History VideoGame / TimeSplitters

* BloodlessCarnage: ''[=TimeSplitters=] 1'' and ''2'' have no blood at all, making them a bit more family-friendly than ''FP''

* DestroyTheSecurityCamera: In the second game, on the first level, Siberia, you need to shoot the security cameras to disable them so you don't get detected and sound the alarm.

In which universe can a player waltz about through time, sometimes masquerading as everything from an astronaut to a mobster to an explorer, wield P90s, laser beams, and blunderbusses, shooting up monkeys, gingerbread men, snowmen, gangsters, robots, lions, cowboys, and Russian soldiers?

** Most of the boss enemies (i.e. Big Tony, Jacques de la Morte, the Colonel, and Khallos) use the normal enemy A.I. moveset and just have a lot more health. Though there are a few unique boss enemies such as the helicopter gunship, the portal daemon, and the Dark Machinist's combat machine.

* GroinAttack: Jo-Beth Casey gives Cortez a swift kick to the 'nads when they first meet. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMx0GBLtQTo&feature=related "You're no zombie!"]]

** Sadako in the Neotokyo level is tougher than a regular enemy, but not as tough as a normal boss, and even lacks a boss health bar. She's only a full boss (with health bar) on Hard difficulty.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] Future Perfect'': The series' biggest mainstream hit. WAY deeper story, more characters, more upgrades, more comedy. However it was now more like a standard FPS and wasn't as fast-paced as the second game, although much more varied. Had the same awesome multiplayer and online capabilities, now with even bigger maps. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and [=GameCube=] in 2005, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via the backwards compatibility program in 2021.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Jacob Crow. [[spoiler: His goal is achieving eternal life. All of his villainy is just a side-effect of his careless methods of going about his research. He's mostly just an ignorant moron.]]

* KingMook: Most of the boss enemies (i.e. Big Tony, Jacques de la Morte, the Colonel, and Khallos) use the normal enemy A.I. moveset and just have a lot more health. Though there are a few unique boss enemies such as the helicopter gunship, the portal daemon, and the Dark Machinist's combat machine.

While the second and third installments introduced more complex levels and overarching objectives, the main premise of each level in a ''[=TimeSplitters=]'' game mostly remains the same: travel to a specific time period (ranging from 1930s Chicago to 1800s Old West to 2019 Neo-Tokyo and 2280 Planet X), apprehend the time-specific foes that dare cross your path, equip the then-latest in armaments, complete the objectives the game instructs you to do, and advance to the next stage. While the first game involved you simply stealing an item and returning to your spawn point (making the experience, for lack of a better word, glorified Capture The Flag with bots), ''2'' and ''Future Perfect'' introduced an overarching story, involving [[Creator/VinDiesel Vin Die]]--er, [[Main/ComicBookFantasyCasting ''Sergeant Cortez'']] collecting Time Crystals sought after by the series' titular [=TimeSplitters=], a race bent on the erasing of human history as we know it.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=]: Future Perfect'': The series' biggest mainstream hit. WAY deeper story, more characters, more upgrades, more comedy. However it was now more like a standard FPS and wasn't as fast-paced as the second game, although much more varied. Had the same awesome multiplayer and online capabilities, now with even bigger maps. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and [=GameCube=] in 2005, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via the backwards compatibility program in 2021.

* AKA47: This became more widespread as the series wore on. While the first game allowed use of the Uzi, M16 and Mauser Pistol, Future Perfect ended with the Machine Gun, Soviet Rifle and Kruger 9mm.

* BloodlessCarnage: ''[=Timesplitters=]'' 1 and 2 have no blood at all, making them a bit more family-friendly than ''FP''

** In ''Timesplitters'', the level ''Mansion'' is populated by zombies risen by a curse on the building, due to a serial killer's unburied remains (which the player must capture and escape with).
** In ''Timesplitters 2'', the second half of ''Siberia'' has the player fighting Russian soldiers zombified by exposure to one of the time crystals and the frozen remains of a timesplitter. The level ''Notre Dame'', meanwhile, features zombies and other undead creatures animated by the magic of an EvilSorcerer and his cult.
** In ''Timesplitters: Future Perfect'', the levels ''Mansion of Madness'' and ''What Lies Below'' feature zombies created by an ImmortalitySeeker's science experiments GoneHorriblyWrong.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's actually subtle hints as to the true nature of the Timesplitters (finally revealed in the third game) dating all the way back to the ''plotless first entry.''

* PutOnABus: The majority of the hero characters from the first ''[=Timesplitters=]'' never made it to the second game, and only eight characters were in all three: Captain Ash, Harry Tipper, Chastity Detroit, The Badass Cyborg, Robofish, The Chinese Chef, The Gingerbread Man, and Duckman Drake.

* ExcusePlot: The game has barely any plot at all, and the little it has is barely related to the gameplay. The only story you get is a short blurb on the back of the game's box explaining that the Timesplitters were [[SealedEvilInACan trapped in another dimension]] and escaped, and the story mode is a story mode in name only as the gameplay is nothing more than "find an item hidden somewhere in the stage and take it to a certain point", with the Timesplitters appearing for no good reason once you pick up the item, and the different stages being completely unrelated to each other.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first game had no story, so anything involving the Timesplitters and the near-extinction of humanity is this to the prior game. Plus places like Notre Dame and the Robot Factory are just flat out creepier and more bleak than the first game's locales. That being said, the inclusion of even more wackier characters in the multiplayer and the introduction of the Monkey softens it up on the multiplayer side of things.

* UpdatedReRelease: An updated version of ''Timesplitters 2'' with support for up to 4k resolution was included as an EmbeddedPrecursor EasterEgg inside Dambusters[=/=]Crytek's ''VideoGame/HomefrontTheRevolution''. Normally, only the first 2 levels are playable, but data miners have known for a while that the data for the entire game was actually present. One of the developers revealed in 2021 that said hidden content (including the full story campaign and arcade mode) could be unlocked with cheat codes, but the game is not fully stable and crashes whenever Reaper Splitters spawn in. A fan patch exists for the PC version that fixes most of the crashes (other than the Neo Tokyo level) and enables all the unlocks without the need to enter the cheat codes. In late 2021[=/=]early 2022, a more extensive mod called ''Timesplitters 2: Redux'' was released, which fixes all major bugs and makes the game's story mode fully playable from beginning to end, and even allows the game to be launched directly from desktop instead of having to find the Easter Egg inside ''Homefront'' each time. However the mod still has some graphical glitches and multiplayer and the level editor are not yet functional.

[[folder:''[=TimeSplitters=]: Future Perfect'']]

* AbandonedCatchphrase: The Hero Cortez had a catchphrase, 'Time to Split' which he always loudly exclaims before shifting to another time. Viciously played upon in the third game, where this is met with blank stares and disbelief by his partners in time, sometimes causing Cortez to falter and just give up. It could be an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn, since the characters in ''Timesplitters 2'' were pretty one-dimensional, until Future Perfect, in which the characters actually have personalities and dialogue.

* BigBad: Jacob Crow, a MadScientist obsessed with achieving immortality through the use of the time crystals. Every mission is spent fighting mooks or monsters that are related to him in some way, and his experiments are revealed to be [[spoiler:the origin of the timesplitters themselves]].

** Dr. Peabody was implied to be a ReluctantMadScientist in ''Timesplitters 2'', but in ''Future Perfect'' is fully on Khallos' side. He's also vastly different in appearance, being an actual medical doctor as opposed to a nuclear physicist.

* BrickJoke: The final level has some EnemyChatter that mirrors a conversation in the first level of ''Timesplitters 2''.

** The timesplitters themselves, oddly enough, barely feature in this installment at all - the only timesplitter variety that appears are Berserker Splitters, and while the plot concerns [[spoiler:their creator, Jacob Crow]], the timesplitters are never battled outside of Cortez' native time period of the 2400s. This does have a reasonable in-story reason though [[spoiler: Cortez stole the crystals from their time machine at the end of T2. That is one of the reasons they are attacking the base in the first place.]]

** Chastity Detroit is also demoted to multiplayer-exclusive having previously been bumped down to second-player. Unlike Gretel she doesn't even get a redesign and just uses her ''Timesplitters 2'' model.

** [[spoiler: Corporal Hart]]'s presence as a multiplayer character. [[spoiler: She dies near the end of ''[=TimeSplitters=] 2'', but her ''Future Perfect'' description lampshades her presence anyway, even stating that it should no longer a factor as [[BreakingTheFourthWall you have completed Future Perfect's storyline]], as it is required to unlock her, since the whole [=TimeSplitter=] war would have never happened to begin with... Then it asks why there is a Timesplitter character... Foreshadowing? Joke?]]

** The game itself invokes this in Hart's profile: In order to unlock her you have to beat the game and erase the Timesplitters from history, thus also undoing her death, yet you can still play as a Beserker Splitter.

* WhatTheHellPlayer: A few times. Using the research equipment on the mutants in ''U-Genius U-Genix'' and exposing the scientist to tests in ''What Lies Below'' are probably the two biggest examples. You can also shoot a monkey Khallos has locked in a jail cell. Anya will flip if you take a pause from stopping a [[NukeEm nuclear missile]] launching and igniting a war between the [=US=] and [=USSR=] (and by extension, stopping the Timesplitters)... to play a slot machine.

** This is also subverted at the end. During the game Future Cortez and Past Cortez meet constantly, but then suddenly [[spoiler: when you fight Crow, Anya has you fight alongside yourself. This wouldn't be weird if A) you are future Cortez and you never play as Past Cortez in this fight. B) after finishing the fight you go back to the future and the timesplitters are destroyed. C) The world suddenly becomes lush and green.]] This effectively means that time travel does not have to be a case of "You Already Changed the Past" and more or less a choice of whether you already have or if you're going to screw the rules.

* VoodooShark: ''Rewind'' attempts to HandWave the "Cyberden" level [[IWantMyJetPack taking place in 2005]] by claiming that the cyborgs were time travelers sent by the splitters to destroy humanity. This fails to explain how two cops from the future also got there. And it certainly can't explain "Planet X" and "Spaceways" allegedly being in 2020 and 2035, respectively. A better solution would have been to retcon the dates (like [=TS2=] ''already did'' regarding Chastity Detroit) or ditch them entirely.

* UpdatedReRelease: An updated version of ''Timesplitters 2'' with support for up to 4k resolution was included as an EmbeddedPrecursor EasterEgg inside Dambusters[=/=]Crytek's ''VideoGame/HomefrontTheRevolution''. Normally, only the first 2 levels are playable, but data miners have known for a while that the data for the entire game was actually present. One of the developers revealed in 2021 that said hidden content (including the full story campaign and arcade mode) could be unlocked with cheat codes, but the game is not fully stable and crashes whenever Reaper Splitters spawn in. A fan patch exists for the PC version that fixes most of the crashes (other than the Neo Tokyo level) and enables all the unlocks without the need to enter the cheat codes.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: 64 in the first game, 126 in the second, and a whopping 150 in ''Future Perfect''.

In which universe can a player waltz about through time, sometimes masquerading as everything from an astronaut to a mobster to an explorer, wield P90s, Laser Beams, and Blunderbusses, shooting up monkeys, gingerbread men, snowmen, gangsters, robots, lions, cowboys, and Russian Soldiers?

* ''[=TimeSplitters=]'': Exclusive and Launch Title for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 in Europe (was intended to be a UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube title as well, but Free Radical could not obtain a translated developers kit). [[{{Speedrun}} Short missions]] and lack of story (unless you [[AllThereInTheManual read the manual]]). Loved for its fast-paced action and in-depth multiplayer, but was criticized for long loading times and lack of a plot.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] 4'': One of gaming's most tragic tales of DevelopmentHell. The status of this game is unknown after Free Radical Design went belly-up as a result of both the UK's economic recession and their [[SoOkayItsAverage incredibly adequate]] [=PS3=]-exclusive title ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' failing to live up to its hype. They were subsequently bought out by Creator/{{Crytek}}. It is not known how the story will unfold or if there will even be one, as ''Future Perfect'' conclusively wrapped up the three-game long saga. [[TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX The studio formerly known as]] Free Radical has announced it is publisher shopping for a sequel, and if publishers aren't interested in the ''[=TimeSplitters=]'' name we may wind up with a SpiritualSuccessor instead. Crytek has also stated interest in doing a 4th game, making it a matter of "when". However, On September 5, 2011 it was revealed that this installment of the franchise was in Indefinite Postponement. Fan campaigns have since appeared to convince Crytek to make the game, including one ran by the Voice Actor for series protagonist Cortez. With the announcement on August 15, 2018 that Creator/THQNordic bought the series, the future may yet have hope. In the meantime...
* ''[=TimeSplitters=] Rewind'': A fanmade "Best Of" UpdatedRerelease being developed by a 25-man team with the approval of Crytek UK and Crytek Frankfurt. This game aims to capture all the best moments of the trilogy with the benefit of modern technology (specifically [=CryEngine 3=]). The game is planned to initially ship with multiplayer only, although the team hopes to eventually be able to add both the singleplayer and co-op campaigns from the first 2 games.
* ''Untitled [=TimeSplitters=] game'': On May 19th, 2021, Creator/DeepSilver announced that they were resurrecting Free Radical Design and brought back two of Free Radical Design's founders, David Doak and Steve Ellis to make a new ''[=TimeSplitters=]'' game. Development will start later in 2021 as Free Radical Design re-staffs.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] 4'': One of gaming's most tragic tales of DevelopmentHell. The status on this game is unknown after Free Radical Design went belly-up as a result of both the UK's economic recession, and the horrible response to their incredibly adequate [=PS3=]-exclusive title ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}''. They were subsequently bought out by Creator/{{Crytek}}. It is not known how the story will unfold or if there will even be one, as ''Future Perfect'' conclusively wrapped up the three-game long saga. [[TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX The studio formerly known as]] Free Radical has announced it is publisher shopping for a sequel, and if publishers aren't interested in the ''[=TimeSplitters=]'' name we may wind up with a SpiritualSuccessor instead. Crytek has also stated interest in doing a 4th game, making it a matter of "when". However, On September 5, 2011 it was revealed that this installment of the franchise was in Indefinite Postponement. Fan campaigns have since appeared to convince Crytek to make the game, including one ran by the Voice Actor for series protagonist Cortez. With the announcement on August 15, 2018 that Creator/THQNordic bought the series, the future may yet have hope. In the meantime...

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first game had no story, so anything involving the Timesplitters and the near-extinction of humanity is this to the prior game. Plus places like Notre Dame and the Robot Factory are just flat out creepier and more bleak than the first game's locales. That being said, the inclusion of even more wackier characters in the multiplayer and the introduction of the [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Monkey]] softens it up on the multiplayer side of things.

While the story varies greatly among the three games, persistent features of the series include [=MapMaker=], a simple grid-based level editor (predating ''VideoGame/Halo3'''s Forge Mode by seven years); Multiplayer modes including the traditional Deathmatch and Capture the Flag-type games, as well as other more original options, and Challenge mode, consisting of sets of single player challenges. The challenges range from collecting bananas as a monkey to shooting cardboard cutouts, and monkeys. [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys A ''considerable'' amount of monkeys]].

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Be they [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborgs, ninjas or zombies]], to the point where the third title treats them as {{Mascot Mook}}s.

** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking There are no monkeys in the game whatsoever]]. The next games in the series are firm believers that EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:[[ASpaceMarineIsYou A]] [[TimeTravel time travelling,]] [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys monkey-shooting]] [[ASpaceMarineIsYou Timespace Marine is you]]! ]]-]

* SkywardScream: When his summary of the elderly (and still oblivious) Dr. Crow's temporal scheming enables him to skip the exposition and flee into the timestream immediately when his younger self comes calling, a frustrated Cortez lets out a roar of "GODDAMMIT!!!" so loud that [[ReactionShot even Harry Tipper in 1969 can hear it]].

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] 2'': The sequel basically did everything the first game did, only better. A better story involving [[MacGuffin time crystals]], a war, and many characters. More varied missions with actual objectives. The multiplayer added even more characters and levels. The game itself was closer to ''[=GoldenEye=]'', to the point of being considered the SpiritualSuccessor. Regarded as the best game in the series by fans. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and GameCube in 2002, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via the backwards compatibility program in 2021.
* ''[=TimeSplitters=]: Future Perfect'': The series' biggest mainstream hit. WAY deeper story, more characters, more upgrades, more comedy. However it was now more like a standard FPS and wasn't as fast-paced as the second game, although much more varied. Had the same awesome multiplayer and online capabilities, now with even bigger maps. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and GameCube in 2005, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via the backwards compatibility program in 2021.

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Evidently the people behind ''Film/TheMatrix'' didn't take kindly to the "Cascade" cheat, which replaces all the textures with binary code. The textures are grayscaled in the Gamecube version presumably for this reason, but it seems that wasn't satisfactory, because the cheat was removed outright in the Xbox port.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] 2'': The sequel basically did everything the first game did, only better. A better story involving [[MacGuffin time crystals]], a war, and many characters. More varied missions with actual objectives. The multiplayer added even more characters and levels. The game itself was closer to ''[=GoldenEye=]'', to the point of being considered the SpiritualSuccessor. Regarded as the best game in the series by fans. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and GameCube in 2002, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.
* ''[=TimeSplitters=]: Future Perfect'': The series' biggest mainstream hit. WAY deeper story, more characters, more upgrades, more comedy. However it was now more like a standard FPS and wasn't as fast-paced as the second game, although much more varied. Had the same awesome multiplayer and online capabilities, now with even bigger maps. Originally released on [=PS2=], Xbox and GameCube in 2005, made playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.

* ''[=TimeSplitters=] 2'': The sequel basically did everything the first game did, only better. A better story involving [[MacGuffin time crystals]], a war, and many characters. More varied missions with actual objectives. The multiplayer added even more characters and levels. The game itself was closer to ''[=GoldenEye=]'', to the point of being considered the SpiritualSuccessor. Regarded as the best game in the series by fans.
* ''[=TimeSplitters=]: Future Perfect'': The series' biggest mainstream hit. WAY deeper story, more characters, more upgrades, more comedy. However it was now more like a standard FPS and wasn't as fast-paced as the second game, although much more varied. Had the same awesome multiplayer and online capabilities, now with even bigger maps.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** In ''Scotland the Brave'', set in 1924, you pick up a strange-looking SMG and Anya notes the gun isn't on file for the time period. She posits it may have been custom-built. [[spoiler:Yeah, by time travelers with technical knowledge from the 1960s.]]