Twisted Metal: Head On - Extra Twisted Edition

"Flaws aside, if you're a Twisted Metal fan you should get this game."

When I first heard that the PSP game was being ported to PS2 (and I myself not owning a PSP), I was psyched. Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition is the first in the series to hit consoles since Twisted Metal Black around the start of the PS2, and here we are in 2008. Needless to say, many starved fans had already justified the $20 price tag without any reviews needed, myself included.

If you're a fan of the series, you owe it to yourself to play this, as this is one of the best and gives me high hopes for the series, despite how much I'd rather not invest in a PS3 any time soon.

Let's break it down from here, shall we?


Graphics:

This is my first actual review, so I'll tell you right off the bat that unless the graphics are atrociously horrible, I am completely unaffected by graphical quality. To me, graphics are a means to display what's there to be shown, and to portray your ideas. Not too much is required to get an idea across, and the PSP ported graphics of Head-On deliver enough cues about the style to let you know what looks like a car, what looks like a truck, and what looks like the Eiffel Tower.

If the idea of graphics that don't take full advantage of the PS2 hardware displeases you, you probably shouldn't be considering this game anymore, and probably shouldn't be playing Twisted Metal, seeing as the first two games, the most popular in the series along with Twisted Metal Black, were made early in the PlayStation life, as in before the advent of the DualShock controller. The game graphically looks and performs better than Twisted Metal 1 and Twisted Metal 2, and that was enough for me. Stylistically, Head-On is much more colorful than Black, while the second game on this disk, Twisted Metal Lost, pretty much retains the style of Black. I guess I'll give it an 8/10. I had no problem with the graphics, but several others did, and I suppose it's not wrong to expect PS2-pushing graphics.

8/10


Sound:

Hmm, this is where I get critical, I suppose. First things first, I don't much like the music. It's nothing like Twisted Metal 1 and Twisted Metal 2. Obviously they were going for something different, but to me it's just not Twisted Metal, and I don't care for it. The music in Head-On just doesn't feel full of energy to me, and it doesn't excite me to drive around killing crap. Twisted Metal Lost should remind you Twisted Metal Black in this regard as well, which I thought the direction they went in was certainly interesting, but not my favorite. It's dark and moody, and that's cool I'm sure, but I much prefer the style in TM1 and TM2.

Along with that, the game features audio glitches, very bad ones. During videos, you will notice that the audio track will often skip and you'll hear parts repeat themselves ("You ha-have won my contest."). This happens during the TM1 movies and the Head-On endings, and it's actually rather irksome. Also, the music will occasionally quit during Head-On and Sweet Tour. You'll be stuck with utter silence for indeterminate periods of time. Even I can't overlook these flaws, it's there and it's obvious. Thankfully, they're the biggest flaws, so you should try to phase them out for an otherwise great experience.

6/10


Gameplay:

If you're like me, this is the first and foremost reason you bother with any game. Even games with amazing aesthetics, superb art and music direction, and original ideas can't be saved if the game is simply no fun to play or an outright bore. Also important are controls, which can easily turn a superb game into something mediocre, or even bad, if done poorly enough. Since there's two games in one here, I'll break them up separately.

Every vehicle from Twisted Metal 2, aside from Minion, returns for Head-On, many of which are even driven by familiar faces. There are even a few new characters, as well as returning favorites like Crimson Fury. I may as well break it to you now, there's no Darkside or Yellow Jacket here, but hopefully the large slew of characters will make up for anything that didn't make the cut. The game is an obvious homage to Twisted Metal 2, and the game itself seems to take place in the same universe, some time after that game. Calypso is balding with a missing eye, but unlike Black he talks and has quite the likable personality. Hopping is done with L1+R1, which has been the same since Black, and like Black and Small Brawl, it's only a small hop. However, in the story mode (which also features 2P Co-op), upgrades can be obtained which, among other things, gives you an alternate special and the ability to high jump like in TM2.

Energy moves are done with 3-4 button moves, such as up-down-up to freeze and right-right-down-down to shield. Many of them are as they are since Twisted Metal Black, but don't be fooled, the controls are actually a bit different now. The d-pad is mostly unresponsive, so you'll be using the analog stick unlike some games, including Black. Unlike Black, inputting moves is easy with the analog stick, which is a serious improvement. You no longer have to click L3 to confirm, so while you might accidentally trigger a move on occasion, that's usually not a problem.

The physics and speed of the game are all great, and each vehicle differs in several ways. Mr. Slam has his familiar lifting special, Shadow has his detonating shadow, Grasshopper has her homing jump, and many other familiar moves abound. I like the courses too, there are open areas and a few closed areas, and it's pretty good stuff. Health seems to respond rather quickly, so you'll run around hiding less often, and go in for the kill more often. On the other hand, you don't seem to be able to take as many blows, but your energy moves are generally cheaper, with jumps not costing anything at all.

All in all, it's pretty much the Twisted Metal you know and love.


Twisted Metal Lost is quite similar aesthetically to Twisted Metal Black. In fact, every character from that game is initially playable in Lost with the exception of Minion, who is not in this game either. That means every character (but both Minions) from Twisted Metal 2 and Twisted Metal Black is on this disk, and that's almost everybody in the entire series. You probably won't complain about your favorite character being absent. 12-Pak, a brand new character with a special that replaces the Reticle of Twisted Metal Black, and Gold Tooth, a complete clone of Sweet Tooth with a much more powerful vehicle and a shiny gold paint job can be unlocked (which is very quick and easy to do, since Twisted Metal Lost is an incomplete game with only four levels), along with the fourth level, Death Port.

Unlike what the cover implies, these aren't just brand-new TMB levels. The gameplay has been changed dramatically, and you will instantly notice the changes in physics, the simplified energy moves, the tweaks in damage dealt, and the available weapons.

This time around, energy moves are done by pressing triangle and a direction. Up+Triangle is Freeze, Down is Rear Fire, Left is Mine, and Right is Shield. There is one move that uses a standard combination since the four directions are taken, and that is Cloak, which is still done with Left, Left, Down, Down. This is ideal for people who want to play Twisted Metal with people who have never played before or would have trouble remembering the commands. The last energy move isn't an energy move at all. Just like in Head-On, jumping (still performed with L1+R1) consumes no energy (unlike in TMB, which consumed an overly large amount of energy.), and unlike TMB, Small Brawl, and Head-On, the jump is a TM2 style high-jump. The change might be jarring if you switch between games, so you might just want to pick TML for people who aren't on an equal level of skill.

The levels themselves, I have to say I like them quite a bit. I also like the tweaks in gameplay, and I will admit that I actually find the game more playable than Twisted Metal Black. I'll even go as far to say as I think it's a better 2P experience than Head-On, but since Lost is incomplete Head-On is better when you don't have anybody to play with. Don't get me wrong though, they're both really awesome and I play them both often.

10/10


Extras:

This game totes some extras, as advertised on both sides of the package. It's one of the selling points to this $20 gift pack, and they provide a bang for your buck. I'd have easily bought Head-On alone for that price just for some new TM I've been missing out on. I've already described Lost to you. It's a largely unfinished sequel, but the gameplay is polished and it's more than playable.

The TM1 movies are the cut endings from Twisted Metal 1. Like many games of the era, they were live-action scenes, and very cheesy. Some people hate them, but I was familiar with them years ago and I've always liked them. Unfortunately, they cut the intro from most of them, not every video is included (only the character endings), and they suffer from the audio glitch I mentioned earlier.

Next is the interview. It's about 30 minutes long I believe, and thankfully it doesn't suffer from any problems, at least from my experience. There are no navigation features (I hate it when you can't pause or rewind!), but I found it to be very interesting and worth watching.

Lastly is the Sweet Tour. When I was younger, I always thought "I'd be cool if you could walk on foot when you die. You know, run around being annoying and attacking with a weakened special until somebody finally finishes you off". Well, apparently the team thought of being on foot as well. Personally, I think I like my idea more, but the team wanted to make on-foot missions where you'd control Sweet Tooth and Preacher. Sweet Tour is basically the remnants of those designs, where you run around as Sweet Tooth and explore a closed environment of an Asylum and a Car Impound. The engine is very incomplete, with unfinished animations and physics, limited movement, and no dangers. It's really just a novelty to run around as Sweet Tooth in a virtual level, and in the hollowed-out remains of the level design a few clown heads are placed about in various places, 29 in all. You can go up to them and read various facts about the series, as well as look at concept art. Like I said, it's just a novelty. You could probably compare it to Sonic Jam.

Lastly is the artbook and soundtrack. The artbook is a small and simple book showing some art from the series. It's a physical book included in the box, and it's mostly art you've probably seen. At the end of it is a code to download the soundtrack from the website. The soundtrack consists of about 42 tracks and 2:09 hours of music (and a few voice clips) from Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Twisted Metal Black, and Twisted Metal Head-On (A majority of which is from Head-On).

Aside from Twisted Metal Lost, the extras don't have much lasting value, but they're a nice bonus for $20. They aren't great, but they're essentially free.


Conclusion:
All in all, it's like a tribute to the series, especially Twisted Metal 2 and Twisted Metal Black. Since most of the things from Twisted Metal 1 (every vehicle except Pit Viper [who's essentially been replaced by Grasshopper, I think] and of course You-Know-Who [Minion does have a few suitable replacements, like Cousin Eddy, Tower Tooth, and Gold Tooth]), including the ending movies, even that is paid tribute to in some form. It's like a homage to the three best games in the series. The gameplay is better than ever, and if you're a Twisted Metal fan you should get this.

I should warn you that no aspect of this game supports Multi-tap or Online, but 4P Black was hard to play anyway, the Multi-tap was mostly neglected, and you can't really expect new online PS2 games. However, TM1 and TM2 are only 2P, and maybe Twisted Metal doesn't need any more than one-on-one. There are definitely flaws, but if you take the good with the bad, it comes out as an overall great game. Thank you for playing Twisted Metal!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/08

Game Release: Twisted Metal: Head On - Extra Twisted Edition (US, 02/05/08)