Twisted Metal

Developer - Singletrac
Publisher - Sony
Players - 1-2
Extras - none

The bit on the box

"Belt up for the ride of a lifetime as L.A. becomes a gladiatorial arena for the gas-guzzling heavily armed monsters that cruise the highways. Only one can rule the tarmac. Will it be yours?"

Graphics

Twisted Metal's graphics are about on par with Singletrac's other 3D shooter, Warhawk, or even EA's Road Rash. The game moves smoothly enough, but the scenery can be quite pixellated at times, and most of the sprites have very few frames of animation. The vehicles themselves look very nice and they react to the shape of the environments quite well, and I did like the way when your rivals are destroyed the empty shell of their car or truck remains as a hazard to drive into while in the thick of combat. Being an older game of course there is some polygon warping and seaming, but even today the tracks have alot of the creativity that is missing from other titles of this type.

Sounds

The sound effects in the game are for the most part disappointing. All the vehicle's engines sound the same and don't really sound "grunty" either, very much like the weapons which sound similar no matter what type they are, none of which really gives the impression of packing a punch on impact. The music is fairly catchy and suits the action extremely well, doing much to keep the pulse pumping and to cover up the sub-standard effects. There is a small amount of speech involved in the game too, mainly used for screams of the innocent people you run over and also used when one of the competitors uses a special weapon.

Gameplay

The control system for Twisted Metal has been kept fairly simple, and so it is easy to pick up and play straight away. There are no combos or special moves to be learnt though, which may put off more experienced gamers, who will blow through this game in no time. This is the game's major fault, it is just far too easy and short-lived. The two-player option does add a little extra to the value but can only be played in duel mode, and there are no secret characters to unlock and no animated endings to see, so therefore no real reason to actually try and complete the game with all the characters.

I feel a verdict coming on

Fun while it lasts, Twisted Metal would make a good budget purchase or rental, but only for those who are either younger or are looking for an easier game from all the other racers and shooters out there. The characters are quite varied and so there is plenty of appeal and variety in choosing one, but if they all sound and act basically the same, then what is the point? Also some animated endings (like those found in most fighting games) would have been nice and would have given the player a little more reason to go back and play it through will every competitor, therefore adding to the game's longevity. Twisted Metal is a missed opportunity, check out it's sequel (Twisted Metal World Tour) instead which is much better value.

Review by D.R.T.Barrett