TimeSplitters 2 in HD? Up to you

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Recently, developer Free Radical Design has been contemplating the re-release of their classic last-gen shooter, TimeSplitters 2 - in HD.

The TimeSplitters series is one of the best first person shooting experiences that you never had. These excellent games were sadly overlooked by many gamers in favor of bigger franchises from the era such as Halo and Medal of Honor.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (the third installment in the series) is probably one of my favorite shooters of all time. However, all three titles from the series provided a great FPS experience with excellent visuals and tight controls. The single-player campaigns were well-crafted and engaging, while the challenge and multiplayer modes could keep you occupied for months.

Throw in some British humor, quirky characters and monkeys to top off the solid game play, and you have yourself one of the most fun FPS experiences that you could ask for. It would be a real treat for loyal followers of the series if Free Radical decided to go ahead and re-release this game in HD, which would be available for download via the Playstation Network.

However, there are currently no definitive plans for this to occur. Free Radical would like to hear from gamers themselves before they go to all the trouble of polishing up a game if no one will download it. So, if you would like to see an HD reinvention of TimeSplitters 2, all you need to do is send an email to PSM3 Magazine to show your support, as they are behind the campaign for an HD version of this game. David Doak of Free Radical Design has confirmed that should this campaign garner enough support, a TimeSplitters 2 HD is very possible. Read the rest…

Quake 3 Arena Arcade

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Now being a big Quake fan, and a HUGE Legacy user, I am a bit worried. If you haven’t heard, Quake 3 Arena is soon to be released on Xbox Live Arcade by Pi Studios. Pi do not have a good reputation for including Legacy controls.

I decided to send them an email asking if they could kindly include Legacy controls and not to disappoint me like countless titles I would have loved to have played in the past. They replied with: “What are Legacy controls?”

I explained but never heard back. It’s not looking good. If anyone wants to help get the message across sling them a quick email at info@pistudios.com.

Marathon on Xbox Live

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Just to let anyone know who is interested, Marathon: Durandal now supports the Legacy control mapping with its recent update. This is good news if you are wanting to play this great old school game, but couldn’t due to the absence of Legacy.

And Then There Was Perfect Dark…

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We couldn’t do an article on GoldenEye 007 without mentioning its spiritual sequel, Perfect Dark. This game was the long anticipated follow-up game to GoldenEye, and it introduced us to a new heroin, Joanna Dark. Or basically, Rare’s take on a female James Bond. Perfect Dark was set the not so distant future of 2023. Yet it sported futuristic weapons, spaceships and even flying cars in the background of some levels that would explode with one shot of your pistol. Nice.

This game was supposed to be better than GoldenEye in every way. Thanks to the N64 Expansion Pak, it offered glossy “high-rez” visuals, complete with voice acting; an element that was missing from GoldenEye. The voice acting was actually really well done in this game. Too bad Perfect Dark Zero for the 360 didn’t follow in this game’s footsteps for that. A note to anyone who is yet to try PD Zero: Skip all cut scenes!

Although the first Perfect Dark was fun and really well put together, for many people it did not quite live up to the hype as a sequel to GoldenEye. Some of the single player levels were great. But when aliens were randomly introduced in the last few levels… well, they lost me there. That made the game suddenly feel very ‘un-GoldenEye’ for me. Read the rest…

Looking back at Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

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It was 1997, the Nintendo 64 and competing console Playstation had just dropped in price to $200. I only found this out once I got to a local K-Mart (Bonus!!), ready with a wad of cash to blow on the Nintendo console and a copy of Turok. If it wasn’t for that that price drop I wouldn’t have been able to afford the RF Adapter that I would need for the system, so I got lucky.

I got everything home, setup, and began playing the game that would ingrain the southpaw control style into my gaming soul. Read the rest…

Remember GoldenEye?

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We do. Who could forget this gem? Back in the N64 days, GoldenEye 007 was THE game to play. In fact, for many people, it was the only game to play. Sure, you had other games in your N64 collection (Mario 64, Shadows of the Empire, Turok, Mario Kart, etc). But no matter what, N64 FPS players would always faithfully return to GoldenEye.

You would tool around with other games, try them out, play through them even, but you would always come back to GoldenEye to replay your favorite missions, beat the clock to earn cheats, or take on your buddies in a heated 4-player death match. And this is where multiplayer mayhem has its true origins. To all you guys out there that think Halo is where this all started, take note. So why are we talking about a dusty old N64 cartridge? Well, this has been a tough year for alt-control players out there. We have all (Southpaw and Legacy players) missed out on a handful of Triple-A titles due to the lack of support for our control preferences. And I’m not trying to cry the blues here. Some games will have alt-controls, and some won’t. That’s just the way it is these days. Read the rest…