Ever since Crytek bought out the development studio Free Radical and rebranded them as Crytek UK, there have been rumours, denials, petitions and much hopeful wishing that they'd be allowed to create a follow-up to their popular TimeSplitters series. That hasn't happened, quite, but what has is a rather unusual compromise.
PCGamesN picked up on a post made to the 40,000 strong "100,000 Strong for TimeSplitters 4" Facebook group. Its creator, Daniel Wesoly, states "I have just had word from Crytek that they are going to permit and support a TimeSplitters CryEngine mod. I am now looking for modders that can handle the CryEngine. If I manage to get a group together, then they may let us use assets from the original TimeSplitters game!"
It's a strange move, but one that does make some sense. Clearly Crytek are keeping their UK branch busy with more profitable endeavours - like the multiplayer portion of Crysis 3 - but the future of the TimeSplitters franchise has generated continuous background noise from its dedicated fans. Greenlighting a mod project, complete with official assets, seems like a rather neat way of sidestepping the issue without having to put effort into actually making the thing.
TimeSplitters never made it to the PC, so for those unaware, it was a brilliant, primarily multiplayer FPS (there was a singleplayer campaign, but it was naff). It was lovingly tongue-in-cheek, and offered a wealth of game mode customisation options. In TimeSplitters 2, you could easily set up multiplayer games that armed players and bots with nothing but bricks. I did so constantly.
Wesoly's now on a recruitment drive for members of the mod team. If you're a modmaker who likes to throw bricks at people (or shoot them... they had that too), you can contact him at Killerwesik@gmail.com, or by his Skype name Cairn_Trenor.
