Fans of Sergeant Cortez and Corporal Hart’s time-traveling shenanigans can come close to rejoicing, as it seems as though a new TimeSplitters title is in the works, but it is best not to jinx the possibility.
For those new to the first-person genre, it is reasonable to be unaware of TimeSplitters. The series began life as a PlayStation 2-exclusive launch title and has always been a far cry from the more serious and gritty likes of Call of Duty. It’s quite an intense and competitive FPS series, but it was more along the lines of Gotham City Imposters than Battlefield.
The original TimeSplitters arrived in the year 2000 and quickly made it clear that it wasn’t to be taken too seriously. It centered around the titular alien race, who seek to destroy humanity from within by manipulating events using time travel. It’s all very sci-fi, very cartoonish and very silly, and it always has been.
Since then, we’ve seen the multi-format TimeSplitters 2 (2002) and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (2005), both of which adhere to the same format: the campaign boasts fantastic level variety and you hop through time zones --1930s gangster levels, 1960s spy levels, and far-flung future levels abound—and the multiplayer is silly, competitive fun. If anything, the TimeSplitters series was one of sheer variety and boasts some that stands impressively above other FPS series.
In short, TimeSplitters was an FPS that never took itself too seriously, and fans will be happy to hear that it looks as though another may be on the horizon.
As Polygon reports, THQ Nordic has recently dropped an avalanche of details about upcoming titles, including the fact that a new Saints Row title is “deep in development.” Even more interestingly, though, THQ stated that a new TimeSplitters game was hinted in might be in development and Steve Ellis, the co-creator of the TimeSplitters series, had joined THQ Nordic to assist in the development of the franchise moving forward. The report goes on to remind readers that THQ Nordic bought the rights to the series from Crytek last year.
Now, this is clearly nothing concrete, but it’s very encouraging for those that have been pining for the series to return for so long. For years, there have been rumblings that another installment may happen, but fears about the size of the fanbase kept all that at bay. For now, all hopeful fans can do is stay tuned and hope to hear something a little more substantial.