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	23 April 2005 GAME: TIMESPLITTERS FUTURE PERFECT (2005). Now that all twelve Time Crystals have been successfully recovered, you must defend mankind from destruction by the Timesplitters across the ages. Doesn't make sense, does it? Whatever—this latest incarnation of Time Splitters plays exactly like the last, which a) isn't a bad thing at all, and b) means the story will be similarly baffling. I just can't get enough of the smooth, fast-twitch gameplay and the series' trademark animations, which depart from the usual wobbly, overly precious fare and opt instead for a more cartoon-like squash & stretch. I personally find it more impressive than fancy vertex shading and whatnot. Outstanding lip-sync and facial movements give the characters real, engaging expression, a far cry from the typical turn-n-talk exchanges of many games hence. Our hero, a Vin-Diesel lookalike with cyborg bug-eyes, guns his way with a huge selection of wacky weapons through a nonsensical (but fun) variety of time periods, running into something like 80,000 different and unique characters in the process. Seriously, it's a ton of characters, from robots to energy blobs to teen hotties to monkies, all of which are accessible in the game's flawless Multiplayer Deathmatch mode—nothing so far beats it. So what if Timesplitters: Future Perfect is basically the same as the last version? So what if the story makes sense? And so what if it's a little French at times? It is, simply put, more. GAMEPLAY: Lightning-fast FPS. REMINISCENT OF: Timesplitters. LIBRARY WORTHY? Absolutely. Because it gives me the chance to beat the pants off my brother at Deathmatch with remarkable consistency.   Back to main GAME: MERCENARES (2005). Earn big bucks running missions for the Russian mafia, U.N. peacekeeping forces, and South Korean, North Korean, and Chinese armies in a Korean DMZ set in a near future. We all know well the love/hate relationship with the much-loved Grand Theft Auto series: great driving gameplay, horrible player combat controls. Vast, rich environments, but ones that require you drive across kingdom come just to restart missions. Mercenaries fixes all that, and playing it is like experiencing the sweet bliss of finally removing a pesky pebble from inside your shoe. Running & gunning at last uses well-established FPS controls. Failed missions result not with disheartening player abandonment but with a convenient "Retry?" dialog window. Weapon pickups and effects are properly satisfying and crisp, a big step up from the muddled sound effects of GTA. And the well-designed missions themselves actually feel worthwhile--not once did I make my usual declaration of "I never want to do that again!" The strictly military setting, which resembles a surreal drive-by gangland of warring governments, lacks the ironic charm of GTA's over-the-top commentary on urban life, but it offers greater opportunities for absolute destruction. Paint a target, call in an airstrike, and watch entire buildings collapse. Or jack a tank to take down warships. Aww yeah. Snappy and satisfying in every way. Oh, and incidentally, the first game I've seen that features lots of (mostly beyond my comprehension) Korean dialogue. "Bibimbap!" GAMEPLAY: Polished, console-friendly open-ended action that makes GTA's control scheme look like it's stuck in beta. REMINISCENT OF: GTA (and all its knockoffs). LIBRARY WORTHY? Probably yes. 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