PS2 Review: NBA Street Vol. 2 (2003)

Much like TimeSplitters 2, which we only got around to reviewing a few months ago, NBA Street Vol. 2 is another one of those games that we've somehow neglected, even though we have such fond memories of it. Since Chicken Man already gave us the word on the inferior sequel, NBA Street V3, it's time this nominee for our Best Sports Game award got some shine.

It's not just NBA Jam with chain nets and rusty backboards: NBA Street Vol. 2 is what the best of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater can do for arcade-style basketball games. By that I mean the trick system of Vol. 2, which includes (but is certainly not limited to) stylish crossovers and dunks, puts its emphasis on the combo potential of any situation: use any of the four turbo buttons to fake out the defender by dribbling between his legs and finish by passing the ball off the backboard to a skyward teammate for the slam, for example. The more moves you combo up, the quicker you can launch one of those all-important Gamebreakers, supermoves that embarrass your opponent as well as significantly altering the score of the game. At times these Gamebreakers can more than live up to their name: too often the point-swing induced by a successful Gamebreaker can virtually eliminate any chance for the opposing team to win the game (subtracting, say two points from them and throwing four your way), and this is especially troublesome considering that for even moderately talented players Gamebreakers are quite easy to attain. It's not enough to hurt the game, but it can make it way to easy when playing against the CPU as opposed to human players.

Nevertheless, the genius of this combo system is that every offensive or defensive move can be linked together for maximum points: a rebound, pass off the head, crossover, and three-pointer performed uninterrupted earn more points towards that Gamebreaker than when they are performed separately. Though it's obvious from playing Vol. 2 for even a few minutes that this is an offensive-minded game, the balance struck between offensive flash and defensive toughness is strong. Blocking in an especially useful technique, and learning the art of the block is essential to getting wins on the harder difficulty settings. Steals have also been substantially upgraded from the original: whereas defenders were relatively helpless to stop a point guard's ankle breakers before (not unlike the And 1 mixtapes of lore*), in Vol. 2 the same combo system that enables those tricky tricks can be utilized by the defense to stop them cold. Balanced in this sense, Vol. 2 is real smooth, effortless to play, and continually rewarding in repetition.

*There's a few things you could do to stop this nonsense: 1) put
your hands up and play defense like a normal person, 1a) make
 him take an outside shot which he probably won't make,
or 2) just reach out and punch him in the junk.

Among the various game modes offered in Vol. 2, Be a Legend is the real meat and potatoes of the game. Here you take a created baller and put together a team to travel the country, getting to know the nation's asphalt courts better while building up your player's streetball legend. This mainly involves playing games according to local rules, which may prohibit Gamebreakers, limit you to only dunks, and so on. What's really intriguing is that you earn your street handle based on your player's development: in my case, my baller was nicknamed "String" because he could handle the rock. This is one of the more novel elements in Vol. 2, because it's entirely dependent on how you play the game, and it's not something arbitrarily chosen at the outset. There's also NBA Challenge, which is a more straight-up NBA Jam mode where you go from region to region playing every team in the league. Here, however, the emphasis is on a created team as opposed to a created player. This is where most of the legends can be unlocked.

Speaking of legends, Vol. 2 has all of 'em: Wilt Chamberlain, Pistol Pete Maravich, Elgin Baylor, three Michael Jordans, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dr. J, and so on. It's an extensive roster pieced together from league history. Strangely enough, Vol. 2 brings back many of the "street legends" from NBA Street, even those that were clearly meant to be stand-ins for real life players: for instance, Dr. J wannabee Stretch returns, though, thankfully, the fake Yao Ming boss from the first game did not make the cut. For the most part, I don't mind the inclusion of these fictional characters (except for Biggie Little, who's annoying), but they seem an odd fit in a game so preoccupied with real legends.

And though the first Vol. 1 was pretty bland in terms of presentation, Vol. 2 has style in spades. Not only do the courts and the players look fantastic (though their movements are somewhat stiff and ugly), but the music is much better this time around, generally sticking with non-lyrical beats during the games. Unfortunately, this means that all the words come from the mouth of announcer Bobbito Garcia, an infuriating personality that may, and I do mean may, have been tolerable 10 years ago. His particular word-vomit salad includes bad singing, bad punning, and rambling, nonsensical challenges whenever you have a shot rejected. His voice is one of the last things you want to hear when Shaq knocks you down in the paint. Thankfully, though, he can be turned off. Vol. 2, however, cannot: take Bobbito out of the mix and you have one of the PS2's finest basketball games.

PS2 Review: TimeSplitters 2 (2002)

How have we not reviewed TimeSplitters 2? We even gave it our award for Best PS2 Game (in by far the most competitive category), I put it on my list of favorite video games, Chicken Man did the same, so why all the formal neglect? Who knows, but this is a stone cold Code Redd Net classic that deserves a proper review. Thrasher's here to give it to you.

TimeSplitters 2 is over ten years old. While that may be a crazy thought in a "gee, time flies" kind of way, the amazing thing about it is that I still play it, and not just when I'm on a nostalgia trip. Its an ongoing fascination, and despite its age, TS2 is still the best FPS around, complete, challenging, and enduring.

TS1 was all heart, and it unquestionably had lots of it, but it lacked a fully-functional story mode. What story mode it had simply functioned as a single-player excuse to go through the multiplayer maps and unlock things for multiplayer. The paucity of the single-player campaign was offset by the highly customizable multiplayer matches, which could be populated with AI bots if you needed stand-ins for your buddies, or if you wanted to spice up your matches with more combatants. TS2 is the right kind of sequel: it made its weaknesses into its strengths, and its strengths even stronger. Gone is the pause screen plot of the original, and in its place is an integrated story that, even though it's pretty facile, provides just enough narrative sanction to justify all the timesplitting therein. In fact, it's basically the same thing: an evil race of aliens uses time travel in their ongoing war with humans, and the humans dispatch two soldiers to leap through the ages, stopping these evil-doers from messing around with our past. Future Perfect would essentially repeat this story yet again, albeit in a much more refined manner, but TS2's story mode is still satisfying. To begin with, the concept itself is a smart one: the time traveling plot device keeps the missions varied and interesting. It also helps that instead of the mono-objective nature of TS1's quasi-missions, TS2's are episodic, comprised of multiple objectives that develop during the course of the mission and change depending on your choice of difficulty. Speaking of difficulty, TS2 has one of the hardest story modes I have ever played. Things get hairy even on Medium difficulty, and getting through the story on Hard requires the dedication and discipline of an Olympian (call me when you get by Robot Factory on Hard and I'll take you out for a beer). You can bring a pal along for some co-op action, which is great, though I'm not sure if doing so makes the game noticeably easier or harder. Regardless, the option to tackle the story with someone else was a fairly novel idea in 2002, and it just adds another layer to TS2's complete multiplayer package.

Speaking of multiplayer, TS2 has to be the best of the FPS bunch. Remember that this was an era in which online console gaming was in its very infancy, so this one was made to be played offline, even though you can still get it online through some crazy complicated setup. Point being, TS2's multiplayer Arcade has aged quite well, as opposed to others games in the genre whose multiplayer features require both a server (most of which are not supported anymore) as well as an active online community. Provided you keep the disc and your PS2 in working condition, you can theoretically enjoy TS2 indefinitely. Customization is the key here: there's 16 maps of varying sizes and styles, almost as many modes (from standards such as Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag to Flame Tag and Thief), over 100 characters from a wide selection of milieus, an arsenal culled from just as many settings, and point/time limits you can impose on these matches, as well as adjusting the soundtrack to your liking and populating the field with up to 10 computer-controlled opponents or allies. You can go on forever mixing and matching these options as you like, and AI bots are instrumental in giving the game its replay value, and of course you know how we feel about AI bots.

If sandboxes aren't your thing, or if they are and you just want more reason to keep playing, there's also a wide selection of Arcade Leagues in which you attempt to medal under certain circumstances (for example, a deathmatch in which a victory plus 40 kills gets you gold, 30 kills gets you silver, 20 kills gets you bronze). These leagues can be quite challenging and getting the gold (or the elusive platinum) can occasionally be more a matter of luck than skill. Still, though, getting through them unlocks characters, cheats, maps, and more, and unlocking everything takes a considerable amount of time. Arcade League is similar in nature to the Challenge mode, in that the medaling system is the same and the process of unlocking extra features is the same, this mode is far more eclectic: shoot x number of watermelons of the heads of parading monkeys, for instance, or shatter x number of window panes as quickly as possible. Challenge gives TS2 not only that much more replay value, but it also gives TS2 some variety: absurd tasks such as these are a welcome relief from all the intense firefighting elsewhere.

It also doesn't hurt that the game is tight as a drum in terms of speed and control. There's absolutely no sight of slowdown, even when the screen is loaded up with all kinds of bullets, lasers, and characters. Really, though, look at all the features mentioned above: a fully-formed Story mode that is both single- and multi-player, a deep and dedicated Arcade mode, the Arcade Leagues, all those challenges, not to mention the MapMaker that can generate single and multi-player maps, as well as the unnecessarily comprehensive stat tracking. We maintain that TS2 is the best PS2 game around primarily for two reasons: not only is it an absolute blast to play, but it still has replay value 10+ years after it was released. We're still addicted to TS2 and nothing else out there comes close.

PS3 Review: Haze (2008)

It's really too bad that Haze was Free Radical Design's final release; the game is alright, don't get me wrong, but it's certainly not on the level of the TimeSplitters series, or even the severely underestimated Second Sight. That said, if you're into any of their previous games, and/or you have a few dollars to spare, you might find Haze worth a try. The single-player campaign involves a futuristic, oppressive military force called Mantel which dopes up its soldiers with Nectar, a synthetic hallucinogen that enhances speed, stamina, strength and perception. You play as Shane Carpenter, a babyfaced Caucasian everyman, who joins Mantel to fight a group of rebels known as The Promised Hand, portrayed in the opaque imaginations of Latin American pseudo-ethnicity. Most notably, the dialogue, as well as its delivery, go far beyond any claim to sincerity and into the realm of immense cheese, but not the redeemable kind. Though the story is short, predictable, and heavy handed (and more than a little bit like the politically schizophrenic Avatar), and there's not much in the way of variety, playing both sides feels sufficiently unique, particularly the difference between playing as a Nectar-addicted Mantel drone and as a rebel suffering from symptoms of withdrawal. This is particularly pertinent in regards to the multiplayer experience, where the abilities of each faction have a positive and negative impact on the deathmatch: for Mantel, this means all the enhancements of Nectar (specifically, sniping becomes superpowered when on the drug) but an occasional withdrawal and a weakness for overdosing grenades; for rebels, this means the ability to fake death and plant grenade-traps which release Nectar and engender the aforementioned overdose. It's a complex dynamic which keeps the deathmatches interesting, and for the most part these skills are well-balanced. Though I didn't have an opportunity to try online play, Haze has thankfully included offline bots to keep this feature relevant. Up to 15 bots can help to fill out the maps, but multiplayer is hampered somewhat by the few maps and modes available, as well as a lack of true, total customization. In terms of graphics, there are times when Haze looks wonderful, but numerous glitches ruin the immersion and in some cases make the completion of objectives difficult. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a shooter with some interesting ideas but can forgive several failures in execution, Haze isn't a bad choice; just don't expect to find the same kind of polished love you can find in Free Radical's classic shooters.

The last level reminded me of Spy Hunter 2, so this game
gets to be Hot Piano Chick Approved.

Save TimeSplitters!

There's an online petition hitting the social media right now to either bring back the TimeSplitters series for a fourth go-around, or at least for an HD collection of the first three games in the series. Both ideas sound dandy to us; you know our love for everything TS (citations here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Of course, there's been numerous, generally informal, petitions for new editions before, but this one has some official weight behind it, as the petition makes clear: "...the CEO [of Crytek, the game developer that absorbed series creator Free Radical Design in 2009] Cevat Yerli also said that if there was enough demand, they would perhaps make a new game." For Yerli, "enough demand" means 300,000 devotees.

Even IGN News is on top of this, so you know it's important:

 

As of this writing, the petition has 57,404 signatures of the needed 300,000. You can sign the petition by following this link. For what it's worth, Code Redd Net fully endorses this petition to bring back TimeSplitters. Both directions seem equally pleasing for fans of the series. I would suggest, however, that even if the petition reaches the required number of signatures, Crytek's hesitancy wouldn't immediately subside. They would probably throw out the HD collection to test the market themselves (I'm operating under the assumption that producing an HD collection of old games would cost significantly less than developing a brand new game) and guage the property's success prior to going forward with TS4. Nevertheless, this is great news for fans of the series.

Code Redd Net Home Video Presents... CRN Podcast DX!

Remember our fancy schmancy YouTube channel? Ok, sometimes we forget about it too, but that's going to change. We just uploaded our first video in many months, this one a video supplement to the first episode of the CRN Podcast. Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe and leave us lots of feedback so we can get better at this kind of thing.

PS2 Review: Red Faction II (2002)

At least TimeSplitters 2 (also released in 2002) had variety; Red Faction II is all action, all explosions, all the time, and generally to its detriment. Admittedly, this all-thrills approach is fun for a while, but after a few hours things start to get tedious. In a genre as staid as the first-person shooter, where all you do is shoot things with slightly different arsenals, even a modicum of variety is incalculably valuable. Red Faction II ignores basic, even fleeting, stealth combat in favor of complete demolition. Not surprisingly, you play as an explosive expert named Alias, teamed up with a band of genetically-enhanced super soldiers, on loan to the rebellious Red Faction. Though the single-player campaign is remarkably short, I enjoyed the way in which your surroundings can be manipulated. More often than not, you need to use your expertise in explosives to progress in the missions, the most obvious example being the dynamiting of barricades or walls. Too often what you need to do next feels rather forced, but seeing these obstacles crumble so realistically is enjoyable. And it's always a treat to hear the voice-talents of Jason Statham. I also enjoy the multiple endings available to you, all based on your heroics throughout the game, such as completing optional objectives and sparing the lives of innocent civilians. However, these endings are not diverse enough to justify slogging through the game again. Thankfully, though, multiplayer fares much better. You and your pals can skirmish with up to 6 bots on over 30 (admittedly small) maps. These bots can be customized and saved onto a memory card; they can be named, given specific attributes such as agility and accuracy, and fitted with a substantial selection of character skins. The game will even track their stats as they develop as players. Certainly, this is a very unique feature, especially for those of us who enjoy bot deathmatches. If you can find it cheap enough, I'd recommended it for the bot customization alone. Just don't expect to come back to it as much as you would for TimeSplitters 2.

Our First Podcast

The Next Generation continues to expand our horizons, so to speak: Code Redd Net finally has a podcast, available through Podbean at http://crnpodcast.podbean.com. Embedded below is our first episode, subtitled Rise and Fall of the AI Bot. Fans of multiplayer shooters should be especially interested. We would love to hear your feedback on this first attempt, as well as suggested topics for future episodes. Soon the CRN Podcast should be available through the iTunes store. Until then, you can subscribe to automatically receive the latest episodes, or you can listen through the dedicated Podbean player at the bottom of this page.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Updates on Skyfall, TimeSplitters 4

Here's some news items regarding two of our favorite franchises, courtesy of Chicken Man:

Love that bulldog.

Maybe this isn't exactly new, but The Hub Now has some interesting photos of the upcoming Skyfall. The word for the day is "gritty," I suppose, what with all the sour faces, chiaroscuro lighting, and guns. Really, though, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. Daniel Craig has always brought a more brutal bent to the series than anyone else.

GameSpot has a mini-interview with one of the creators of the TimeSplitters series. Pedestrian stuff for the most part, but it did lead us to another story from late last month: TimeSplitters 4 is not currently in development. Though this is not surprising by any means, it's sad to hear nonetheless. Will we ever see another TimeSplitters game? My guess is no, but I would love to be wrong.

Thrasher Presents: Thrasher's Top Ten Video Games, Part Ten

Today we wrap things up for both of our countdowns. Speaking for myself only, I think this has been a really interesting experience, and I've enjoyed the challenge of picking out just 10 games to take with me on that metaphorical deserted island scenario. Join us tomorrow for a critical analysis/post-game show/breakdown of our selections and a bonus look at some games that just missed the cut. First, let's take a gander at my nine previous picks:

TimeSplitters 2 (PS2)
WCW/NWO Revenge (N64)
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
THPS 2 (PS1)
Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (PS1)
Everything or Nothing (PS2)
Freedom Fighters (PS2)
Crazy Taxi (PS2)
NHLPA '93 (SNES)

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (PS2)

Notice I said TimeSplitters 2 was "almost" peerless yesterday. Not surprising, though, that its only peer is the sequel. Hard to say which is better, really. I wouldn't want to do without either one, so if I could someday get both TS2 and TSFP on the same disc, I would be happy as a clam. TSFP clearly has the better Story mode and single-player experience, including a co-op Story option, and the multiplayer is on point as usual. This is what Chicken Man and I have been talking about these past few days; even though TSFP had online play, Free Radical didn't skimp on the offline options. If anything, they embellished them. I personally don't care nearly as much for the maps in this one as opposed to TS2 or even TS1, but they are still very good, not to mention head-and-shoulders above modern shooters. Map Maker has been improved as well, though fewer bots can be used in custom maps than in normal circumstances. You also get blood, which seems odd at first in the TimeSplitters universe, but eventually you become inured against it. Again, it's tough to decide between them, and even though I'm inclined to pick TS2 over this one, I'm including both in my top ten because they tower over any other choice I could make.

Thrasher Presents: Thrasher's Top Ten Video Games, Part Nine

Take a look at my top ten so far:

WCW/NWO Revenge (N64)
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
THPS 2 (PS1)
Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (PS1)
Everything or Nothing (PS2)
Freedom Fighters (PS2)
Crazy Taxi (PS2)
NHLPA '93 (SNES)

TimeSplitters 2 (PS2)

The first TimeSplitters was something of a revelation to me. I had never seen a first-person shooter move as fast and as fluidly as that one. Not only that, but the number of computer-controlled bots you could use to fill out your deathmatches was something else. As Chicken Man smartly pointed out when he inducted TimeSplitters 2 into his own pantheon of great games, modern shooters seem to forget about the offline experience, and for me that most obviously manifests itself in the almost universal lack of bots to practice against. Everything has moved online, which sadly leaves us offline players by the wayside. Once you beat the single-player campaign, it's time to put that game back on the shelf. TS2 wouldn't dream of doing that. TS2 took everything that TS1 did and made it bigger, better, and prettier. Not only is the pitch-perfect multiplayer back and in rare form (these are some of the best maps in the series, I'd wager), but the single-player is just as satisfying, both in the main Story mode and in the numerous Arcade challenges and leagues. This is also a phenomenal co-op game. Further still, the Map Maker feature is deep and intuitive. There are very few games that have a shelf life as long as TS2. I don't just pop this game in once in a while for a nostalgic good time; I play it for hours still, trying to get the last of those platinum brass rings and working out the kinks in my new maps. No wonder we gave it the awards for Best Multiplayer and Best PS2 Game. TS2 is not only endless, but almost peerless.

For Your Viewing Pleasure, Chickenman's Top Ten Video Games (Part 7)

Games mentioned so far:
The Sims (PC)
Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2)
Hitman: Blood Money (PS2)
Everything or Nothing (PS2)
Rise to Honor (PS2)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (XBox360)

Behold, the sequel to the fastest first person shooter ever made. This was back in a time where the offline FPS player's preferences were respected. It seems today that most shooters consider their offline options as obligatory measures that they'd rather not deal with, whereas Free Radical makes it their bread and butter (especially since TimeSplitters 2 is strictly offline). There are many options available: a story mode (including co-op capabilities), a very customizable arcade with AI bots to play against as well as human players, an arcade league with ranked challenges, a challenge mode, and a map maker (please let me know of another FPS with a map maker, as I am not aware of it). This game has real replay value and is not limited to when the next sequel comes out and every online player upgrades. Another consideration is the fact that it has the old-school life meter, whereas in most modern shooters there is no such thing: one can be shot infinitely as long as he has enough time to heal. Admittedly, neither of these is very realistic but they seem to change the way the game is played and how difficult it is. I'm not saying the latter isn't difficult, but it is difficult in a different way. If I play Call of Duty on veteran difficulty, I find myself using  very limited guerrilla tactics, where I get off a couple shots, duck and heal, and repeat. This isn't very fun and can be frustrating. Completing missions on this difficulty is a task requiring mostly patience and luck, while playing TS2 on hard, which also requires patience, is fun and gives a sense of accomplishment. It is shooters like the Timesplitters series that challenge the notion that newer FPS games are an overall improvement over those of yesteryear.

Honorable Mentions:
Red Faction (PS2), Unreal Tournament (PS2), Nightfire (PS2)

Friday From the Archives: TimeSplitters (2000)

Every Friday (or thereabouts) we celebrate the heritage of Code Redd Net by posting a retro-review from our considerable back catalogue of embarrassingly naive, but nonetheless entertaining and heartfelt, movie and game reviews. Please pardon the prose; most of these articles were written in immediately post-pubescent years. Hopefully you find them as enjoyable as we do.

I swear, I'll get my reviews of all three 'Splitters up sometime in the next week. Suffice it to say for now, I love all three dearly. Even the original TimeSplitters, dated though it may look and play when compared with its sequels, means a lot to me. This one has by far the best (and largest) multiplayer maps in the entire series; in particular, I enjoy Planet X, Mansion, and the Bank. ChickenMan and I spent many, many hours playing this game, and you can see the love we have for it in his original review below. But myself, I want some tacos.

"I’ve been sitting here a while thinking of what to say about one of the best FPS’s I’ve played. It’s got very colorful characters, a lot of cool guns, a co-op story mode, and a great multiplayer mode with the AI bots. A few think story mode does not deserve to have a story mentioned because all they have is a few sentences explaining your levels and objectives and a background story on the back of the box. To me, that’s just enough. I didn’t ask for a five star story, I asked for some awesome shooting. You know what they say; if you want some tacos, go to taco bell. This is another version of it; if you want a five star story go play your RPG’s. It’s got some unique multiplayer modes and it’s own mapmaker. You can do your own creative stuff and have some great multiplayer action. In story mode you’ll go to different past and future years with different characters for each. This is pretty cool because you get a variety of weapons. I know some people who don’t like escort missions and you don’t have to do them if you don’t like them. If you do, then you can do them in arcade mode. And you might think you’re not doing anything but it keeps track of cool stats like rounds fired and heads punched off. I really like that. It’s got so many characters, you’ll be sure to find at least one that you like. It’s very customizable and you can play a match to 11,000 kills or more if that’s what you’re into. This game is purely fried chicken. Go check it out."

Special Monday Edition From the Archives: TimeSplitters Future Perfect (2005)

Every Friday (or Monday, in this case) we celebrate the heritage of Code Redd Net by posting a retro-review from our considerable back catalogue of embarrassingly naive, but nonetheless entertaining and heartfelt, movie and game reviews. Please pardon the prose; most of these articles were written in our immediately post-pubescent years. Hopefully you find them as enjoyable as we do.

The following review is from ChickenMan, and for whatever reason I never did an actual review for Future Perfect. I consider this very strange indeed because it's one of my all-time favs, and I long ago mastered it, and the other 'Splitters as well, for that matter. A few days ago I made a custom map or two using the MapMaker feature and it amazes me that this game is still relevant to me, even though I completed it 100% roughly six years ago and I can never find any pals around town to play a few rounds of multiplayer. Of course, this all goes back to what I was talking about in regards to Creative Control; rather than giving us tedious busy work to do if we have a desire to be one of ChickenMan's Cursed Completionists, Future Perfect lets you make your own single- and multiplayer stages, and its replay value is therefore nearly infinite. And that's a quality game, kids. Not to mention the rest of the game is certainly one of the best shooters on PS2 or any other console (in my mind, it's only competition is from the other two games in the TimeSplitters series). My own review should be up within the week, but until then, enjoy ChickenMan's original critique:

"Don't let the name fool you. This game is better than it sounds. It still carries the classic TS feel and blazing speed. But this new one claims to have what TS2 didn't: 1) A good story (personally, I really didn't care) and 2) online capabilities. People wanted the latter so much that they tried connecting their PS2's to their computer with some other complicated procedures and actually did get online! But I ask myself, "What's the point of doing that if it's a definite probability that no one else is on?" The gameplay in TS: FP is very similar to the preludes except for a few things. There is a melee attack, which is pretty cool, but it takes the place of the alternate fire. Now to get to the alternate fire you press up on the D-Pad, which obviously takes longer, but that is one of the sacrifices you make. One of the changes, which I'm not so crazy about, is that they have reloading animations and if you change weapons without reloading you'll still have the same amount of ammunition. TS2 automatically had it reloaded when you came back to it. This makes the 2-barrel shotgun almost obsolete when taking on crews of zombies like ya'll did in the other two games with the same weapon. The grenades are now throwable instead of being an alternative fire, which benefits you because you can throw them when using any weapon. The vehicles in multiplayer are fun, yet I'm disappointed with them. I think the passenger should be able to do something. I also believe they should put the car with the mounted machine gun into mapmaker since they had it in the story mode, but not in arcade. The Story Mode itself is basically the same, which is good, except you're Cortez the whole time. If you've read our grills you'd know about a guy who didn't like changing characters, so lucky him. The Co-op is back with one change that I don't like. In the first two games only one player had to finish. In Future Perfect if one guy dies it's over. Of course there are the Arcade League and Challenge modes. But the big daddy is Online play. Up to eight players per match, you can play any mode on any map, including mapmaker, that you can offline, except Monkey Helper. One of my favorite things about online play is that you can take three of your buddies online with you, but you have to be on the same team in all team modes. I guess that's fair. It's bound to slow down and skip with some connections but it's fun. Be prepared to die, though. It happens quite a bit. The AI in Arcade will probably not prepare you adequately for the intensity of online opposition. But no amount of skill will keep you from failing online. It gets frustrating but it's TimeSplitters online. Overall, I prefer TimeSplitters 2 for offline play. But you should probably get TS: FP anyway, online or not."

Code Redd Net Awards: Best PS2 Game

PS2 is certainly our favorite console, so it is only fitting that our Best PS2 Game award closes out the gaming prizes for today. And the nominees are...

Rise to Honor (2004)
Freedom Fighters (2003)
TimeSplitters 2 (2002)
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (2005)
Everything or Nothing (2004)

And the winner is...

TimeSplitters 2

Code Redd Net Awards: Best Multiplayer

As opposed to the previous award, the Best Multiplayer award is tailored for games which foreground competition between players rather than cooperation. And the nominees are...

TimeSplitters 2 (2002)
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (2005)
Nightfire (2002)
Thrasher Presents: Skate and Destroy (1999)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002)

And the winner is...

TimeSplitters 2

Code Redd Net Awards: Best Co-Op Multiplayer

The award for Best Co-Op Multiplayer is designed for those games which support teamwork between players in completing missions/levels together, whether through the main story or through a specific set of missions/levels set aside for co-op play. And the nominees are...

TimeSplitters 2 (2002)
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (2005)
Everything or Nothing (2004)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
Rainbow Six: Lockdown (2005)

And the winner is...

Everything or Nothing

PS2 Review: Second Sight (2004)

I think the word underrated gets bandied about by reviewers a bit too much, but in the case of Second Sight, I feel comfortable applying that label: Second Sight is truly, regrettably, and criminally underrated. You play as psychologist and recent amnesia victim John Vattic as he attempts to recover his past, as well as come to grips with his newfound psychic powers. A vast military conspiracy unravels as you dig deeper into his "past." I say "past" because notions of past and present are significantly altered later on in the game; It's a somewhat brave and brainy twist for a video game. In terms of gameplay, Second Sight is likewise full of interesting twists on the traditional third-person shooter. Vattic is endowed with an array of psychic powers, including telekinesis, healing, projection (sending out a ghost-like representation of Vattic to sneak past laser security systems and the like), possession (physically inhabiting and controlling the bodies of his adversaries), charm (disappearing from sight), and others. These powers are gradually recovered throughout the game, and this method of discovery gracefully ushers players in, ensuring a smooth learning curve. And thanks to these powers, Second Sight is slightly more stealth-oriented than most action games, though players can plow through the levels with more or less reckless abandon if they feel up to the challenge. Graphically, this game looks fantastic, albeit in its own unrealistic way. Little touches do wonders, such as the blood footprints that follow Vattic if he happens to step through his victims' bodies rather than around them. Unfortunately, Second Sight is rather short, especially without a multiplayer option to give its replay value a boost. But its levels are rife with minor rewards and easter eggs for the curious explorer, and Second Sight is certainly a game you will want to replay.

Creative Control: Bulls vs. Blazers, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

A few weeks ago, Chicken Man wrote an interesting piece on what he dubbed the Curse of Completionism, that curiously persuasive pull players often feel to plumb the depths of games for every award, arena, and accessory, however inconsequential. And he was quite right in asserting my relentless quest to finally complete Everything or Nothing, though I theoretically and very kindly refute his claim to being in "rare form," because what I did is more readily attributable to obstinacy than ability. Nevertheless, I finally finished the game after seven discontinuous years and felt what Chicken Man described as "emotional satisfaction" upon seeing that wall of gleaming and indisputably platinum 007 logos below each level. Knowing I had finally conquered the game mattered much more than the meager physical rewards for doing so, all of which amounted to little more than a gallery of concept art and a few extra characters.

So why strive for such perfection? What motivates players like us to continue on despite recurring aggravation, repetition, and loss of time? Before I could buy my own games, before I had disposable income of my own, I had to ask, beg, and wish for them. Getting a new game was a cause for celebration, there but for the grace of God. I had to make the game last until another gift-giving holiday afforded me the opportunity to pump my relatives for the latest obsession, so I became an expert on that game until the next family gathering rolled around ever so slowly. Ask anyone who had the misfortune of challenging me to an innocent game of NBA Shootout '97, Madden '98, or WCW vs. the World on the PS1. I believe this mindset, hardwired by a frugal necessity to master, still informs my approach to games.

In the simplest terms, I look for games that last longer than a weekend rental, that will continue to entertain me months or years after I buy them. And while mastering a game like Everything or Nothing has kept me occupied and entertained for many years, such mastery is often frustrating, tedious, and improperly compensated. Chicken Man was correct in calling this phenomenon a curse.

Yet there are alternatives that charm rather than curse, that engage the creative impulse rather than testing patience. Look, for instance, at those games which allow players to create their own teams, levels, and even entire stories, extending the longevity and value of these games exponentially, and all without demanding memorization and rehearsal. Although many games have featured "create" modes with varying degrees of freedom and usefulness, the following examples demonstrate how even the most modest infusion of creative control within the rigid coding of a game can produce a variety that stimulates rather than exasperates.

Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs (1993)

This was the first game I ever encountered which allowed players to customize their experience to any considerable degree. I spent many enjoyable hours culling together custom all-star squads and matching them up against opposing teams filled with lifetime journeymen and benchwarmers, or composing absurd teams made up entirely of Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway clones.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000)

THPS2 is the deepest and best game ever produced for the PS1, thanks in no small part to its park editor. I made both simple and complex maps, including a memorable one based on a small skate park by my childhood home, as well as countless fantasy parks filled with ridiculous ramps and possibilities. But what really makes the park editor indispensable is the ability to name gaps between objects, thus giving the levels a potential complexity and narrative cohesiveness that anticipates the creative control of later games.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (2005)

Likewise, TSFP is perhaps the deepest and best game ever produced for the PS2, and its mapmaker feature is so rich I haven't even begun to unpack its complexities in six years, and yet I still feel satisfied with the maps I turn out. Although I'm more inclined to create multiplayer maps than single-player missions, I appreciate (and I'm frequently in awe of) the possibilities in stringing together objectives and adversaries to create narratives which rival those of other PS2 shooters.