Game Name: Twisted Metal
Platform: Playstation 3
Developer: Eat Sleep Play
Genre: Action
Rating: M
Twisted Metal has always been ne of those titles I would instantly buy a new system just to play. When I saw the original as a playable demo at KB Toys way back in 1995 I would easily spend time combating other kids to see who the best driver was. Twisted Metal was everything that the thirteen year old me could’ve wanted in a game. It had bad ass vehicles, weapons, explosions, and awesome arenas to play in. After finally saving up my allowance money to purchase my first Playstation, one can only guess how many hours of my youth was wasted in front of that old TV screen playing my personal favorite vehicle Darkside. Ever since then I’ve always followed this series religiously so you can only imagine my excitement when I learned that the original car combat title was making a return on the PS3. Following the dark style of Twisted Metal Black, I couldn’t wait to see what new stories Calypso and the drivers had in store for us this time and with online play being a major selling point this time around, surely this would go down as the best release in the series to date right? Boy was I in for a let down.
Like all the previous titles, this new installment throws players in the driver seats of murderous designed vehicles to compete the famous tournament held by Calypso as he promises to grant the winner any one wish they desire; no matter how impossible it may seem. Throughout the history of the franchise, this simple plot device has helped create stacks of interesting tales about all the combatants in the tournament and what drove them to commit mass murder in order to get one wish. Believe it or not, stories has always been a big part of the TM name and with the average roster boasting sixteen characters between the previous seven games, you got a ton of replay value trying to see how every person’s tale resolved. Some endings were funny, some horrific, and some were dare I say, twisted. You never knew what scheme Calypso had up his sleeve when the victor arrived to claim their prize and with that said we arrive to the first carnal sin of this game’s design. Twisted metal has only three characters to tell stories about. You’ve read that right all you get in this release is Sweet Tooth, Doll Face, and Mr. Grim this time around. The game advertised four characters with the last being the preacher from Black but he only appears in the backgrounds of the other character’s tales and doesn’t progress the story at all. His one true reason for being here is to be a playable driver online for free-for-all matches and that’s it. The stories that are told with the main three are excellent, but it’s just unacceptable that the developers didn’t go further resulting in the replay value being destroyed for the single player campaign.
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References to previous games remind players how much story this release is lacking.
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Gameplay is what you would expect out of a vehicle combat game. The cars have a very loose arcady feel to them with control being very responsive. Almost everything in the worlds are destructible give and take a few gigantic buildings making driving through crowded suburbs and highways a breeze.
Eat Sleep Play did take some initiative in adding some interesting and unique gaming mechanics in an attempt to inject some new life into the series. Unlockable side arms, a new playable helicopter, along with each vehicle having two unique special attacks and limited defense attacks add incredible depth to strategy making on the go. Some matches have players pick three vehicles placing two of them in garages on the battlefield. If the player’s car gets too banged up, they can pull into the garage pick another vehicle and continue to fight as the previous one gets repaired. New modes also include last man standing, Endurance, are also nice additions and add a shot of freshness to an otherwise stale formula.
The last new installment in the single player campaign are the races, and with for lack of a better description THEY F@*KING SUCK. TM’s game engine an physics are great for crazy mayhem but simply transforming the death match battlefields into checkpoint racing does not work here. This new addition single handily sucks all the enjoyment out of the single player campaign. Navigating between checkpoints is near impossible since there are no direction guides in a hub and that the races don’t even follow roads. The levels are insanely unforgiving as one mistake will cost you the entire race. If you fall off a building your vehicle doesn’t reset, you got to back track and work your way up to the roofs again making any efforts a lost cause as your opponents are now miles ahead. Being penalized for missing gates is another slap in the face since the AI drivers obviously play by different set of rules as they constantly ignore them. Doll Face’s race is complete utter bullsh!t and is honestly unplayable since even if you do manage to finish first you can still loose as you’ll have to hunt around to activate a bomb to destroy all the other racers. If a car finishing fifth finds that bomb before you do, guess what, game over. I have no problem with races being added to the franchise but give the games physics, the battle levels simply can’t be recycled to act as a race track. Motor Storm Apocalypse pulled this off perfectly even with the skyscraper tracks and that’s what the races in Twisted Metal should’ve been like. This mode was obviously wrenched in quickly as a half assed attempt to make single player longer.
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| My reaction to Doll Face's race. |
Online gaming is a much better experience but even that couldn’t escape some serious problems. First off the hosting system; it’s crap. Twisted Metal has no set time limit for setting up matches so idle hosts lurk everywhere. Players are extremely pissed off by this as the chat screens are filled with profanities yelling at some inconsiderate AFK douche to start the game. At the moment there is no such thing as a quick game match as odds are you’ll most likely being waiting up to 20 minutes to play a ten minute match as finding an active host is a horrendous endaver. Connection problems are another serious problem where three out of five tries will always result in you getting an error message at the moment. Since TM released a public online beta before release there is no excuse for this issue at all.
If you are able to connect to a game however, this is where this game shines. TM gameplay online is absolute bliss and it becomes absolutely clear that this was the main focus of this title’s development. Hunter mode is fun where players hunt down the opposing team’s marked car and destroy it for points. Nuke is my personal favorite as it plays a lot like capture the flag but with an additional arc. Teams have to capture the opposing team’s leader and sacrifice them into a missile launcher where they have to destroy each other’s giant statues hovering over the battlegrounds. If one is good enough they can shoot down the missiles making every moment of this mode a tension filled nail biting experience. Racing did not make it as an online mode because honestly who the hell would willingly want to play it? As expected, Players earn XP in games which can be used to unlock new cars, perks, side arms, and skins.
Vehicle customizing is another new addition and an impressive one at that. If one has the skills, you can download templates of the vehicles, place them in Photoshop, and create a truly unique ride to drive online. The only problem is with all the explosions and mayhem going on, odds are no one will notice your hard work. If a My Little Pony themed Van doesn’t grant you any comments or homophobic insults, then it’s clear that it’s just not noticeable. So while this is a new and fun addition, be prepared to do this just for yourself instead of trying to impress your online peers.
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Skin customizing can be very involved.
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Graphically this is without a doubt the best looking Twisted Metal to date but with that said it’s still not going to bring home any rewards. Pop ups are badly noticeable at times and everything has a muddy look to it. That doesn’t mean vehicles aren’t heavily detailed though because they are and like the maps that surround them are highly destructible. The worlds are huge; easily supporting the max sixteen player limit and every level does have its on own unique sets of characteristics.
The cinematic deserve a lot of praise themselves. For the first time since I can remember from the PSX era, Twisted Metal brings back live action actors to play the main characters. It’s so nice to see a company strive to be different where CGI is now the standard in interactive entertainment. The actors give off great performances adding more realism to the games dark atmosphere. This makes that lack of stories in this title all the more disappointing, since having a vast cast of honest human actors would’ve made the single player replay value so much better and memorable but sadly like most games now, online play remains the primary focus.
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| Live actors are a unique aspect of the story telling. |
Sound in Twisted Metal is an all out boom fest. The roar of engines, the blasts of gunfire, the bangs of missiles and screams of terrorized victims makes a sound buffet that
Michael Bay would approve. The soundtrack is high octane all the way as it brings back hit Rob Zombie songs from previous games and new appropriate ballads from other artists. The list of tracks though is very limited sadly so even after a good days playing the songs quickly get old and repetitive.
Over all Twisted Metal is an unfortunate wreck of a game. What it does extremely well online is weighed down far too much by a tiny story, lack of character, and some seriously terrible race levels that should’ve never got pass the QA testers. The game just feels rushed to make a deadline as the single player campaign is so short and lacking in attention while the online aspect clearly was the main priority. It’s nice to see the developers bring some new ideas to the table, but if there’s to be another title, the single player needs a total revamp. The online aspect while glorious is plagued by more poor design decisions in the hosting department, and the connection issues should’ve never existed with the beta that released prior to its release. I was really disappointed with the overall outcome of this release and normally I would’ve given this a rating of 6 since the online gameplay is so much fun. Sadly at the time of this review; a week after its release with all the connection problems and hosting issues, I must go lower. Buy this only if you have no interest in single player and strive for multiplayer action because it’s this titles only saving grace. Otherwise avoid this junker of a sequel.
PROS: Best looking Twisted Metal game to date.
Brings some new interesting gameplay elements to the table.
Online gameplay is an absolute blast.
Live actors in cutscenes are a nice change in story telling.
Highly customizable vehicles if you got the right art tools on your PC
CONS: Telling the story of only three characters is a joke
Race levels completely suck the fun out of single player.
Single player is way to short.
Idle hosts with no set up time limit are a constant problem
Connection issues are an embarrassment.
Ryan Pierce
