The first - and likely the largest - difference between the previous offering and this one is online play. The game is fully Xbox Live capable, complete with 16-player support in various multiplayer game types including Capture the Bag (you guessed it, quite similar to capturing the flag), Bagtag (only one bag), Vampire (kill the opposing players to extend your undead existence), Shrink (player size based on rank), Virus (set fire to the other players), Monkey Assistant (monkeys assist the lowest-ranked player), and quite a few others in arcade mode … and that's in addition to the usual ones like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Assault, etc. I believe there are thirteen arcade modes usable for multiplayer versus humans or bots, all told. That ought to satisfy those multiplayer cravings.

You'd think that would be the main draw for me, since the game offers so much for multiplayer mayhem. Not so, however. I tend to get into the single-player stuff a lot more with these games; I was the same way with the last one in the series. I tend to be that way with the console games in general. I get most of my multiplayer shooting in on the PC these days. And let's face it, people on the internet may be a mixed bag in general, but the Xbox Live kiddie crowd really takes the prize in terms of sheer obnoxious behavior (don't you love it when you log on to play an M-rated game and find that most of the other players are too young to buy the game according to most store policies?). If I want to be sworn at by a thirteen-year-old, I know where to go. System link with people I actually know would be fun, but I've never been able to set something like that up, being rather lacking in gamer friends locally. But I digress.

Being the solo player that I am, story mode is the first thing I go for. Now, a common complaint about the previous game in the series was that the difficulty in story mode was very inconsistent, with some stages being much harder than others. Free Radical appears to have listened to those complaints to an extent, but the tendency remains - just to a lesser degree than before. The difficulty will still spike up and down a bit in some areas, but a more noticeable difference between the stages is going to be in terms of how long it takes to get through a given area. Some are just a lot bigger than others, and more time consuming. That's not a big problem for me; perhaps it might be for someone else. Were they fun? Yes, they were, the occasional frustrating sequence or boss fight notwithstanding.

The style of the game, story, characters, etc., is all rather tongue-in-cheek, and nothing shows that off better than the story mode (admittedly, firing away at various monkey characters in arcade mode using a character that looks like a giant rubber hand can be rather wacky as well). Cortez, the returning main character, is not the brightest fellow, but is very enthusiastic about his work, and is a likable character overall. A lot of the comedy takes place in various cutscenes, generally depicting Cortez's interactions with the various allies or villains he encounters … and they are a motley lot of characters indeed. Time travel is the theme here, and this affords Cortez some opportunities to meet people from quite a few different times and genres, ranging from funky seventies secret agents to wisecracking renegade robots…not to mention certain insane mad-scientist types with some megalomania issues to work out. One thing most of Cortez's new friends have in common is the way they wince at Cortez's favorite catchphrase: "It's time to split!" He gets various negative reactions with that one, which becomes something of a running joke throughout (just to give you an example of the style of humor here, and the character).

The visuals also echo the tone of the game: stylized, somewhat offbeat, and frequently humorous or exaggerated. It's not a style for those who prefer realism, so people who can't get past that may want to look elsewhere. I like it myself, and I think it suits the game very well. There are plenty of screenshots to be found on the web, so check it out and see if you like it, if that is a potential deal-breaker for you.

The audio seems fine as well, though admittedly I am not overly picky about that, nor do I always pay much attention to it specifically. Good audio doesn't necessarily draw attention to itself anyway …if it works well with everything else, you don't really notice it, it's just a natural part of the overall experience. >From what I did notice, the music is catchy and appropriately fast-paced, and the voice acting seemed quite good (in fact, I heard that the actor playing Cortez is none other than the one behind the Tony Tiger ads. It's "grrrreat!")

The story mode stages seem to follow certain key patterns. There are generally a number of references to movies and possibly other games as well, both in the general theme of the area and in terms of some specific situations. One example of this would be the horror-themed stages which go from areas reminiscent of the Evil Dead and other zombie flicks, to other famed horror B-movies such as Tremors, to a Resident Evil-esque area rife with still more zombies. There were parts that managed to be both scary and silly at the same time: pretty fun overall. I probably didn't even catch more than two thirds of the references, but I got the impression there were quite a few.

Another pattern that surfaces is that you'll meet up with an ally character of some sort as you go through a given stage, though you'll still have plenty of chances to do things alone. You'll also be in contact with Anya, your scholarly ally back at headquarters in your own time. She'll cheerfully provide you with hints, info and the occasional snide comment. In an interesting twist, there are also some interactions with future versions of Cortez himself, as he hops through various time portals in order to give himself a helping hand. This results in some odd, and of course humorous, situations and interaction, and you will get the chance to play through the events which each of your selves is involved in (it sounds more complicated than it is).

You'll engage in a variety of activities depending on the situation, and you'll have a pretty varied arsenal with guns and explosives (grenades are now a standard part of your arsenal, and there are different types which can be toggled before firing) depending on the time period and scenario. Shotguns, automatic pistols (some dual wielded), futuristic ray guns, dual tommy guns, rocket launchers, dart guns, harpoon guns, revolvers with scopes strapped on (there was one like that in the seventies stage where you meet secret agent Harry Tipper, whom you may remember from such games as Timesplitters 2), etc.

Some of the minigames can be a little frustrating, such as the one used when disarming a bomb or hacking a terminal. It involved turning various sections, like puzzle pieces, in order to get colored streams of light from one point to the other without crossing those of the wrong color. It wasn't really explained well, and the first time I ran into it I failed, simply due to not realizing how it worked. I got the hang of it soon enough, but you'll see what I mean by frustrating when you get to a certain part where you have to go through it multiple times in the same sequence, with fairly harsh time constraints, and ever-increasing difficulty and complexity. (Note: I think there is a glitch in that sequence - at least there was for me. Don't try to skip past the cinematics in between the multiple terminal hack sequences, or the game will freeze.) The shooting sequences are a welcome relief after that, let me tell you.

The boss fights are fairly typical of the console gaming genre, though not too bad. Some are definitely easier than others, and the difficulty goes way up if you're using the wrong tool for the job (though there's usually some indication for what you should use, depending on the guns and ammo pickups you find in the area). There was one in particular I recall having a lot of trouble with, but I switched to the correct gun and was able to win soon after. They range from the mundane to the bizarre: tanks to cyborg monstrosities, and plenty in between. That can be said about the enemies as well, not just boss types. Enemy soldiers, zombies (who of course need to have their heads blown off with shotguns), mutants (similar to the zombies in terms of there being one good way to kill them - they are almost immune to other weapons), alien monsters, robots, etc. And if things seem a bit too daunting for you, you have the option of enlisting a friend for some split-screen co-op play in story mode as well.

When you don't feel like advancing the plot, there's plenty more to do elsewhere in the game. As mentioned before, the arcade mode is fun, fast, and varied action with either humans or bots, offline or on XBL. In addition to that, there is a challenge mode that lets you test your skills in various … you guessed it … challenges, and if you are logged on to Live while you play, the scores can be uploaded for online bragging rights (this doesn't overly interest me, but it's cool to have the option if you're into that). The arcade leagues are quite fun, and was the portion of the game I got into the most other than story mode itself. They set you up with different scenarios or events in three different leagues (in order of difficulty, and you must complete the previous league with qualifying scores to unlock the next one). In each scenario, you'll generally have an assigned character, level, and situation (often involving one of the arcade mode game types, such as one that had a Vampire mode battle against a few bots). Depending on how well you do (you can get bronze, silver, gold, or platinum medals) you can unlock various things upon completing the scenario, ranging from one of many weird characters to cheats such as slow-motion deaths. In fact, this game is rife with unlockables, and has an immense amount of characters to unlock in particular, usable as either bots or the player character in arcade mode. You unlock a fair amount by completing story mode missions on different difficulty levels as well, but there are plenty left for the other modes.

If you like console shooters/FPS games, or are curious about them, this is a good one to check out. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it's not completely realistic, and it'll provide you with fun things to do for a while. You can also extend the playable lifespan by downloading custom maps or making your own (it has a map editor). I found the arcade mode to be a tad fast, and story mode doesn't completely prepare you for it, but it's fun now and then nonetheless.