TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (Xbox) - Part 2

This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a little more TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. I've only played two levels so far and I haven't even tried the multiplayer yet so I need to give it a little more time.

If you want to read part one you can CLICK HERE.

The 'future perfect' part of the title is probably a Perfect Dark reference, as the same people worked on both games... but it also refers to a verb tense that's used for actions that will be carried out before something else in the future. At least, that's the definition I just read. So "Free Radical will have released TimeSplitters 4 before Hell freezes over," would be an example.

Free Radical Design doesn't actually exist at the moment, the latest incarnation fell victim to Embracer Group in 2023, so the chances don't seem good. The new Perfect Dark sequel got the same treatment, as developer The Initiative were closed in 2025. At least James Bond is doing well lately, with First Light being the best received entry since GoldenEye 007. Turns out it helps when developers are allowed to finish what they're working on!

Alright, here's a bit more TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. 

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (Xbox) - Part 1

Developer:

Free Radical

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Release Date:

2005

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Systems:

PS2, Xbox, GameCube

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing the third and (to this date) final entry in the TimeSplitters franchise, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. They could've called it TimeSplitters 3 and kept things simple, but they didn't.

Future Perfect was released in 2005, but it was firmly PlayStation 2 generation like its predecessors. In fact the TimeSplitters series spanned the entire era, with TimeSplitters 1 arriving the same time the PS2 made it over to the west, and Future Perfect coming out just before Perfect Dark Zero helped launch the Xbox 360. Wait... Future Perfect, Perfect Dark... that can't be a coincidence.

This was a multiplatform release, so PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox owners all got to play it (though not against each other). But there was one system that didn't get a port: Windows PC! Call of Duty 2, F.E.A.R. and Quake 4 all launched on PC first, all in 2005, so it wouldn't have been an absurd idea, even at a time when consoles were king and ridiculous anti-piracy schemes were driving PC gamers to piracy. We could've had a bit of mouse aiming, maybe even some quicksaves, but no.

Alright, I'm going to load up the Xbox version on an Xbox One and I'll keep playing through the single player until either I have enough screenshots or my enthusiasm runs out. And I suppose there'd be no harm in me playing a few rounds of the multiplayer afterwards.

TimeSplitters 2 (Xbox) - Part 2

This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a little more of TimeSplitters 2! Just a little bit more, not much.

TimeSplitters 2 came out in October 2002, around the same time as games like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Metroid Prime and 007: Nightfire. Also No One Lives Forever 2, Red Faction II, Unreal II and Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast. It was a great time for fans of single-player first-person shooter sequels, and the multiplayer was pretty decent as well.

In fact many would argue that the best first-person console multiplayer was right here in TimeSplitters 2, especially if you didn't have an Xbox for Halo. But right now I'm more interested in the game's single-player and I've only made it up to level two so far so I need to pick up the pace.

If you want to read what I said about level 1 you should CLICK HERE. Otherwise, I'm just going to jump straight into the next level.

TimeSplitters 2 (Xbox) - Part 1

Developer:

Free Radical

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Release Date:

2002

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Systems:

PS2, Xbox, GameCube

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing the second TimeSplitters game! Which, by pure coincidence, is also the second TimeSplitters game to never get a PC port. 

The PlayStation 2 release was joined by Xbox and GameCube versions this time, but it still never made it to mice and keyboards. There should be some kind of law against releasing a first-person shooter on everything but PC, because that just doesn't make any sense. Plus it's cruel, to me personally.

I'm going to be playing the Xbox version on an Xbox One through the miracle of backwards compatibility, as they started selling it again a few years back. Perhaps they saw all the people buying Homefront: The Revolution after we learned that the game is hidden inside as a bonus feature, and realised they were leaving money on the table.

The original TimeSplitters game was a bit of a unknown to me when I wrote about it a couple of years back, but this one I'm already familiar with. I played a lot of TimeSplitters 2 back in the day, mostly the deathmatch actually. See, I do play multiplayer sometimes! But this time around my plan is to try the first few single-player levels, about an hour of gameplay. Then I'll show a picture of the multiplayer menu, say I'm very impressed by all the modes it has, and then skip to the part where I wrap things up.

Jade Empire (Xbox) - Part 2

Today on Super Adventures, I'm getting back to Jade Empire for the second and final time. If you want to read part 1 CLICK HERE.

I'm still looking for a town with sidequests and a big problem I can solve, so I can get a good impression of what the game's actually like before I turn it off. Something like Knights of the Old Republic's Taris, or Mass Effect's Citadel... except smaller hopefully.

This means there will be some SPOILERS here for the first few hours of the game, but nothing too serious I expect.

Jade Empire (Xbox) - Part 1

Developer:

BioWare

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Release Date:

2005

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Systems:

Xbox, PC, Mac, Android, iOS

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm checking out a game that I'm absolutely sure I've probably played before. I just can't remember doing it, or even how it plays exactly. I feel like I must have gotten past the tutorial and then ran around the starting area for a bit before turning it off.

I have to wonder what Jade Empire did to lose my interest so quickly as I can usually sink hours into a BioWare RPG. This was their 7th game, by the way, coming between Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. It's what they were working on while Obsidian was making the considerably higher-rated KOTOR 2. Wait, is that actually true or am I just making a huge assumption there?

Okay, I've done the research and according to Metacritic, Jade Empire actually scored just a little bit better than KOTOR 2, on Xbox anyway. Jade Empire falls a bit behind on PC for some reason. I'd check their scores on PlayStation 2 and GameCube but they appear to have neglected to port the games to either system. Possibly because it came out in 2005, near the end of that console generation... or possibly because it was published by Microsoft.

Anyway, I know what BioWare games are like, so my plan is to keep playing long enough to find the first proper quest hub town and sort out their big crisis. Assuming that it even has towns. I'll be playing the original Xbox version, but I'll be running it on an Xbox One through the magic of backwards compatibility because it'll be easier to get video out of it that way. Plus it might even boost the framerate and resolution a bit.

Black (Xbox)

Developer:

Criterion

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Release Date:

2006

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Systems:

Xbox, PS2

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a first person shooter from the dark times of PC gaming, where first person shooters had migrated to consoles and didn't always get ported back (I'm still waiting on The Darkness and the TimeSplitters games to suddenly appear on Steam). 

Black is exclusive to the Xbox and PlayStation 2, which means it never got a release that featured mouse controls and quicksaves. The game did make it onto Microsoft's backward compatibility list though, meaning that I can play it on the Xbox One with an increased resolution and presumably a more stable framerate! So that's what I'm going to do.

The game was developed by Criterion, who are more famous for racing games like Burnout Paradise and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012). They decided to use their own engine for it, RenderWare, which was practically the Unreal Engine of the PS2-era, allowing developers to make cross-platform games without knowing all the dark arcane secrets of the hardware. In fact it was used in almost 300 games before EA decided they wanted out of the engine licensing business. It turned up in some pretty big name titles as well, like Grand Theft Auto 3, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, Suikoden 3, Broken Sword 3 and Max Payne 2.

I'm sure I've played Black before, many years ago, but I only got about halfway through and my memories are really fuzzy. I remember that it had a forest level, a church level and a factory level, but that's about it. I feel like I was impressed by it somehow though. Hopefully there'll be something special about it that'll make it worth showing off, otherwise this is going to be a bit of a disappointment.

Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Xbox)

Developer:

Artoon

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Release Date:

2002

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Systems:

Xbox

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a game about a cat called Blinx: The Time Sweeper. I gave guest poster mecha-neko plenty of chances to be the one to write this, I know he's a cat person, but he decided to pass so now I'm stuck with it. But there is a good reason why this has to be this particular game on this particular day.

It's because today is the Xbox's 20th birthday and I'm covering an original Xbox exclusive to celebrate! I needed to select a game that was never released on PC but could be played on an Xbox One to make it easier for me to get good screenshots, and once I narrowed my list down to games I could get hold of easily there was only one name left on it. But I think this was probably the best possible choice; I mean it's even got "Only on Xbox" written on the title screen, how perfect is that?

Oh plus it had to be on a 'top ten' list somewhere, that was also important seeing as that's Super Adventures' gimmick this year. Fortunately I found the game on videogamer.com's Top 10 Most Disappointing Console Exclusives. I suppose poor Blinx is probably on a 'Top 10 Failed Mascot Characters' list somewhere as well, seeing as Microsoft straight up abandoned the trademark in 2015. That's not entirely fair though, as he's actually doing pretty well these days as the mascot for the Poorly Aged Things twitter account.

The game's by Japanese developer Artoon, which had a pretty mixed output, with lots of red and yellow scores on their Metacritic page. Though they did also create Blue Dragon and The Last Story with Mistwalker. Unfortunately that really was their last story, as they went defunct in 2010. It was directed by Naoto Ohshima, the legendary character designer who came up with Sonic the Hedgehog. He also directed Sonic CD and Nights into Dreams... and his latest project was designing characters for Balan Wonderworld. So Blinx is actually part of a pretty, uh, remarkable lineage.

Anyway I'm going to give it an hour or so and see what it's like.

Doom 3 (PC)

Today I present to you the final Super Adventures article of the year and yes it's another bloody first person shooter. I figured that I should probably get this one out of the way now while the original Doom games are still fresh in my mind.

I get the impression that Doom 3 (or is that Doom³) isn't the most beloved of the franchise, possibly due (in part) to the fact that very little pisses gamers off more than when a developer tries to turn their franchise into something new to bring in a different audience. I mean when you go out to buy a loaf of bread you wouldn't likely be impressed to find that the baker has suddenly reimagined it all into... ice cream or something to better appeal to the teen demographic would you? Though unlike the XCOM, Syndicate, Resident Evil and Shadowrun franchises etc. with this game id software tried to turn their mindless mainstream shooter series into something slower paced and a bit more intelligent.

Doom 3 isn't entirely new to me, as I actually finished it back when it first came out, but I'm interested in seeing what I think about it now that it's a decade behind the curve and the shine's all worn off.

(Click the images to see them at twice the resolution!)

Doom (MS-DOS)

The Doom franchise is 20 years old this year so I thought it'd be a good time to take a brief look at the original Doom, id software's fifth first person shooter (but their first to have four letters in its title and end with 'm'). The anniversary is actually 10 days into December but I'm impatient so you're getting this early.

I'll admit right now that I'm not going into this one even slightly blind and I doubt I'll be able to think of anything worthwhile to say about the game that you haven't heard a thousand times already, but it's not like I've ever let that stop me before. There's a Doom shaped hole in my website and that needs fixing.

To be accurate I'll actually be playing Ultimate Doom, not the ORIGINAL version of original Doom, despite the fact I've used the original title screen here. I apologise for the unnecessary confusion. Basically Ultimate Doom is Doom with the latest patch installed and a fourth episode bolted on, but there's at least one sneaky change to an earlier level.

Sneak King (Xbox) - Guest Post

Old Man Hardgrit thinks he's got Shameless Fast Food Advertising Week all sewn up. He's wrong.

Bam!

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox) - Guest Post

Enough screwing around.

It's time to play a man's game.