A native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 is found within Homefront: The Revolution. There is only one problem: the code to unlock it has apparently been lost.
Over the past weekend, former Vlambeer developer Jan Willem Nijman asked other developers to point out their favorite Easter eggs hidden in their games. Matt Phillips, who previously worked on Homefront: The Revolution, revealed a dazzling one: “My proudest moment was a fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution.”.
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/a4UsyOw7eh
— Matt Phillips (@bigevilboss) April 4, 2021
We already knew that two levels of the classic shooter game were hidden within Homefront, and fans had previously found the full set in Homefront files, but could not be played by normal means.
However, Phillips says the game was “fully playable” with the use of an unlock code. And that’s where it gets tricky, since Phillips no longer has the notebook where he wrote it. Worse still, his previous attempts to spread it were canceled. Responding to a fan request on how to unlock the rest, Phillips said:
“The unlock code has been lost in time, I no longer have the notebook with it. I once gave it to a friend to filter on a Discord channel and they called him a liar and banned his account hahaha.”
Surprisingly, Phillips even points out that he specifically designed the arcade machine from the Homefront game, which activates the TimeSplitters easter egg, so that it would trigger a multiplayer menu if placed on the same map as a second arcade.
Making it clear that it would only work in theory, Phillips wrote: “I carried the network stack to ride on top of the co-op mode [Homefront: The Revolution]. Yes, and that’s a big yes [condicional], someone could hack two or more games in one of the cooperative maps, it will start in the menu [multijugador].”. Phillips says he thinks two of the game’s multiplayer maps were included.
Of course, the internet is already looking for ways to find the code, and many gamers are already searching the game files for clues. Phillips dice that this may be a fruitless search: “To get you out of your misery”, wrote to several Twitter users, “There’s nothing in the base game that even remotely hints at cheating, sorry.”
However, that probably won’t stop fans from looking for ways to bypass the code (or go find someone who does): TimeSplitters 2 is a cult classic to this day, and the appeal of a 4K port. it is enough to maintain the interest of the community.
As for how the entirety of TimeSplitters 2 was allowed to be part of Homefront: The Revolution in the first place, it should be remembered that Dambuster is a studio founded by the creators of the series, Free Radical, who stuck to the source code and then obtained the rights to use it.
Given the fan response to this Easter egg, it doesn’t seem like a far-fetched idea that ends up releasing a port as a standalone title. We may one day see more TimeSplitters as well: Koch Media has previously hinted at a new project in the series and has hired co-creator Steve Ellis to “chart the future course” of the franchise.