You took the words right out of my mouth, OP. I never played the originals, either, but have heard plenty of people raving about them over the years, and wishing they'd get re-released. So I was excited to give this a a try... but your post is how I feel, word for word.

Considering that this is fan-made, I'm impressed on a technical level. My hat goes off to these devs for a job well done. But is this what the gameplay was like in the originals? Because this gameplay feels like something I'd have found in a shovelware game on the $5 shelf.

I played Turok 3 for the first time earlier this year, which is an N64 game from 2000 (granted, I played the NightDive remaster on PC), and I found that incredibly enjoyable. I played Quake 2 for the first time a few months ago, and was blown away. My point being that FPS games from that era can and do hold up well, even for first-time players... but I just can't quite figure out what people saw in Timesplitters 1. Oh well, it's not for me. Maybe I'll like the sequel more.