The box cover has a quote, "First Halo, now this." That's setting high expectations, whether you liked Halo or not. TimeSplitters 2 is a first person shooter in a world literally chock full of first person shooters. Only the most impressive games stand out from such a huge crowd, and this is one impressive game.

The story opens with a narrative about an alien race wreaking havoc on humanity. Just as they're being stopped, they use a time travel device to go back in human history and attempt to exterminate the species. That's about all you need to know to get started because the story isn't one of the game's strengths. It loosely holds together the 10 single player or co-op levels. In that way it's similar to the latest Austin Powers movie, which was more a series of loosely connected gags than it was a film.

But that doesn't mean the movie wasn't funny. And the light story doesn't mean TimeSplitters 2 isn't a great game. From the first mission to the last and for many, many hours of multiplayer games afterward, this is one of the best. Every level is unique and the sheer variety of locales, weapons and characters are a testament to what is possible when the makers of a game take the time to put some thought behind how it will be played.

The controls are standard first person shooter: one stick to move, the other to aim. They're almost infinitely customizable, so if you don't like the button layout, change it until you're comfortable. Once you're ready, the missions send you careening through time. From Aztec ruins to modern day Siberia to the far-flung future, TimeSplitters 2 keeps things fresh with new scenery and technology at every turn. And each mission uses that era as part of the game instead of just eye candy. In other words, this isn't just Halo with a jungle or futuristic Tokyo for a playing field. In Chicago you're dealing with gangsters; in the old west, it's cowboys and all the technological advantages or challenges of those eras.

There are three levels of difficulty for single player and two player cooperative, in which two people play as a team using a split-screen. There are, I hope you're sitting down, actual differences between the difficulties. I know it's hard to believe, but when you crank up the difficulty you'll find much more than just bad guys that suddenly know how to fire a weapon without hurting themselves. There are more rooms, more goals and more complicated levels with each setting. Most games give you the same thing, but harder, each time through. This actually gives you more to do.

If you played the classic GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64, you'll be pleased to see a similar take on the genre in TimeSplitters 2. For those who haven't: There's more to do here than just kill everything on a level. It doesn't have the sheer amount of gadgets boasted by GoldenEye, but you'll be happy to know there's more of a challenge than just killing all the bad guys. The briefing before each mission gives you only a vague idea of what you need to do. You'll have to figure out the rest as you go.

Challenge modes await those wishing to hone their skills and unlock more playable characters. For instance, if you've ever played an FPS before you know the best way to conserve ammo is to go for a headshot. One of the challenge modes requires head kills in order to stave off a horde of zombies, and unlike algebra that's a skill you'll need later.

All of that practice in single player or co-op gets you ready for the real treat: Multiplayer in TimeSplitters 2 is as good as it gets. There are more than 15 different maps and around 16 different scenarios in which up to four players compete. The amount of options is almost unlimited, with all of the weapons from each of the eras of time (from crossbows to tommy guns to plasma rifles to timed mines), bots, level of skill of the bots, team deathmatch, capture the flag and combinations of all of the above. You can even choose the speed of play, from "chilled," to "normal" to "frantic." If one of the worst players keeps getting his but handed to him, give him a team of sniper monkeys to help out. If you don't like the tedious wandering around and searching for a foe, crank up the speed and your characters will sprint through the level. The game boasts 100 playable characters and with a dizzying collection of zombies, robots, monkeys, jesters and bears, just to name a few, that number seems about right. Bottom line: Multiplayer FPS has never been done better on a console.

There's also an easy to use map maker, so if there was a slim chance you'd get bored with what the game offers you can make your own maps for multiplayer sessions. It's a fairly intuitive tool and you'll be creating your own multi-tiered levels in no time. This feature adds a limitless replay value to an already amazing multiplayer mode.

The only drawback is the lack of online capability. The game has literally everything else, so it's a shame you can't plug it into Xbox Live when that service launches. There has been no shortage of speculation on the ability to expand games on the Xbox using the broadband connection for download and the hard drive for storage, and if any game could make that a reality, it's TimeSplitters 2. System Link and LAN play are possible, however, and that allows for up to 16 players in the same game.

If there are other complaints, they will be about the level of detail in the environments and the style of the presentation. First, if you must have the most detailed, meticulous level design you might not be satisfied. The graphics are very good and most players will be too busy to notice such things, but there are other games with more detailed walls, doors, etc. Secondly, the character models aren't strictly realistic. They're a bit on the cartoony side. This is not a flaw, it's a stylistic preference. If these two things are high on your list of priorities for first person shooters, then TimeSplitters 2 might not be your bag. But it's hard to imagine priorities more out of whack.

The audio presentation fits nicely. The music is perfectly appropriate to each era and nicely moody. The sound effects of weapons are dead on, and voice acting, from the shrill monkey noises in multiplayer to the dramatic polish in the cut scenes between levels, are all well done and entertaining. Very respectable load times and easily navigable menus round out the presentation.

TimeSplitters 2 meets expectations on almost every level and far exceeds them in many ways. If you must compare it to Halo, even though they're two very different games, TimeSplitters 2 might come out ahead in every category except story. It's not that the game offers anything completely revolutionary. Instead it takes the absolute best of all worlds - features, gameplay, presentation - and puts them in one game. Someone finally removed the flaws from the best games and made one with all the highlights, and that evolution has produced one of the best first person shooters ever.