Review: Twisted Metal

Posted by Brad T on March 6th, 2012 | 2 Comments | Tags: Frenetic , Twisted Metal

I haven’t played a serious Twisted Metal game since TM2 all those years ago. I was bored and without internet for the past few weeks, so when I saw this sitting in Best Buy I picked it up. I’m happy I did too; Twisted Metal on the PS3 is a FRENETIC Destruction Derby that is certainly worth your time.

This iteration of TM is super dark. Its single player is also very character focused with only 3 playable characters. You begin with Sweet Tooth’s story, followed by Mr. Grimm’s and then Dollface’s. Each story begins with a lengthy cinematic which is a mix of CGI and actual actors. They kind of have a 300 looking vibe to them. After the intro, you’ll play 3 levels, then get a mid game cinematic that further clarifies your character’s intentions, 3 more levels, and then the ending. The ending is where your character meets Calypso for their wish. In typical Twisted Metal style, the wishes usually go horribly wrong.

Since this TM takes a more character driven story, you’ll be surprised to see that you can control any vehicle with your driver. While switching up to other cars for particular events adds variety, it takes away from the unique bond of other drivers and their car. Most levels are classic, kill the other opponents in the tournament. There are twists on this such as juggernauts that spawn other opponents, levels where everyone is against you, and even racing levels. I failed racing levels the most, as I’d get off track and usually not be able to catch back up.

There is a wide variety of specials and weapons available. Each driver has a special and alternate special attack they can use that automatically charges up. Old favorites come back too, like fire missiles and power missiles. There are also selected side arms to add a slight bit of strategy to your gunplay. I often chose the basic mounted guns, but you can get a magnum and rockets and other things that run out of ammo too fast to use well. Car selection has a bunch of oldies returning like Sweet Tooth and Outlaw, along with some newcomers like Vermin and my favorite, Meat Wagon (which looks like Ecto-1). The level selection is fewer, but each level can be selected to focus on particular areas, allowing for more restrictions on where you can drive. Having said that, all the levels look great with their own distinctive feel and look. I think you’ll really like the soundtrack too. It has some licensed stuff that really hits it out of the park. I particularly think Sammy Hagar’s Heavy Metal is an amazing choice for this game.

Besides the last 2 levels of the game (which are infuriating at times) things are usually challenging but fair. My biggest complaint is that I wanted more stories to play through in the end. I can hope that maybe there could be DLC in the future… but I doubt it.

At the time of review, online multiplayer is still kind of broken, so I can’t rave about it. Joining games is kind of difficult. Hopefully it gets fixed because there are some great team games and a level up system that unlocks more cars for use online. There is the old school split screen thankfully, as well as co-op story mode. It’s been ten years since we last saw Twisted Metal, and I’m glad the wait is over, because this is just as fun as it’s ever been.

A copy of this game was purchased for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.