TimeSplitters: Future Perfect Sidekicks Spotlight

Scheduled for release on all current-generation consoles next week, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is the third game in Free Radical Design's series of time-traveling first-person shooters. Like its predecessors, Future Perfect will see you traveling through different time periods and battling all manner of enemies with whatever weapons of the era you can lay your hands on. As you progress through the game, you'll often be accompanied by friendly characters that you meet, and it's these helpful (and not so helpful) guys and girls that are the focus of today's sidekick spotlight.

Captain Ash

The first character you'll end up fighting alongside is Captain Ash, an English naval officer from the year 1924. Ash is attempting to rescue a prisoner held captive on an island off the coast of Scotland before signaling the navy to bomb the place. The captain is far more interested in completing his own mission than in assisting you with yours, but he's pretty handy with his Kruger 9mm and is definitely a good guy to have around. Ash proves particularly useful when the pair of you commandeer an old truck with a rear-mounted machine gun, since he'll either drive it or take up the gunner position according to which role you want for yourself.

Harry Tipper

When you arrive in the year 1969, you'll land next to super-secret agent Harry Tipper, who, after your appearance from out of thin air, insists on calling you "spaceman" for the duration of your time together. Tipper is attempting to infiltrate an enemy base where a James Bond-style supervillain is holding his girlfriend captive. Tipper sneaks into the base by disguising himself as an enemy female and covering his moustache with his hand whenever he gets hit on. As it turns out, said supervillain is also planning to take over the world...and he'd probably succeed if Harry Tipper didn't have you backing him up.

Jo-Beth Casey

When your mission takes you to a haunted mansion in the year 1994, you'll meet a teenage girl named Jo-Beth Casey, who, to put it mildly, can be a real handful. Jo-Beth is breaking into the mansion to take photos of zombies as part of her initiation into a gang, but she is also happy to take photos of anything else that she considers to be "eww...gross" as the two of you explore the mansion and its grounds. Jo-Beth knows which end of a shotgun to point at zombies, and her computer skills come in handy once or twice. However, you'll have to rescue her from certain death on more than one occasion.

Amy Chen

In the year 2052, while attempting to break into the headquarters of a large corporation, you witness the acrobatic Amy Chen doing much the same thing. Despite the fact that you'll already have saved her life once by the time you actually meet her, Chen is more than capable of looking after herself. And in a lot of situations, you'll need her help a lot more than she'll need yours. You'll get bossed around and told what to do a lot while you're in Amy's company, but that's a small price to pay for having her fight alongside you.

R110 Combat Droid

If you're a fan of the Terminator movies, you'll enjoy fighting alongside the R110 combat droid, which has been reprogrammed to protect you in the year 2243. Since the R110 is built for combat, it should come as no surprise that it's a terribly efficient (although not very bright) killing machine. Try not to become too dependent on it, though, because the two of you will be separated more than once, including one occasion when a version of yourself from the future needs to borrow the R110.

We've found all the characters we've fought alongside in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect to be as entertaining as they are helpful. It's worth nothing that your game will come to an abrupt end if you allow any of your sidekicks to die. Additionally, your own weapons are almost as deadly to them as they are to your enemies, which is something to keep in mind if you happen to be a horrible shot. Check out today's TimeSplitters: Future perfect gameplay movies to see all the game's sidekicks in action.