TimeSplitters Rewind is a Long-Delayed Free Fan Remake Out Now
- TimeSplitters Rewind is a free fan remake now in Early Access, consolidating content from all three original games.
- Initial content includes the full TimeSplitters 1 story (with co-op), 28 maps, 96 characters, and 41 weapons.
- The fan-favorite map editor is currently missing but is planned for a future update.
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Back Once Again
TimeSplitters Rewind skews typical remake trends by focusing on all three previous, official, TimeSplitters games and bundling parts of them together under one title. Over 200 developers – some hobbyists and some with AAA background – have helped bring Rewind to life after multiple restarts.
The original games follow time travellers as they seek to stop aliens from disrupting the timeline at various points, with the games featuring environments ranging from Chicago in the 1930s, through to a space station in 2035. TimeSplitters 2 introduced a main character, Cortez, who returned for the third entry, Future Perfect.
“Rewind is not a traditional remake in that there aren’t three separate executables, it is one game that, as closely as possible, captures the spirit of the three games in one,” the team behind it posted on the official Rewind site.
“So, unlike a traditional HD collection or remake, it is its own title. By the end of this game’s development, the goal is to have extensive content spanning the three games but our initial launch will focus on a subset of both existing content from the original games and some new content.”
The Future is Now
TimeSplitters Rewind is the latest example of a game’s fans taking it upon themselves to bring a beloved franchise back from the dead (another recent fan-powered title is The Crew Unlimited). It’s been a long time coming, too: a fourth TimeSplitters game was in the works until 2008, when original development studio Free Radical was shut down due to bankruptcy.
CryTek acquired the IP in 2009, and the Rewind project first started in 2013, when CryTek gave its blessing (and TimeSplitters game assets) to a dev called Pantheonyx. He set up a team and work started, but soon ran into issues with the original source code. Development moved over to Unreal Engine 4 and started up again, but at a much slower pace.
An IP and game engine changeover stalled the project until 2019, when a new team was formed to start once again. When Covid happened soon after, this led to a huge boost in Rewind’s renewed development, which suffered a few more bumps along the road (such as Free Radical reforming then promptly being shuttered by parent company Embracer Group) before reaching its current Early Access state.
Time to Split
The version of TimeSplitters Rewind currently available features the full story mode (with co-op) from TimeSplitters 1, alongside 32 challenges, 28 maps, and an Arcade option with 20 game modes. As if this wasn’t generous enough for something that doesn’t, and will never, ask for money from players, Rewind’s Early Access also includes 96 playable characters, 41 weapons, and reworked Last Stand and Team Elimination modes.
One major feature that gamers have asked and hoped for that’s missing is a map editor – this was one of the most popular and well-regarded features of the original games, as it used a WYSIWYG editor that allowed for new levels to be made quickly and easily, then played on with friends.
The developers have covered this in an official FAQ, however, especially as it relates to mod support: “Our UGC plan is mostly oriented around Mapmaker which is set for a future release.” They’ve also said that a development/content roadmap is coming, and it’ll be added to the official Discord channel, likely by the end of the year.
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