Crytek UK, formerly Free Radical, which is a team originally built from ex-Rare members who worked on the original Goldneye and some on Perfect Dark, are shopping around the idea of a new TimeSplitters.

For those out of the know, TimeSplitters essentially took the popular multiplayer component of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and turned it into a stand-alone game - you could call it the Quake 3 Arena of consoles. It was basically a no-frills, fast-paced mp affair that had a mild single-player experience, but really offered up among the best console multiplayer experiences around. How the team went on to produce the woeful Haze after such great games is beyond us.

"We're talking to publishers at the moment," said managing director, Karl Hilton, in a conversation with Eurogamer. "There hasn't been a TimeSplitters game for quite a while. Obviously TimeSplitters is a FPS with a strong multiplayer element. The question is, is that the way to go with another one, or should it go down a different route, or should we be developing a new IP altogether?"

TimeSplitters 4 was in development at Free Radical right about the time they shipped the awful PS3 exclusive, Haze, before the dev went into serious financial trouble and were snapped up by Crytek and renamed as the UK division.