Earlier this week we reported on the news that, all these years, a 4K port of Timesplitters 2 was hidden in Homefront: The Revolution—and no-one noticed. That is until Matt Phillips, a storied programmer currently working on Rust, revealed that this was the greatest 'Easter Egg' moment in his career.
My proudest moment. Fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution. https://t.co/U0ulGEW1A1 pic.twitter.com/a4UsyOw7ehApril 4, 2021
There was just one problem. In Phillips' words, "The unlock code has been lost to time, I don't have the notebook with it in any more. I once gave it to a friend to leak in some Discord channel and they called him a liar and banned his account ahahah."
Talk about giving with one hand and taking with the other! Players excited by the prospect of playing an FPS classic on PC were disappointed, but there was a general sense that the modders and dataminers would eventually be able to do their thing.
No need because, thanks to the wonders of the internet, Mr Phillips' friend has reappeared! And they come bearing gifts:
You mean this code?LT+Up, LT+Up, Down, LT+Right, RT+Left, RT+B, LT+Y, LT+Y, RT+X, LT+AApril 8, 2021
Subsequent to this, well-known dataminer Lance McDonald posted a variety of other codes to unlock various features, credited to Fanato.
The code(s) to unlock the full version and all content for Timesplitters 2 within Homefront Revolution have just been discovered. Here you go, everyone. https://t.co/XFgOri2fw6 pic.twitter.com/auLc7Lw6WtApril 9, 2021
My memory's hazy but the arcade machine pops up after several hours in Homefront: The Revolution, so it may take an evening or two before you can reach the point in the game where this code can be entered. But do that and you'll have access to what sounds like a beautiful version of one of the classics: Timesplitters 2 was of its era, particularly its focus on local competitive play, but the nested challenges and oddly compelling loop of mini-levels saw my younger self sink countless hours into this.
This has been something of a big news day for the defunct and much-missed Free Radical Design. Timesplitters 2 is probably the studio's best-known game, but yesterday also saw the news that its cult classic Second Sight is available once more, after being de-listed from stores in 2012.
