits historical eras as well as a bizarre future full of parodies of action films from the eighties and nineties. The series is known for its irreverent humor, a large roster of playable characters and weapons, and an elaborate map and scenario editor called Mapmaker, which at the time ranked among the most open tools of its kind on consoles.

Besides a linear, co-operatively playable campaign, the game also offers an Arcade League with time-limited challenges and unlockable bonus content, as well as an extensive four-player split-screen multiplayer with a range of classic and custom game modes. None of the versions except the Xbox offered online play – multiplayer remained a purely local affair on PS2 and GameCube, limited to split screen or connecting consoles by cable.

The GameCube version was, at the time, the technically most modest of all three releases: multiplayer only worked via split screen or by linking multiple consoles and televisions, with no option to play online whatsoever. GameCube also used smaller-capacity optical discs than the standard DVDs used by PS2 and Xbox, which for games of similar scope usually meant more loading breaks between levels and chapters. In terms of content and gameplay, though, the GameCube version offered exactly the same campaign, weapons, characters, and map editor as the other two platforms – the difference was mainly technical and concerned chiefly the multiplayer, not the game's content itself. The controls also used the classic GameCube controller with its C-stick for looking around, adapted to the smaller number of buttons compared to the Xbox, but otherwise remained intuitive and close to the rest of the series.

Why play it: For fans without access to another console, the GameCube version offers the same campaign, weapons, and map editor as PS2 and Xbox, just with more limited multiplayer without online play and longer loading breaks.