Recently, we covered the news that a Reddit user had uncovered a PlayStation 3 ‘DevKit’ console complete with a never-before-seen prototype of TimeSplitters 4. Now, the gameplay of that prototype has been uploaded to YouTube, with one user sharing four minutes of an arcade shootout against bot characters from a build dated November 7, 2008.
Long Forgotten
Free Radical worked on TimeSplitters 4 before the studio struggled and ultimately could not deliver the project. The years would prove to be unkind to Free Radical, with the studio closing and reopening only to be shuttered again forever just weeks ago. As it stands, a new TimeSplitters game hasn’t emerged for almost twenty years.
In a four-minute video uploaded to YouTube recently, prototype gameplay for a previously unseen build of TimeSplitters 4 was showcased:
In the short video, we get a basic look at the game that will never materialise – TimeSplitters 4. It was ultimately cancelled in 2008 as the franchise was left to stagnate, leaving fans of the series wanting.
At first blush, the TimeSplitters 4 prototype seems authentic enough of the series. It would have boasted a story with co-op elements, an arcade shooter mode (which is shown in the video), a challenge menu, and a mapmaker function. This is the only build of TimeSplitters 4 that has ever surfaced (that the gaming world knows of), and it ends here. It’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see the series resurface.
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I wouldn’t say we’ll never see it resurface, it might be bought up again and developed, especially since it’s a high-profile shutdown, Deus Ex and other games were cancelled too so TS will likely get noticed by more people now.