Twisted Metal 3

Another addition to the Car Combat genre of video games. Not to mention that it is the predecessor to the one that started it all, Twisted Metal. The game was developed by another company. 989 Studios who happen to win the bid over the orginal SingleTrac team. So differences are to be expected. But are they for the good or the bad? And it looks like my opinion weighs more on the bad side than on the good. First the good. The graphics finally recieved that well needed update. This time boasting colorful, smoother, & more rounded backdrops. And even the corny music of old has been replaced by some heavy bands, PitchShifter & of course Rob Zombie himself. Giving it a kind of metal/electronic sound that goes incredibly well with the game. But all this is merely eye candy & good listening. Now the bad. The controls I felt were more managable with the analog, but the gameplay itself gets old really quick. You see a lot of the same weapons with only a few twists thrown in. Nothing that's going to blow you away. And all the secrets are too few & too easy to find. And after a half-hour of boredom you get to see the incredibly lame endings. They just suck compared to the ones found in TM2. Why should you play any more to see the other crappy ends? There is no reason to keep playing. The fun factor just plummets & after a couple of plays you'll move on to something better. It just lacks that spark & appeal the original game had. And unfortunately that's what hurts this title more than anything. True Twisted Metal fans might want to give it a go, but it's only a rental at best.

Secret Codes & Tips

  • Activate Memory Card - password / START, START, START, START, START / as you progress through the game it will automatically save
  • Warehouse Secret Level - password / Up, Up, Up, Left, Left / start Deathmatch mode
  • Club Kid's House Level - password / Down, Down, Down, Left, Left / start Deathmatch mode
  • Play as "Minion" - password / Right, Right, Right, Left, Left
  • Play as "Sweet Tooth" - password / Left, Left, Left, Right, Right
  • Special Attacks(during gameplay)
    • Freese Missle - Left, Right, Up
    • High Jump - Up, Up, Left
    • Rear Attack - Left, Right, Down
    • Invisibility - Up, Down, Left, Right
  • Unlimited Health - password / L1, Square, X, R1, START
  • Unlimited Ammo - password / Triangle, Circle, Up, Right, Down
  • Computer-controlled Cars ignore Health - password / Down, L1, Down, START, Triangle
  • Giant Ricochet Bombs - password / Left, Right, Left, Right, Up
  • Super Smart Missles - password / Triangle, Left, Down, Right, Up
  • Relentless Computer-conrolled Cars - password / L1, R1, L1, R1, R1
  • Homing Rain Missles - password / Up, Down, Up, Down, Up
  • Super Quick Napalm - password / R1, R1, L1, L1, L1
  • Unlimited Special Weapons - password / L1, L1, R1, R1, R1 / start game then intentionally die / after you come back you will have unlimited specials

the Breakdown (10 good to 1 bad)Overall 6.2

Category Rating How & Why?
Graphics 9 Great Improvement / Large Sweeping & Colorful Backgrounds / Top-Notch PSX Graphics
Music 10 Soundtrack by Rob Zombie & Pitchshifter / Hard Core-fans will Love it!
Gameplay 6 Better Car Handling / Formula is Getting Old / Should have added more Varitey & Options
Innovation 6 Lots of Car Combat Games on the Way / This Pales Horribly in Comparison / No Pedestrians?
Replay 5 Multi-Player Fun / Crap Endings Kill your Reason to Play / Boring Gameplay

Overall 7.2