Story: 3/5: The year is 2401. You are Sgt. Cortez and you have just returned home after collecting the Time Crystals, a tool of the evil alien TimeSplitters that can rip through the fabric of time. When you arrive, you are charged with a new mission: to go back in time and destroy the crystals before they can ever be used.
Hey, at least this one tries to have a plot, unlike TS2. It is passable as a story, even if time paradoxes become mind-numbing after ten minutes. However, even if the story is much more in-depth than TS2, it just doesn't feel as fulfilling. A small part of it might be the fact that it is very easy, and blazing through it is no problem on the Normal difficulty. The main reason is that it doesn't span as many time periods. Part of what made TS2's story mode fun wasn't the depth, but rather visiting many different eras and using unique weaponry. Basically, here, there are only 6 time periods: 1924, 1969, 1994, 2054, 2243 and 2401. All of those were present in TS2, along with other favourites such as 1800s France, 1930s Chicago and, my personal favourite that I sorely missed, the Wild West. We get more story in here than we asked for, but it doesn't seem as fun to blaze through.
Game Design: 15/20: As with TS2, there are three main single player modes: Story, Arcade League and Challenge. Arcade League, surprisingly, has less missions than TS2. While TS2 had a healthy 45 missions to play from, Future Perfect has only 27. Challenge mode continues to be a host to many original missions. Classics like Behead the Undead and Cut-Out Shoot-Out return, along with new modes like Cat Racing and Monkey Curling. However, Behead the Undead and Cut-Out Shoot-Out fit in with the FPS mentality. Games like Cat Racing and Monkey Curling, while interesting concepts, feel quite out of place.
The one point of design that has Future Perfect rise above TS2 is the mapmaker. Sure, the mapmaker was available in TS2, but it has been improved drastically this time around. The amount of space has been increased, and almost everything is now modifiable. You can create your own level one five floors, just like last time, inserting different items (with new ones like Jeeps and Remote Control Cats) and tiles. Unlike the last game, you can now create Assault maps, which is surprisingly simple to do once you get the hang of it. The ability to create your own maps adds a lot of replay to the game.
Play Control: 14/15: The play control was one of the main problems of TS2. Thankfully, that problem has been fixed, which is particularly noticeable when you go back and play TS2 again. The sniping was a major problem in TS2, thanks to the whole scope moving around the screen. The sniping here is more traditional, which may cost some originality points but makes sniping more accurate. Also, the controls were extremely sensitive, where they are tighter here to allow for more precision.
The control scheme has been altered slightly. Grenades have been given a separate command button than the regular fire (like Halo), instead being assigned to the previous secondary fire button. Secondary fire is accessed in a more traditional way, by pressing a button when scrolling through weapons.
The controls are better this time around, even if it makes the game feel slightly more run-of-the-mill.
Graphics: 13/15: If you really look at the graphics, they are quite good, but nothing groundbreaking or really worth mentioning.
Sound: 5/5: Sure, the gun noises and effects are all good, but this perfect goes mainly to the game's humour. There are enough one liners to keep you chuckling just enough to not have you lose focus on the game.
Multiplayer: 19/20: This is what made TS2 incredible, this is what made Perfect Dark incredible, this is what made Halo incredible, and it still works it's magic on Future Perfect. Once again, you have a fully customizable arcade mode with many different gameplay modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Elimination, Thief, Vampire, Shrink, Capture the Bag, Bag Tag, Virus, Zones and Assault. The mode Flame Tag has been lost, and when you combine that with the lack of any new modes, it makes this game have actually less modes than TS2. Still, minor complaints.
You can play up to four players split-screen, making this an ideal party game. However, on the Xbox and PS2 version, it can also play up to 16 players online. The GameCube version is sadly denied this luxury, but this game is more fun playing against a friend beside you than some crazy nerd halfway across the world.
There is also a standard co-op story mode for two players, which puts your friend in the role of the sidekick. Of course, this also brings up a small problem with checkpoints, which warp the one who is lagging behind right to their partner, but it overall a good co-op. Even if it was not included, it wouldn't matter much as the arcade mode is more than enough multiplayer fun.
Satisfaction: 15/20: If you do not have TS2, I suggest you drag yourself to a store and buy this. It is a shooters dream, filled with everything you could ever want. However, if you already have TS2, which you probably do, than I recommend waiting for it to drop in price before buying it.
Total: 84%: Future Perfect is a great game that I really enjoyed. It just doesn't follow up well to TS2. If the jerky controls of TS2 kept you back from that game, you should definitely buy this, as that large problem was fixed. This is still a great game in a great franchise, but the expectations for this just weren't lived up to.
Hey, at least this one tries to have a plot, unlike TS2. It is passable as a story, even if time paradoxes become mind-numbing after ten minutes. However, even if the story is much more in-depth than TS2, it just doesn't feel as fulfilling. A small part of it might be the fact that it is very easy, and blazing through it is no problem on the Normal difficulty. The main reason is that it doesn't span as many time periods. Part of what made TS2's story mode fun wasn't the depth, but rather visiting many different eras and using unique weaponry. Basically, here, there are only 6 time periods: 1924, 1969, 1994, 2054, 2243 and 2401. All of those were present in TS2, along with other favourites such as 1800s France, 1930s Chicago and, my personal favourite that I sorely missed, the Wild West. We get more story in here than we asked for, but it doesn't seem as fun to blaze through.
Game Design: 15/20: As with TS2, there are three main single player modes: Story, Arcade League and Challenge. Arcade League, surprisingly, has less missions than TS2. While TS2 had a healthy 45 missions to play from, Future Perfect has only 27. Challenge mode continues to be a host to many original missions. Classics like Behead the Undead and Cut-Out Shoot-Out return, along with new modes like Cat Racing and Monkey Curling. However, Behead the Undead and Cut-Out Shoot-Out fit in with the FPS mentality. Games like Cat Racing and Monkey Curling, while interesting concepts, feel quite out of place.
The one point of design that has Future Perfect rise above TS2 is the mapmaker. Sure, the mapmaker was available in TS2, but it has been improved drastically this time around. The amount of space has been increased, and almost everything is now modifiable. You can create your own level one five floors, just like last time, inserting different items (with new ones like Jeeps and Remote Control Cats) and tiles. Unlike the last game, you can now create Assault maps, which is surprisingly simple to do once you get the hang of it. The ability to create your own maps adds a lot of replay to the game.
Play Control: 14/15: The play control was one of the main problems of TS2. Thankfully, that problem has been fixed, which is particularly noticeable when you go back and play TS2 again. The sniping was a major problem in TS2, thanks to the whole scope moving around the screen. The sniping here is more traditional, which may cost some originality points but makes sniping more accurate. Also, the controls were extremely sensitive, where they are tighter here to allow for more precision.
The control scheme has been altered slightly. Grenades have been given a separate command button than the regular fire (like Halo), instead being assigned to the previous secondary fire button. Secondary fire is accessed in a more traditional way, by pressing a button when scrolling through weapons.
The controls are better this time around, even if it makes the game feel slightly more run-of-the-mill.
Graphics: 13/15: If you really look at the graphics, they are quite good, but nothing groundbreaking or really worth mentioning.
Sound: 5/5: Sure, the gun noises and effects are all good, but this perfect goes mainly to the game's humour. There are enough one liners to keep you chuckling just enough to not have you lose focus on the game.
Multiplayer: 19/20: This is what made TS2 incredible, this is what made Perfect Dark incredible, this is what made Halo incredible, and it still works it's magic on Future Perfect. Once again, you have a fully customizable arcade mode with many different gameplay modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Elimination, Thief, Vampire, Shrink, Capture the Bag, Bag Tag, Virus, Zones and Assault. The mode Flame Tag has been lost, and when you combine that with the lack of any new modes, it makes this game have actually less modes than TS2. Still, minor complaints.
You can play up to four players split-screen, making this an ideal party game. However, on the Xbox and PS2 version, it can also play up to 16 players online. The GameCube version is sadly denied this luxury, but this game is more fun playing against a friend beside you than some crazy nerd halfway across the world.
There is also a standard co-op story mode for two players, which puts your friend in the role of the sidekick. Of course, this also brings up a small problem with checkpoints, which warp the one who is lagging behind right to their partner, but it overall a good co-op. Even if it was not included, it wouldn't matter much as the arcade mode is more than enough multiplayer fun.
Satisfaction: 15/20: If you do not have TS2, I suggest you drag yourself to a store and buy this. It is a shooters dream, filled with everything you could ever want. However, if you already have TS2, which you probably do, than I recommend waiting for it to drop in price before buying it.
Total: 84%: Future Perfect is a great game that I really enjoyed. It just doesn't follow up well to TS2. If the jerky controls of TS2 kept you back from that game, you should definitely buy this, as that large problem was fixed. This is still a great game in a great franchise, but the expectations for this just weren't lived up to.