“The Man Who Sold the World” – acoustic cover

Twisted Metal game review

When I think of vehicular combat, I think of Twisted Metal. The original Twisted Metal for PS1 is a game that I would play religiously, so I was very happy to see this series finally have a presence on PS3. Is the new Twisted Metal as fun, addictive and ground breaking as the original back in the day?

This new game takes everything you like about Twisted Metal and upgrades it. The graphics look great, the driving and handling are smooth and the online modes are a blast to play. However, fans of the series will notice right that many of their favorite characters and vehicles are missing. Instead, there are only 3 actual drivers that drive all the different cars. Aside from that there is a good variety of vehicles to choose from. You might want a vehicle that is slower but has strong armor, or you might choose a sports car with weak armor and employ hit and run tactics. Your personal preference and play style will dictate what cars you are able to be successful with. There’s even a helicopter!

The single player story in this game is kind of short, especially when you consider that there is only one storyline instead of the multiple storylines and endings that past games had. Instead, you are treated to one story that covers the events of 3 participants in the Twisted Metal tournament. The cut scenes are live action and are very well done – I wish more games would do this! As part of the story mode you will engage in several very fun boss encounters, and if you are truly hardcore you can attempt to beat the story line on Hard or Twisted mode for a very formidable challenge.

The single player is fun and all, but in all honesty you will probably beat the game 2 or 3 times before you get sick of story mode. This is a game that was designed for multiplayer local and online play, and that’s probably where you’ll spend the majority of your time. There are lots of different game types, including death match, hunted, last man standing and a ‘capture the flag’ type game called nuke. The lobby screens are pretty well designed and the game has some fun features for online play including clan and party support. Playing this game online is a freakin’ blast but not without it’s networking issues. In my time playing online I have had some problems getting into lobbies, mid-game disconnections and freezing. The game has already been patched twice and online stability was improved greatly by the second patch, so I’m sure that the developers will have a lot of these networking issues solved soon enough. The good news is that the game is so fun to play that it’s easy to forgive a hiccup or two with the network.

There’s a lot to like about the new Twisted Metal. Battles are fast-paced, look great from a graphical perspective and are full of destruction. There are also some nice details that really round out the package, such as being able to design custom skins for your vehicles (via the Twisted Metal web site) and custom soundtrack support! I think this is definitely worth a purchase. It’s one of those games that has a simple premise, but when you start getting into it you are treated to a game that is deceptively complex and rich with strategy and tactics. Oh, and Sweet Tooth can morph into a robot and fly!

Who will enjoy this game?

• Fans of classic Twisted Metal games
• People with an appetite for destruction
• People who enjoy playing online but would like a break from FPS/TPS shooters
• Social gamers