Review: Welcome....to TWISTED METAL!

Twisted Metal is a contest held by Calypso, where cars are suited with various weapons and everyone tries to kill each other. You advance through the levels by wiping out the competition, and when you're all done the driver gets one wish granted.

How it works: As with every Twisted Metal game, you assume the role of a driver in the contest and advance through levels. You have various weapon pickups, special attacks, machine guns, etc. You can even kill pedestrians in the level or destroy scenery if you so choose. In this installment, the cars are much faster (seriously, my first few choices left me completely in awe) and there are many more vehicles that have various armor, speed, and special weapon values; in short, there's a vehicle for every kind of player, with no single vehicle that just completely outclasses the rest.

Graphics: Graphics are killer! If you ever played Twisted Metal 2, then moved on through the timeline (TM3, TM4, TM:Black, this) you know the graphics just get better and better. The cars are so smooth, there's barely any pixel-style graphics, and even with the incredible speed nothing is too confusing. So then there's that other thing you're probably wondering about- Cutscenes.

They are there, and they're in the story, and they're mostly live action. That's right, there are live action cutscenes. Now keep this in mind- there are only 11 of these bad boys, but that's ok. You didn't turn on a game to watch some acting, you turned it on to kick some Twisted Metal Ass. So enjoy the cutscenes, they're beautiful, but remember you're enjoying a game, not a theater production.

Gameplay: I'll admit, it was tough. I got through the story on normal difficulty, and it still left me running to a guide. Unlike previous games, this isn't just your simple "Kill them all" game. There are some levels like that, but then there are some not so much. There's a cage-style level, where you have to stay inside a cage or you begin to lose health...and the cage occasionally moves to a different part of the arena. There's races, so if you're a fan of Death Race you'll enjoy this- you have to travel through gates or checkpoints to the finish, which usually blows up the other vehicles, or to get a 4-way free for all at the end.

There's the Juggernaut levels, where there are large 18-wheelers that pack massive hit points and armor, and every 90 seconds release a new combatant onto the field, adding to your total targets. Last but certainly not least, there are bosses, but telling you anything about them will ruin them, so just get that far and be prepared to hit "Retry" a few times, it will happen. I think this is a big jump from previous Twisted Metal games, having a variety of levels doesn't make it "just another Twisted Metal Game", it's special.

Characters: In previous games, you had a selection of characters with unique vehicles for each, the same levels, and different endings. In this game, you have three characters for the Story mode, four overall- Sweet Tooth, Mr Grimm, Dollface, and Preacher (Preacher being solely for multi-player). However, the vehicles are not limited- in this game, you choose a driver, THEN a vehicle. So you start the game as Sweet Tooth, but you can drive the Sweet Tooth car, or you can drive say Death Warrant. As you progress through the story, different vehicles are unlocked, including a helicopter. What's more is that since you can drive different vehicles, the story modes can be played with those vehicles.

So let's say you beat the first level with the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Truck. But you don't like it. So on Level two, you choose Death Warrant. And so forth as you choose. After all, who cares who is behind the wheel, you're going to kill them anyway. For multiplayer and the stages, enemy vehicles aren't necessarily characters like Sweet Tooth, but his minions, named Clowns. There's a faction for Mr Grimm, Dollface, and Preacher too. Each vehicle has two special weapon options, simply switching by going to your special and hitting Triangle (Such as switching to the Sweet Bot mode for Sweet Tooth).

Multiplayer: Don't be fooled- there's a code inside the game for online multiplayer. This isn't a bad thing, it's so that you don't do one of two things- first it prevents you from creating multiple accounts to achieve the best ranking, since you have to purchase (or get free from the game code inside the packaging) the online pass. Secondly, it prevents people from just going out to a Gamestop or PlayNTrade, spending $20 in due time on a used copy, and getting all of the perks of someone who spent top dollar.

In short, you get what you deserve. Multiplayer though is exactly how it sounds in the other paragraphs- solid. You have easily obtainable goals, teams or free for all, and the graphics and playability is smooth and fast-paced. The max players in 16, and trust me any more would just be a bloodbath; 16 is a nice sound number keeping a decent level of competition will not cluttering the field with vehicles.It probably also affects connections, but since I don't know spit about all that technical crap I won't go into it.

Upgrades from previous games: There's just too many Okay, so there's less cutscenes, but like I said, you're here to kick ass, not watch wishes be granted. First, there is no Minion. That's right. NO MINION. Now that means simply there is no character everyone runs to and beats the crap out of everyone. No, it's actually pretty fair now. You might say differently when you see the helicopter for the first time, also a new addition, but with the weak armor and easy targeting, Helicopter players are few and far between.

The game adds two new weapons- Shotgun and Sniper, the latter of which can score a OHKO. There are also upgrades to the Sidearms. No longer do you have to sit behind a slow moving machine gun- you can no choose a Shotgun, Magnum, Rocket Launchers...as you unlock them of course. Lastly, the directional buttons are now your shortcut keys- no more combos to do a freeze attack, mine drop, or temp. shield; they're assigned to the Up, Left, and Right buttons respectively. 

Also, the soundtrack is disgusting. There's a little something for everyone, and if there isn't, you have a solution- grab a CD of your favorite crap, upload it to your ps3. Then, from the options menu, you select "Custom" for the soundtrack, which prompts your uploaded songs section, and you make a playlist. How can you go wrong!? Also, there's some original stuff too...

If you've ever played a Twisted Metal game before, you're going to get EVERYTHING you want out of this game. If you've never played a Twisted Metal game before, aside from the utter shame I wish upon you, you're in luck- included in the Limited Edition of the game is a code for Twisted Metal: Black as Downloadable Content. I just love bonuses.

GA Verdict: 10/10