If you like remakes, remasters and re-releases, it’s quite the time to be alive – and things are looking good for the remainder of 2019.
Aside from those instances of Nintendo just re-releasing Wii U titles on the Switch, or Naughty Dog polishing semi-recent PS3 classics like the Uncharted series or The Last of Us for “definitive experiences” on the PS4, the last 18 months have been great for nostalgia buffs eager to see their old favorites upgraded to the modern generation of consoles.
Three of last year’s releases – Shadow of the Colossus, Spyro Reignited Trilogy and the Xbox One release of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy ended up being in my top five most-played games of 2018. Earlier this year, my laundry bill dramatically spiked in the days I spent reliving Resident Evil 2, during which time my smartwatch also registered half a dozen heart attacks.
There’s more excitement to come, specifically in the forms of Crash Team Racing, MediEvil and (hopefully) System Shock. Just a couple of weeks ago, Microids announced it was remaking the incredible, underappreciated cel-shaded classic XIII:
But so long as a modern, official re-release of TimeSplitters 2 isn’t delivered, or even just rumored to be in development, this trend for bringing back older titles will never reach its true potential. Indeed, I’d go on record and say that it’s the greatest game not to receive a remaster, and we deserve one after 17 years of waiting.
For the uninitiated, the TimeSplitters franchise was a first-person shooter series developed by Free Radical Design, which was staffed by ex-Rare employees behind GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, specifically Graeme Norgate, arguably the greatest VGM composer of his generation.
TimeSplitters’ storyline was simple but madcap, using carefully considered and widely diverse characters from across different time periods to drive an ultimately hilarious narrative – essentially Quantum Leap, if Sam Beckett was battling evil aliens. From its inception, its mechanics were tight, its graphics were excellent, and it carved a real niche in an otherwise rapidly diluting FPS market.
Yet it was TimeSplitters 2 that perfected the initial formula, specifically with its generation-leading multiplayer mode. This was supported by a well-crafted Challenge mode, which offered a vast array of utterly absurd minigames that led to character unlocks for multiplayer. Because of this, you and three friends could experience the sheer thrill of a heavily customizable four-player local deathmatch between a gingerbread man, a Chinese chef, a snowman on a magic carpet, and a goldfish in a bowl that used a robotic body to attack adversaries.
Despite TS2’s success, along with the great reviews of sequel TimeSplitters: Future Perfect and impressive stealth sci-fi title Second Sight, TimeSplitters 4 never appeared. This fourth game was in development as early as 2007, but the initial promise of another outing was scuppered by a double whammy of bad luck, which ultimately led to Free Radical Design’s bankruptcy.
Firstly, Haze – the company’s ambitious PS3-exclusive title released just two months after the console’s launch in Europe – failed to live up to huge expectations, showcasing an incredible idea executed in an uncharacteristically poor manner. This was followed by an alleged spat between LucasArts and Free Radical over Star Wars: Battlefront III, which was all but complete by the time the two’s fraught relationship led to the game’s outright cancellation.
Anything created for TimeSplitters 4 disappeared into the Crytek ecosystem in 2009, when the German company rebranded the remains of Free Radical as Crytek UK, which went on to develop Crysis 2 and 3. Hopes for a Crytek-led sequel were dashed in 2012 when its CEO Cevat Yerli told CVG: “[I]f we made a sequel to TimeSplitters, nobody would accept this apart from some fans, and we don't know how big the fan community is, unfortunately.”
Great. Anyway, as so often happens in these dark situations, a fan-led project – TimeSplitters Rewind – was established to redevelop the franchise as a whole, using the CryEngine. Development was slow, updates were infrequent, but it was never abandoned.
In 2014, Crytek UK reportedly starting missing wage payments and bonuses, before eventually announcing that it was restructuring and selling its Homefront franchise – alongside the partially developed Homefront: The Revolution – to German media giant Koch Media. Remaining Crytek staff moved to Dambuster Studios, a new subsidiary of Koch’s publishing wing Deep Silver.
Then, a flash of happiness in an otherwise dull decade for TimeSplitters fans: in 2016, Homefront: The Revolution teased TimeSplitters fans with two full, playable levels of TS2 (Siberia and Chicago) within an arcade cabinet in its Korean-occupied American setting.
This was exciting and disheartening in equal measure. On one hand, it showed pride in the TimeSplitters franchise. On the other, it placed it in a reimagining of the Homefront universe, which gutted the great story ideas of the original and turned it into a confusing mess. Nothing sets off alarm bells for TimeSplitters 2 fans like myself quite like seeing it incorporated into a once-promising Homefront IP that was ultimately butchered into a questionable, open-world mess – one so average that it barely scraped 50% approval.
Finally, there was some good news. In August 2018, Koch Media announced its acquisition of the rights to TimeSplitters and Second Sight. It heavily implied that Deep Silver would be at the forefront of a potential release in the future; needless to say, this put TimeSplitters Rewind’s team on the back foot.
“We are hugely excited to have acquired TimeSplitters,” beamed Klemens Kundratitz, the CEO of Koch Media. “The original games gave fans a massive content offer and provided a pure and genuinely fun arcade shooter experience. We have many fans of the TimeSplitters series among our own staff who are passionate about creating a product that will thrill today's gaming audience.”
Since then? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. From Koch Media, at least, which has remained tight-lipped. TimeSplitters Rewind doggedly continues to release sporadic updates, including one in March that demonstrated 15 minutes of gameplay. It clearly has a way to go yet – and it’s been in development for over five years.
It’s vital to encourage long-running passion projects like these, but it’s still so frustrating to see an apparent disconnect between Koch Media, part-time teams like TS Rewind and, most importantly, TimeSplitters fans.
Koch Media should celebrate the work of TS Rewind. It should look to the positive coverage that its August announcement garnered in the gaming press. Most importantly, it should reflect on the reception of its unsuccessful reimagining of Homefront and remember that sometimes, it’s best to keep things simple and appreciate the success of remastering the classics which both old and new fans can love.
It’s time to bring TimeSplitters 2 up to modern specifications, make it available on this generation of gaming platforms, and bring back its unique, hilarious and nigh-on perfect local multiplayer action. The TS Rewind team should be brought in to assist in any way they can, both as experts and in their crucial capacity as the most passionate fans of the franchise.
Aside from online multiplayer, there isn’t even a need to add anything. Free Radical Design’s 2002 release provided gamers with so much more than they ever asked for – and, arguably, more than they’ve received from any FPS title since. It’s about time we were spoiled by TimeSplitters 2 again.
