Bloody Hell, It's Time! TimeSplitters Rewind Lands, Proving Community Magic Trumps Corporate Misadventures
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
After a bewildering 13-year saga of corporate drama and studio closures, fan developers Cinder Interactive are finally launching *TimeSplitters Rewind* this November, a monumental project that merges content from all three beloved *TimeSplitters* games, proving that community passion can triumph over industry chaos.
Right, listen up, mates, 'cause I've got a story that's been cooking longer than my nan's Christmas pudding, and it involves landmine-throwing monkeys. Fair dinkum.
For years, all I could conjure from the depths of my grey matter about *TimeSplitters* was that specific, slightly terrifying detail. Was it a game? A repressed childhood memory? A fever dream involving explosive primates? Turns out, it was real, and it’s finally arriving this November 23rd, thanks to Cinder Interactive and their utterly bonkers, fan-made project: *TimeSplitters Rewind*. It's like they've taken all three original Free Radical games, thrown 'em in a digital blender, and served up a nostalgic smoothie. They even dropped a trailer, and, crikey, the electrozappers, the Tommy guns... the *monkeys*! It all came flooding back. It wasn't trauma; it was just peak early-2000s FPS shenanigans!
For the uninitiated, *TimeSplitters*, birthed by the legendary Free Radical back in 2000, was essentially *GoldenEye* after it discovered disco, a time machine, and a particularly strong batch of digital hallucinogens. Less Brosnan-brooding, more pure, unadulterated daftness, using time travel and alternate dimensions as a flimsy, yet brilliant, excuse to mash together a smorgasbord of ridiculous weapons, maps, and characters. The sequels just dialled that silliness up to eleven, eventually even tossing in online multiplayer. Proper good stuff, that.
But here's where the plot thickens, like a particularly chunky pixel soup. This fan remake, *TimeSplitters Rewind*, has been in the works since *2012*. Think about that for a second. That's over a decade of dedication! They even got the nod from Crytek, who owned the license back then. These digital wizards were reportedly in a bit of a pickle last year, putting out a call for help to pack in all the juicy bits from *TimeSplitters 2* and *Future Perfect*. Honestly, they’ve fared a darn sight better than the official custodians of the franchise, who, bless their cotton socks, seemed to have a penchant for stepping on digital rakes.
Now, prepare yourselves, because the official *TimeSplitters* story is a twistier, more chaotic saga than a wizard trying to untangle a spell gone wrong. Free Radical announced *TimeSplitters 4* in 2007, then promptly went into administration in 2008 after their “piss-visor FPS” *Haze* landed with all the grace of a lead balloon. Crytek swooped in, rebranded them as Crytek UK, toyed with *TS4* again in 2011, then poured cold water on it the next year, and finally just closed the damn studio in 2014. Some staff ended up at Dambuster Studios, who then *snuck a full 4K remake of TimeSplitters 2* into *Homefront: The Revolution*. Talk about an Easter egg you didn't see coming!
Then, Embracer – bless their acquisitive hearts – hoovered up the rights in 2018. They even refounded Free Radical in 2021, bringing back co-creators David Doak and Steve Ellis! Everyone thought, “Aha! The prophecy is true!” But alas, the digital tea leaves were brewing mischief. Embracer’s whole business went a bit sideways for “want of Saudi petrodollars” (a phrase that perfectly encapsulates the chaotic dance of modern gaming finance, wouldn’t you say?), and Free Radical was shuttered *again* in 2023. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried, mate. It's like watching a magic show where the illusionist keeps making the same rabbit disappear and reappear, only to finally lose it down a drain.
And through all this corporate musical chairs, all this dev drama and digital uncertainty, who's been quietly toiling away, pushing through the digital æther? Cinder Interactive. Their *TimeSplitters Rewind* is rocking 28 maps, 50 arcade leagues, 32 challenges, 41 weapons (yes, the landmines are back!), 20 arcade game modes, and a staggering 91 characters (including, you guessed it, the monkeys!). That's not just a game; that's a bloody digital treasure chest.
It's a testament, really, to the incredible power of community and sheer, stubborn passion. When the big guns falter and get lost in the labyrinth of corporate mergers and market whims, it's often the dedicated fans who step up and perform the real digital wizardry. Huge congratulations to Cinder Interactive for seeing this through, against all odds, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a badly-coded server farm. Reckon I'll be seeing you on November 23rd, dodging exploding simians!
*Original article by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell for Rock Paper Shotgun, found
Tags: Fan Project, FPS, TimeSplitters, Retro Gaming, Game Development
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun