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Just to let those who were interested the last time I made a topic about TSFP know that the game has been released.

I got it a day after it came out in the UK, and I can say that it is a big improvement over TS2 in many ways.

I'll keep this short and just list the pros and cons:

Pros:
- It is the definitive console-only shooter.
- The game actually has a story this time (!)
- Some of the script is rather witty.
- There are loads of piss-take references to other games and movies.
- 150 characters to play as.
- 49 different weapons.
- The mapmaker is much improved and allows you to put vehicles in maps.
- PS2 and Xbox versions are online (8 players for PS2, 16 for Xbox).
- There are some pretty amazing maps in there for multiplayer.
- There is now blood - w00t.

Cons:
- Story mode is too easy.
- Only one type of vehicle is allowed in mapmaker.
- Some other mapmaker features were left out.
- Online is currently quite crap, or so I've heard. Hopefully it will be patched.

I would recommend this game to any FPS fans who want to play something a little different from Halo/Half-Life etc.

Of course, you should love it anyway if you have the rest of the series!

Well..
I loved Time Splinters 1, and when I played the second one.. I was so dissappointed I dismissed it, and never touched it again.. but if you say Time Splinters "Future Perfect" which is the third one correct..? Sorry I haven't exactly been monitering Time Splinters, been waiting on Conker: Live and Reloaded, and Doom 3 to hit the consoles

But,
IT has vehicles?
Well.. I might rent it, after TS2 ... I won't ever go out and buy one.. unless TS3 pwnz..

Even hard mode? That's a let down...

Not like I play TS games for story mode in the first place but I still liked how challenging beating the game on hard/getting all of the time secrets was.

How are the vehicles?

Well, in the multiplayer maps there is only one vehicle, and that's on the Siberia level. It's called a Zeep. You can make maps with another faster type of buggy in it though.

Hard mode is about as hard as TS2's Normal difficulty, maybe harder in places.

As you don't seem too keen - I will say that the story missions are a lot more fun, in my opinion.

You forgot to add up to 8 bots in multiplayer mode, which is something other games just don't have. It's still the only console game with a map editor, unless Pariah comes out. If you are looking for a multiplayer blast, get this game. I'm not sure if I should get it now, or wait until the price drops to 20...

What was left out and what was added?

Mapmaking was basically the main reason I bought TS2... I'll probably buy TS:FP when I actually have the time to play it.

The singleplayer story is not as emotion or deep as it could have been, but it remains decent. The fact that every level is a new character is fresh, but it works as a downfall as well since the player won't be able to personalize with the new characters, but only Cortez. On normal or hard settings, it does what few games do and actually opens new areas to explore, rather than just increasing enemy health/skill, *COUGH COUGH* Halo.

Multiplayer is very strong. The levels are numerous, well-designed and detailed. You can have up to 10 bots along with four players which totals to 7 on 7 matches. If that was not enough, they went ahead and improved the map editor so you can have countless combinations in maps. If you have lots of friends over, this game will never get stale.

Graphics are very crisp. Though they aren't Half-Life 2 quality, it doesn't have to be. The fact that they have less polygons is actually a great tool in this game. It breaks the trend of "OMG GRAPHICS = GOOD GAME", and allows 10 bots to be played in multiplayer at the same time. I'd like to imagine how many bots there could be if it used N64 graphics. This is an area where quantity > quality. Imagine 32 players with bots. It's not just that it has bots, but the bots are actually challenging and are very customizable. Without that feature, bots are worthless.

My complaints are very minor. I would liked to have seen some realistic elements in such games like Halo. The game allows you to carry a hefty amount of weapons, but I would have preferred only 2, as it allows strategy of choosing what guns to and NOT to use. If they are letting you carry 6 guns at once, at least slow the player down if he is carrying a lot. I would have also preferred if crosshairs were removed and the game used ironsights. This means you place your eye across the shaft of the gun and try to match up the sights. Jump is also not featured, but it has been like that since Goldeneye, so it doesn't matter. Also another minor complaint, I also miss how you could shoot ammo boxes or weapons and they would fly in the air and move around. Well, in TS3, they stay put.

I believe the wait was worth it and it allowed the game to be more polished than it would have been. I don't like how it's EA game published, but the game is amazing. Though the gamecube does not have internet play, when you have a bunch of friends over, it's still a blast. Don't let the M-rating fool you to avoid this game. Do yourself a favor and get a copy today. My copy was the LAST one in the store, which makes having the game, all the sweeter.

Rev's Rating

Singleplayer = 2
Multiplayer = 3
Replayability/Extra Features = 3

1 = bad
2 = acceptable
3 = outstanding

Argh!! Bots are retarded!!

Honestly, if you start getting good against bots, you're going to get bad at fighting real people (unless you're training to snipe).

Take my rant in the Halo thread on how crappy AI really can be. Even in Halo.

How is the game speed? I noticed that they brought it down a notch from TS1 to TS2. I was displeased.

EDIT: Oh and hopefully I'll be picking this game up this weekend. There will be much death of monkeys.

Well, to be honest, I think the gameplay has sped up somewhat in multiplayer - a good thing.

The bot AI is reasonable, but nothing to write home about. At least now they don't have their rate of fire limited to retarded speeds (When they have a machine gun they actually fire it like one now!).

Last night, I put all the 5-star bots and Cortez in a deathmatch in the Disco level (my new favourite - it is even more frantic than Chinese). I was Dr. Amy, and although I won the match by 2 points, I concluded that the best bot in TS3 is The Master, followed closely by the new Berserker Splitter (honestly - that dude has so much stamina he takes 2 whole machine-gun clips to take down).

Cortez came joint last - a pretty poor performance seeing as he's the hero of the game.

But, yeah, onto some more actual detail about the game itself:

D-Scypher: The mapmaker is much improved from that in TS2, but some features were left out, probably because EA pushed FRD to get the game out on its release date. The most notable of these missing features is the fact that you can't assign story AIs different teams (e.g. have story AIs allied to you, or have civil war between two enemy teams).

However, there are more tilesets, you can do cool stuff like add switches that control autoguns and roof cameras. You can fully customise said autoguns - you control their rotation radius, speed and whether any events power them up or down. Oh, and you can set them to fire anything from Flares to Tranquiliser darts (which, incidentally, make you swell up and explode if you get hit by too many of them). Did I mention that you can now place up to 50 story enemies rather than 10 now, and you can see a quick 3D preview of your map by hitting a button?

Rev: I'm not sure about the accuracy of some of your comments, but most of what you say is true. For one, the game doesn't add new objectives on harder difficulties though.


If any of you guys need any more info - I guess you can ask any of us who already have the game.

Yea, I noticed just as I was playing the game right now. In TS2, new areas did unlock; it's a shame they didn't do this in TS3. I'm going to have a 3 people blast tommorow, so I'm going mapmaking!

Are any or the tilesets open air? Do all of the rooms have ceilings?

Oh! And is there a Planet X multiplayer level?

All tilesets are open air if you want them to be. The mapmaker has a lot of quirks though and really feels like it was rushed.

There is no Planet X level, but the ultimate sniping level, Siberia, is in the game.

This game has like no AI. All they do is shoot. No running, no spreading out...

True - but it's supposed to be an arcade shooter, not a realistic one.

Also, at least the game has bots, unlike Halo/Halo 2.

If you look closely though, the AI of characters depends on quite a lot of things, but mainly their size, shooting accuracy, stamina and agility.

The game is GOD!!!!

Its mainly for multiplayer. The story is just a side! Im thinking of getting an online connection to play TS on.... i just dunno how it works. Do you plug it in to ur modem or something? im clueless....

Anyway, the mapmaker is really advanced now. The pistol messups have been fixed. (shoot! 1...2...3...shoot! 1...2...3....shoot!) BLOOD! Well u already said that. Hey, but they even have Vietnam!

Anyways, if u guys noticed, they get less goofy every TS. Some expamples-

TS1- You were allowed to weild 2 miniguns
TS2- Only allowed to weild 1 minigun. Allowed to weild 2 double barrel shotguns.
TSFP- Unable to weild 2 but only one duoble barrel shotgun. Blood.

Have you compared the cover of TS2 to the one of TSFP? Unbeleivable... The graphics....

I used to hate the Tactical 12 Guage, they made that more realistic too.

I have to admit, the AI sometimes can be crappy. But sometimes its awesome. When they play in one of the already constructed maps they will take positions during CTB (capture teh bag)! Like one time in assault, i snuck through behind all the idiots shooting. The all of the sudden some guy pops out of a... mini room? in a hallway and fires. He was playing some good D. He was waiting. There i got hit with good and bad AI.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the game at all, but just a crazy story. I was remaking a KillZone level in the mapmaker (HUGE), but it was tough since i wanted every level to have sky. but anyway, after i finished it, the level is skippy. I used all the memory doing this map. Its a diferent TS kind of map. Its GIGANTIC. No BIGGER. U wouldnt believe the size.

Yeah, the mapmaker is really glitchy and feels unfinished.

But not as glitchy as TS2. when you put the RED BASE down. Blue would come out to. >_<

But they did fix that at least...

The editor crashed 3 times when my friends and I were making a map. We still don't get logic and stuff, as we were trying to make an Assault map. It's a shame you can not have 10 bots when playing your own maps. I would love if they had like a more realistic 1-5 shots your dead, rather than just 1. Though I enjoy 10, a number such as 20 or so bots would have been great.

Really? That's great! It drove me insain how in TS2 you could take so many direct shots and not die.

I meant if they had an option of 1-5 shots to be killed instead of only 1 hit kill or the regular health system.

Anyone make good maps? I made a D-Day map, but it doesn't feel epic when you only have 12 players. The gun turrets are only really useful at short range. I love the bunker tiles though.