From the moment the demo boots up, I was getting strong Goldeneye vibes. Think Goldeneye on steroids. The demo level puts you on the ground in front of a dam. The setting is winter so the water is frozen. If you look up, you can see the massive dam towering over you, and it looks a lot like the one in Goldeneye. I mean this in a good way; a very good way. The graphics are very clean and detailed with good textures.

As soon as I adjusted to the minor differences in control (use of the C-stick instead of C-buttons, two button weapon switching, reloading and door opening on the D-pad etc.) I was killing guards left and right. The demo level requires a bit of stealth in that there are cameras around and many guards who are perfectly willing to put bullets in you right after they alert their buddies. Since you start out on the bottom of the dam, your ultimate objective is to get to the top. However, there are some things that need to be done first.

The objective based gameplay from Goldeneye makes a strong return in TS2. As in Perfect Dark, some of the objectives were dynamically added as I progressed through the level. First I needed to get access to the inside of the dam by unlocking a security door from a gaurd tower. After breeching the dam, I encountered another door that required the activation of a power generator and so on. The combat is, again, much like combat in Goldeneye. The major difference is that TS2 moves a little bit faster, and the framerate is certainly much smoother (rarely dipping below flawless). Even the health meter is almost straight out of Goldeneye. Naturally, four player multiplayer is in full effect here as well, and as a bonus, it has a great framerate too!

Free Radical was founded bye ex-Goldeneye team members, and it definitely shows in Time Splitters 2. If you’ve enjoyed Rare’s Perfect Dark or Goldeneye, keep an eye on this game.