Concept art from the TimeSplitters reboot, which is assumed to be cancelled following the closure of Free Radical Design, has been released online by former employees of the studio. Given the title was never officially revealed, this the first look at the game, and will also likely be the last.
The various pieces of concept art, shared to ArtStation, social media and via the community-based Free Radical wiki, reveal glimpses at various stages and environments, as well as early character designs. Trawling through the released files, of which there are plenty, we can see various rock formations, literal building blocks, water tankers, ladders, and other objects.
One of the near-complete stages revealed in the concept artwork is known as “Brutalist Level” and this features a roadway set into a mountain or mine of sorts, with brick architecture and edgy designs. Beyond what appears to be a main cavern, there is also an outer landscape of ice floes and prison-like structures.
Read: TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design officially shuts down
Another level – appropriately titled Western – features a saloon, dusty plain, and Western-themed frontier with plenty of buildings and hay bales for cover. This level looks particularly good for the TimeSplitters-style of first-person shooter antics, with multiple hiding spots for nabbing a clean shot.
Beyond these assets, the “Unreleased Project” files also include looks at an alien Reaper enemy with long claw limbs, and looks at basic character designs – including a Tank Girl-like hero with an uncomfortable-looking thong, and other characters wearing makeshift garbage armour.
Alfred Turner, one of the game’s concept artists, has created the most intriguing array of characters in the concept art – his works include a little girl in a red pinafore, a fairy woman, a morally ambiguous nun, a clown, a ringmaster with massive thighs, a lady wearing a lobster suit, a medieval maiden-slave, a half-eaten zombie cop, and a mutated priest.
For now, these images appear to be the final remnants of Free Radical Design’s plans for a new TimeSplitters game. With the studio now shut down, and plans for a new TimeSplitters on ice, we can only pore over this concept art, and image what could’ve been. You can view the complete Unreleased Project files on the TimeSplitters wiki.
