Timesplitters Gun Guide Version 1.2 by Odge (djgaunt86@hotmail.com) written 30/11/01 Contents i) Introduction ii) Guns 1. Pistol (x2) 2. M16 (x2) 3. Assault Rifle 4. Sniper Rifle 5. Raygun 6. Raygun Carbine 7. Scifi Autorifle 8. Scifi Handgun 9. Rocket Launcher 10. Mauser Pistol (x2) 11. Minigun (x2) 12. Grenade Launcher 13. Scifi Sniper Rifle 14. Proximity Mine 15. Remote Mine 16. Timed Mine 17. TNT 18. Tommy Gun (x2) 19. Assault Shotgun 20. Uzi (x2) 21. Blunderbuss 22. Colt Pistol (x2) 23. Shotgun (x2) 24. Brick (bonus weapon) iii) Legal Stuff and Credits i)Introduction I’m not normally a shoot-em up fan, and when I got my PS2 for Christmas, I was not best pleased when I found I had been bought Timesplitters, and was a little sceptical. However, when I got round to playing it, I found it was actually a great game, with stunning visuals, atmospheric sound, and a great Arcade mode and Mapmaker. In fact, I have found that this is the finest game on the PS2 so far, and until Dark Cloud makes its way onto the shelves, I will have to be satisfied with gunning down my brother in Deathmatch mode. Anyway, on with the FAQ. This time, I’ll give you the low-down on some of the tactics which I have used for each of the guns in the game, and some of the details on each. Whether that’ll be useful for you or not, I don’t know, but hey, you might enjoy it. I have not included separate categories for twin weapons – whenever a weapon occurs as a double, I will put (x2) after it. If I say nothing about the double, you can safely assume that it is twice as powerful – it has twice the ammo, twice the firing rate, and is generally twice as dangerous. ii) Guns N.B. After each weapon’s title, there are two numbers separated by a colon. The first indicates the maximum amount of ammo that one magazine of that gun can carry, and the second indicates the maximum total ammo of that gun that you can carry (not including the first full magazine.) If there is only one number, then you can only fire one shot per reload, and that number is the maximum ammo for that weapon that you can hold. Assume that if you can get two of one weapon, then the other weapon can hold just as much ammo, and has just as much ammo in each magazine. 1. Pistol (x2) 10:490 This is your bog standard, slow firing, pistol. On the other hand, you can hold a lot of ammo for the pistol, and it is one of the best pistols you can get (apart from the obviously superior Scifi Handgun.) If you are up against somebody with this thing, it is better to tap R2 repeatedly rather than just holding it down, because it fires faster that way. The gun reloads quite slowly, so it is useful to be able to strafe behind some cover while you reload. Pistol x2 is, obviously, 2 pistols, one in each hand, if used cleverly, can be better than the Scifi Handgun. There is the advantage of the increased amount of ammo, and also the increased rate of fire. It is also possible to make the pistol fire just as fast as the Uzi, if you use the correct tactic. Equip one pistol, and alternately press R1 and R2 very quickly, and bullets ought to come streaming out. Useful if you’ve got lots of bullets to spare. 2. M16 (x2) 30:170 The M16 you can also obtain as either a single or double form. It is your typical machine gun, and fires quite quickly, as well as having 30 shots per reload, which is quite decent. The best tactic with this weapon is just to blast a whole cartridge-worth into an enemy, and that should finish them off. However, this weapon can also be used tactically in the Story levels such as China, because when you go into Aim Mode, you discover that this weapon has a very decent Zoom function, with which you can snipe enemies at a distance. This is especially useful in Chinese, where you need to snipe several of the enemies, and accuracy is often necessary because of the shortage of ammo early in the level. The M16 x2 is a very powerful weapon, and you can usually win many a firefight with these two. You’d only have to strafe if the enemy was packing something super-powerful, such as a Minigun. 3. Assault Rifle 30:170 Another fine weapon, this fires quickly as well, and has a very nice Zoom Function. You get the opportunity to use this in the Docks level, in which it is one of the best weapons, and it is both useful for sniping the people standing high up on the packing crates and metal structures, and for killing the grenade slingers on the ground. It is easily comparable to the M16 and the Uzi, but sadly, you can’t get 2 of it. If in a firefight, try to strafe as much as possible, but you can also use the ‘madly running through throngs of enemies firing wildly tactic’, and that usually works as well. 4. Sniper Rifle 5:195 This is sadly a wasted weapon in Timesplitters, especially in Arcade Weapon, where everybody is running around wildly, and many have machine guns. Obviously this weapon is useless in a firefight, due to its slow fire rate, and its low rate of 5 shots per reload, so its best, if confronted with many enemies, to either switch to anything else, if possible, or just run for the nearest cover. However, in Story Mode, it does have its uses, as many of the guards stand still, and you can simply Zoom right in (note that this weapon has easily the best zoom rate of all of the guns in Timesplitters), and pop their heads off, which is incredibly satisfying. 5. Raygun 20:180 This is a very odd weapon, and is also very rubbish. It is a bit like a futuristic blunderbuss, and does tend to behave similarly to one. The fire rate is quite slow, but the shots do a large amount of damage when they hit. Sadly, when up against an enemy packing a Scifi Autorifle or even a Pistol, this weapon just doesn’t stand a chance. You’ll get a chance to use this weapon in Story Mode in Spaceways, but try not to use it if possible, since the alternatives are the ultra powerful Scifi Autorifle, Minigun, and the Rocket Launcher. 6. Raygun Carbine 20:180 This weapon is no better than the Raygun. It fires very quickly, and you can get the shots to bounce off the walls, but each shot does negligible amounts of damage. If up against an enemy with this weapon, just try and get as many shots into them as possible, while dodging their shots. It also looks cool (I am told.) However, that won’t help you in a battle with a Scifi Autorifle wielding madman, I am sure. 7. Scifi Autorifle 50:150 This is quite possibly the best weapon in the game. Why? Because this weapon can either be used as a machine gun (press R2), or a high performance grenade launcher (press R1). You get 50 shots per reload, which is decent in itself. However, each grenade launcher shot uses 10 shots, so you only get 5 grenade shots per reload, which is fair enough really. Since the grenade shot takes up so many shots, I advise only using these against people packing machine guns, as many machine guns have faster fire rates than the Autorifle, and you’d probably die if you didn’t just blast them out of the way. For people packing weak weapons and rocket launchers, it is best to gun them down while strafing. You can get through most of the Spaceways and Planet X story levels using this weapon, as just a general purpose machine gun. 8. Scifi Handgun 20:480 Another fine weapon from the Scifi range, this is perhaps the best pistol. It has an extremely quick rate of fire, comparable with a machine gun, and two fire modes – normal pistol fire (R2), and ricocheting shots (R1), which bounce off all the walls, usually killing everyone, including you. The ricocheting shots are useful in a small room which is frequented by everyone (such as the kitchen in Chinese.) Here, the shots will ricochet around and kill everyone in the room. In all other situations, you should use normal shots, and strafe if necessary. 9. Rocket Launcher 30 This is another super powerful weapon, and this too has two modes. Pressing R2 will release one rocket that has reasonable homing powers, while pressing R1 will release three rockets that usually just fly straight forwards. You should usually just use the normal shots when encountering a single enemy or a group close together. Point the launcher at whoever you want to kill, make sure you’re not too close to that enemy, and fire the launcher. Usually, the three rockets are useful to fire down a large tunnel or alleyway, because anybody in the tunnel will be hit by the shots. In Story Mode, you get the Rocket Launcher in Cyberden and in Spaceways. It is very useful to take out the autoguns, as well as just being used to blow enemies away, simply use Aim Mode, get the cursor over the autogun, and blast it. You have to be especially wary of the grenade launching autogun in Hard Spaceways – you should strafe and fire rocket launcher shots at it. 10. Mauser Pistol (x2) 15:485 The Mauser Pistol, despite being an ancient weapon, is actually quite a decent pistol, and is very similar to the normal pistol. The fire rate is not too bad, it reloads quite quickly, and you get 15 shots in your magazine – which is a lot better than many other pistols. In Story Mode, you can get this weapon in Tomb, and it should serve you well until you get the Tommy Gun. When using the weapon, you should try to strafe as much as possible, if the enemy has a powerful weapon. 11. Minigun (x2) 60:140 The Minigun is, of course, a hugely powerful weapon with an enormous fire rate, and at 60 shots per reload, you probably won’t have a problem of reloading during a firefight. Strafing is usually unnecessary since an enemy won’t get a chance to fire at you before you fire about fifty shots into his lower abdomen. Your biggest problem will probably be running out of ammo, since the weapon can only hold 200 shots in total, so always be on the lookout for more ammo. However, in the Story Levels where you encounter the Minigun, there is more than enough to keep you firing until the level’s end. It is possible to get Minigun x2, though how the characters manage to support the immense weight and cope with the kickback is beyond me. Two Miniguns are just powerful to the extreme, and usually nobody will be able to stop you, except somebody else with a Rocket Launcher, two other Miniguns, or somebody who has snuck up behind you and blown your head off before you could turn round. 12. Grenade Launcher 8:12 This weapon is similar to the Rocket Launcher, except that it does not have such a great range. Pressing R2 will launch a Grenade that explodes on impact, and pressing R1 launches a Grenade that bounces around before not exploding. The R1 grenades can be used by the professional to kill enemies beneath you and round corners by bouncing them off the walls and the like, but I rarely use them. The Grenade has a disadvantage against the Rocket Launcher in that the Grenade is not self propelled and so will fall to the ground eventually and explode. However this is not a great disadvantage, since many of the enemies you face aren’t that far away anyway. In a firefight, simply point and shoot, and that will usually sort out the problem. In Story Mode you get a chance to use the Grenade Launcher in Chemical Plant, where you can use it to blast a lot of the guards there. It is especially useful against the guards toting Shotguns, because you want to kill them before they see you. 13. Scifi Sniper Rifle 10:190 This weapon is similar to the normal Sniper Rifle, except that it is more powerful, and you get more shots per reload. It is still useless in a normal firefight, because of its slow fire rate, and the only time you really need to use it is at the beginning of Planet X, where you can use the Zoom to snipe some aliens on a ledge. I advise against using this in a normal firefight, however. 14. Proximity Mine 10 The first of the three mines, you should probably know how this works. If not, you attach this weapon to a surface (a wall, or a floor) and if anyone comes near it, it’ll blow, taking the enemy with it, and adding one to your kills total. Personally my favourite mine, this is best used in narrow tunnels, or near power ups – the enemy will be blown up just as they near their treasured prize. You can also be very sneaky and attach one of these to an enemy’s back – if the enemy gets near a wall, then they will blow up. You should change weapon if an enemy approaches – throwing the mines wildly at an enemy with a Minigun is not a good idea. You get the Proximity Mines at the beginning of the Cyberden Story level, and it is best to use it in the pit in the first large level outside the ventilation duct you start in – a lot of enemies drop into this, and the mines will usually deal with them. 15. Remote Mine 20 The second mine, you can throw these out using the R2 button, and detonate them using the R1 button. It is best to put these at strategic points in the level, and lie in wait, detonating them when people come near. I prefer the Proximity Mines, because you can just throw them out and run off, whereas you have to lie in wait with the Remote Mine, which wastes you time. 16. Timed Mine 10 This is probably the worst mine, since it goes off after a set time period, so the only way you’re going to kill an enemy with this is to stick the mine to them, or put the mine onto a wall with an enemy following close behind. Mind you, they are good to just stick to walls in a place which is frequented by people, and try to kill some people as they enter. 17. TNT 20 This weapon is simply a stick of TNT which you throw, it bounces around, and finally explodes. This weapon is largely unsuitable for firefights because of its unpredictability and slow fire rate. It is good just to lob into a chamber or off a ledge, and see if it hits anyone below. You can obtain this weapon in Tomb, and you can use it to lob into the various different chambers of the Tomb to kill the Cultists, but it isn’t that effective, to be honest. 18. Tommy Gun (x2) 32:468 An ancient machine gun, this weapon is still quite effective, especially in its double form. Admittedly its fire rate isn’t quite as high as you might expect from a machine gun, but you can hold quite a lot of ammo for it (an incredible 468 shots, plus 32 in your beginning magazine – that’s a lot for a machine gun.) Also, you can fire 32 shots before you have to reload. In a firefight, you should try to unload as many shots as possible – you might need to strafe if the enemy is packing a Minigun or the like. You get a chance to use this weapon in Story Mode, in Tomb, and in Village. The weapon comes into its own in Tomb, and you will use it to gun down most of the Cultists, Skeletons, and Timesplitters you encounter. In Village you will probably use it less due to the presence of the Shotgun, but when the Shotgun runs out of ammo, it is the next best thing. 19. Assault Shotgun 8:92 This is an extremely powerful Shotgun, which fires a small spray of bullets towards the target. In a firefight, a single shot from this baby will usually kill the target, even if he is packing a Minigun, unless it strafes out of the way. The advantage of this weapon over the normal Shotgun is the larger amount of shots per reload (8, compared to 2 in the Shotgun.) However this is a great advantage, because the Shotgun has only two shots per reload, and the character is very vulnerable when reloading, since reloading with the Shotgun takes ages. However, this gun is inferior to the double Shotgun, which is just incredibly powerful. You can use this weapon in Docks in Story Mode, and it comes in useful for disposing with the autoguns, and the guards with Autorifles. 20. Uzi (x2) 20:480 The Uzi is another stereotypical machine gun, and is useful due to its quick fire rate, and the enormous amount of ammo which you can carry, but sadly suffers because you can only fire 20 shots before having to reload. It is very useful to gun down enemies as you run past them, or to shoot enemies while ducking behind structures. It comes in useful in the Chinese Story level as a general purpose weapon to machine gun down goons. The double version of the weapon is useful, not only because of the larger reserves of ammo, but because you can fire 40 shots per reload, which eliminates the reloading problem. 21. Blunderbuss 100 This is more of a novelty weapon than a serious killer, but it can be used quite effectively in certain circumstances. The weapon only has one shot per reload, and the reloading takes ages, but that shot does a lot of damage to the enemy – two shots is sometimes enough to kill them. The best way is to blast an enemy, and then run off. As he follows you, you should reload, turn round, and blast him, which will usually kill him, if your shots were aimed in the right direction. If you simply shoot an enemy and then wait for your weapon to reload, this will usually give him enough time to turn round and gun you down, so this is not advisable. You get an opportunity to use this weapon in Tomb, but I would advise against it due to your alternatives of the Mauser Pistol and the Tommy Gun. 22. Colt Pistol (x2) 6:494 This weapon is perhaps the worst pistol in the entire game. It has a slow fire rate, you only get 6 shots per reload, which is poor, even for a pistol, and the reloading takes ages. Its only advantages are the amount of damage you can do per shot (allegedly two shots can kill the target) and the large amount of ammo you can get for it, but in many pistols, you can get just as much ammo. I advise against using it for anything, and in the Tomb level, you should not use it at all. It is just too slow to be useful. The double version is slightly better, but still doesn’t improve it enough to be worth using. 23. Shotgun (x2) 2:98 This is a superb weapon despite its age, and can be used to easily kill someone in one or two shots. However, you should be aware of its slow reload time, and be ready to duck for cover if your shots fail to kill your target. However, the reload time stops you from wasting your ammo after killing your target, so there is an upside to it, since Shotgun ammo is often precious. You can get this weapon in Village and Mansion, and the weapon is ideal for blowing the heads off the ghouls and zombies inhabiting the area. Indeed, the Shotgun is the only weapon you can get in the Mansion, which has its advantages (you can kill all the enemies in one) and its disadvantages (they all have Shotguns too.) The best way to kill an enemy with a Shotgun is to hide behind a wall, and shoot them as they come out (if they are playing duck and cover) or to lure them out, run round a corner, and then shoot them as they come looking for you. The double Shotgun is sublimely powerful, and there are few enemies that cannot be eliminated using it – it is even superior than the Assault Shotgun. However, it brings up the question again – can somebody cope with the weight and the recoil of two Shotguns? 24. Brick (bonus weapon) 20 This weapon is uncovered by beating challenge 4C (Brick Flung High) in which you have to knock out all the windows in the Chinese restaurant using just some bricks. There are two crucial things you need to know in order to complete the challenge. Firstly, there are some windows lining the top of the wall in the room with the gong, which you may have missed. Secondly, the two shoulder buttons do different things: R1 gives you a high lob which you can use to break high up windows, and R2 throws a brick forwards – you should use this to get the low windows. The brick is not really a suitable weapon when mixed with proper guns – you will always lose with a brick. If you use the ‘Brick’ weapon preset, then all the weapons are bricks, and it is extremely amusing to watch everyone as they try to hit each other with bricks. The technique when throwing a brick is simple – you have to be at the right distance from the enemy. Too close, and the brick will just bounce off them and hit you, and they seem to be not damaged at all. Too far, and the brick will not hit them. If you are just the right distance from them, the brick will smack into them and usually kill them in one. It takes a lot of skill to be able to throw a brick effectively, and you should practice until you can kill an enemy quickly and easily. Running after an enemy throwing bricks sometimes works but is often reliable, and you will often get the odd ‘bouncing brick’ problem. iii) Legal Stuff and Credits All material © 2001 Odge Thanks to REking16@aol.com for his tips on the sniper rifle, colt pistol, raygun carbine, shotgun, and the grenade launcher. Although I couldn’t praise the shotgun enough, he managed to find a few more good points about it, and PSXtreme2222@aol.com for his tip about making the Pistol fire as fast as an Uzi. You may put my FAQ on your website without asking, but you must do a few things in order to be able to put this article on your site. Firstly, you must not change anything. Secondly, you must accredit me as the author of the article. Thirdly, you must send me an e-mail telling me who you are and what website you have put my FAQ on. Lastly, if possible, you should put a link to www.satsumaonline.com on your website. Any further tips or techniques you have would be greatly appreciated.