In short
The concept for Twisted Metal is like something a group of ten-year-old boys would have come up with…. and we love this about it. The concept was then tasked to proficient game-makers who ran with it and produced a very competent package. Twisted Metal offers bombastic vehicular combat that is best experienced in the multiplayer arena. On the face of it, it seems simple enough, but cleverly designed elements give the game enough substance while still remaining a laid-back experience, albeit an adrenalin-packed one.
Developer: Eat Sleep Play
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Distributor: SterKinekor Entertainment
For fans of: Survival horrors
Reviewed on: Playstation 3
Also available on: N/A
If we had to give it a numerical score: 7.9/10
Overview
Our favourite clown, the twisted Sweet-tooth is back battling for control against the other factions. Players compete in the Twisted Metal competition for the prize of one wish fulfilled by evil Calypso, the mastermind behind the comps. Players have various cars with different variables and weapons to destroy opponents in very destructible environments.
Likes
- Adrenalin-packed action
- Vehicles
- Weapons
- Fun designed combat
- Multiplayer modes
Not so much
- Story mode a bit shallow
- Could have done so much more with the soundtrack
Gameplay and Features
Twisted Metal is all about vehicular combat mayhem, staying true to its origins but now offers a comprehensive amount of both singleplayer and multiplayer options. There is way more of a variety in the gameplay on offer than I remember with the original.
The career mode is still not the deepest, just a somewhat mundane background story that lead characters fall into. The career mode has improved from the original but is still a far cry from anything of substance.
If you are stuck playing alone then there is quite a bit of challenges to work through, but I can’t emphasise enough that this one is best enjoyed in multiplayer. The singleplayer competition offers varying gameplay forcing you to adapt.
The online multiplayer mode is easily the most fun you will get out of Twisted Metal. The simple fact that you are competing against someone who is thinking and strategising makes the game that much more difficult, and that much more fun. The vehicles play a more dominant role; your choice will need to change according to what the other players choose as they offer a different set of pros and cons. This theme continues with the weapons you choose, you need to select carefully here to depending on the vehicles your opponents choose. There is a vast amount and good variety of multiplayer modes to choose from, featuring the various gameplay aspects. Online code works well, although I could not host on my entry-level adsl line. Fortunately there is a massive following so plenty of lobbies.
The control system may seem a little daunting to newcomers as there really is a lot of options of the weapons front and the mechanics use the entire controller. A quick tutorial sorts this out nicely and the combat really is extensive enough to give the typical arcade-feel of the game some substance. On the surface the recipe seems basic – drive and shoot down opponents, but the varied weapons and well designed components make for a thorough experience. This added with the fact that everything happens at great speed, makes you have to think a little as opposed to just going crazy.
The cars featured in Twisted Metal are over-the-top and like something out of ‘Mad Max’. There is a nice diversity of vehicles to choose from that offer different variables, and a helicopter was even thrown into the mix. The cars can be damaged now so you don’t need to totally rely on weapons.
The well designed weapons are varied in power and offer different pros and cons. Each car has an ultimate weapon which you need to recharge to use, so you can’t just abuse it and you will need to rely on the smaller ones for the most part. Your weapons can shoot forward or to the rear, some are fixed and others able to shoot in 360 degrees with your character hanging out the car. A few hours of testing the various weapons will get you accustomed to what the different weapons offer and the game begins to seem less mindless and more calculated. It’s about the combination of weapons to the different vehicles and of course your ability to hunt down the enemies at insane speeds.
Audio and visuals
Twisted Metal is not about the sound and visuals, it’s mostly about the gameplay so there is not much to report here, and this is definitely not the selling feature. The sound and visual quality is typical arcade and of a decent quality. The arenas vary from towns to high-tech, booby-trap filled arenas, to dynamic arenas; all well designed and offer plenty of variety. The maps are easy to read and point out key spots like garages where you can change vehicles. Plenty of indicators work well to keep you informed with little effort needed. The vehicles are typical looking to arcade racers, derived from familiar vehicles, then pimped out to something out of Mad Max – vivid designed and colouring all keeping with the ‘twisted’ theme. Since the storyline is virtually non-existent, there are not much cinematic sequences in the story mode, just a few short cut-scenes.
The one aspect of the visuals that blew me away was the user-friendly multiplayer menus. There is tons of information here explaining to you exactly what is going on in a lobby and who is in it. You can see what mode is being played, what vehicles are being used, how many players are in that lobby, whether it is in session or not and a few added touches – like a chat menu.
The sound echoes the visuals quality and also typical to the arcade genre. There are always plenty of exploding sound-effects and screeching tours. The soundtrack compliments the aggressive nature, but if anything, easily forgotten.
Closing comments
Twisted Metal is best experienced in the multiplayer front. There is an abundance of well designed modes here and non-artificial intelligence takes the game modes to a whole new level. The singleplayer experience has improved from its predecessors and offers enough variation, but the problem is that within a few hours you should have experienced all that is on offer in the singleplayer experience.
This is an arcade title built from a different formula, and because of this it stands out amongst the crowd. Twisted Metal is all about absolute mayhem and pure fun!
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