Twisted Metal: Black

"PS2's first a killer app"

Twisted Metal Black is finally upon us. Being one of the most well known series for the
Playstation it finally makes its way to the PS2. Black is one of the most anticipated
games of the summer and now that it is here will it redeem the name and follow in the
footsteps of the first two or will it bury the name further like 3 and 4 did.

Before I start I would like to make something apparent. All of the Twisted Metal games
are 1st party titles but the first two were made by different in-house companies than the 3
and 4. The first two in the series were made by SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment
America) while the third and fourth installments were done by 989 Studios. Now that
SCEA has reclaimed the franchise will we see a drastic improvement from the last two
flops? Read on and find out.

Twisted Metal Black is really the first must have game for the PS2. Yes, there were the
great hits such as Madden 2001, SSX, and NBA Street, but some people don’t care much
for sports games (I love them). Now who doesn’t like to drive and around and blow the
crap out of everything, I certainly don’t know anyone like that. Okay, now lets start the
review.

As soon as you turn the game on you will be ready to seek and destroy everything. The
main menu music is great and delivers the eery, dark mood that they want to create. As
you start the story mode with your selected character you will see a short movie scene,
which is about a minute long. Your driver is trapped inside of a mental hospital in which
he/she was placed there because they are complete psycopaths. Your character will
briefly discuss why he/she is in there. Then, one day, you get a visitor, his name is
Calypso. He tells you that he’s holding a tournament and you are invited. So why would
you compete in a killing free-for-all? Well each character has a unresolved story and/or a
question to the story. Calypso tells you if you win, then he will give you want you need
answered or finished.

As you start the first level you will be blown away from the graphics. Incog Inc. has
delivered us with one of the most visually impressive games yet. The levels are full of
detail and just about everything you can see, you can destroy. Whether it be a house, gas
station, or trailer, if it’s in front of you, you can blow it up or atleast cause damage to it.
Let me point out the detail aspect again, when you switch through the different weapons
in your arsenal you will see each one come out on your vehicle. This looks really cool the
way they did it. Another great visual is the lighting. Whether it’s the explosions, the
missiles, or the lights on your vehicle, they all look amazing and lifelike. The only time
you might experience any slow down is when there were about five vehicles on the
screen all shooting there weapons at once (all of the lighting affects and movement is
what slows it down). One problem I had was with the movie scene. Some of them used
still pictures instead of FMV’s which kind of took away from the overall story. But with
that in mind, the stories were still great and really had interesting, yet sometimes crazy,
plots. It’s just too bad that Incog didn’t use the FMV’s on every one of the stories. The overall visual presentation is greatly detailed and looks spectacular. The improvement is really a big step from some of the other PS2 games.

Everything in the sound department will leave you in awe. The music is so great and
fitting for the game. Most of the levels are dark and take an eery approach. Well, the
music just adds to this darkness. Another great aspect is the way the music is used. If you
are just driving around with no enemies near then the music will be slow and calm. But
once another vehicle gets close to you and starts blasting away the music will pick up
right away and once again betters the mood of the event. It’s kind of like a movie when
all of a sudden the action picks up, they make the music then pick up. So the music is
flawless but what about the sound effects? Don’t worry, Sony didn’t forget about the
importance of sound effects. The different weapons firings actually make you believe
that they are real life weapons and if they were, it would sound just like they do in TM:B.

Oh, I almost forgot voice-overs. A lot of companies don’t implement voice-overs in their
games simply for the mear fact that when they do, they usually suck. Their aren’t many
games at all that use voice overs , and on top of that, pull it off. A few notable games are
Metal Great Solid, Escape from Monkey Island which any company should use as
examples. Well I guess SCEA has been studying them because they did a great job. The
characters voices really make you believe what they are saying. On top of that, it seems
that they are really these characters, instead of just people reading scripted lines. The
overall sound can’t be complained about in any category. Hmmm. maybe the only thing
that SCEA might have left out is in game taunts. Just think about it, when you’re about to
destroy someone you can say something to them to make the kill even sweeter. The
overall sound was clean and crisp and a great addition to the game.

If you didn’t think the game couldn’t get any better with the amazing graphics and the
great sound you’re wrong. The gameplay in most peoples mind is the most important
aspect of the overall game. Well if you do, then we think alike. If you have a game that’s
has you slamming your controller down every two minutes then how can you enjoy it.
Also, the controls play a big factor. If you get killed or get last place because of the hard
to use controls then that also ruins the fun of the game. Fortunately, Sony felt the same
way and they knew no matter how the good the graphics, how cool the music, a game is
no good if you don’t have fun. Well lets see how the game plays.

The control are very simple and easy to get down. Unlike most games, your main focus
will be on the shoulder buttons. In fact, you could play the game with the shoulder
buttons alone. The controls are as follows. The square button is your gas, the triangle
button switches you to a rear view, if you need to break then press the circle button, and
if you’ve got an enemy on your tail and need to pull of a tight turn that press x. Now lets
move on to the shoulder buttons. The L1/R1 buttons cycle through your weapon list while
L2 will fire that specified weapon. The R2 button fires off your, always equipped,
machine gun, which is not limited but will overheat after extended use causing it to shut down for a short time. These next commands will vary depending on what controller you
are using. If you use the DS2 (controller which came with the PS2) then the turbo button
is performed by pressing R3 which is done by pressing the right analogue down until you
feel a click. If you are using a PS controller then you will have to press the gas button
twice (the second time you must hold it). The reason this is is because the PS analogues
are not pressure sensitive. The overall control scheme is very nice and easy to use. You
will never find your self fumbling over which button to press.

The gameplay is really inexplainable. If you have not played this game yet, then get off of
your computer right now and go rent/buy it. It is just so fun. You go through the huge
levels blowing up everything in site. Each level has it’s own features which make it stand
out from the rest. Such as the Skyscrapers, where you battle on top of a number of
different buildings. The only problem that you might complain about is the difficulty.
Yes, it’s possible to beat the game, but don’t expect to accomplish it in a mear hour, even
on the easy setting. The overall gameplay is just so fun, and something you have never
before experienced. Especially because the car combat genre is SO scarse.

There are a bunch of levels but you will not need to beat them all to beat the game. Some
of the time they will give you a choice on which level to compete in. All the levels are in
simple words HUGE, except for two which are supposed to be small. No matter what
level you choose you will need to beat eight in all to beat the game. Two of the eight will
be boss fights. The first one is the fourth level (midpoint). You will have to go one on
one with last years Twisted Metal champion, the all mighty Minion. With certain
characters he will infact be harder than the boss at the end. Once you beat Minion, if you
can, you will unlock the second part to your intriguing story. The second boss is a guy by
the name of Warhawk. He is a cop in a helicopter and his main goal is to stop the
tournament and get you back to where you belong, the looney bin. He will definitely be a
fight even on the easy difficulty setting. You will not only have to fight him but also
minion type enemies which are very easy but still play a big role. Once you defeat the
cop you will unlock the third and also the ending to your story.

The manual takes a different approach from most. Yes, it tells you about the controls,
options and so fourth. But it also acts as a journal to the insane man know as Frank
McCutcheon AKA No Face. It was really a good thought and is actually very interesting
to read.

The replay value is probably the worst part of the game. It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s
just that with all the great features, the game might not last you as long as you think.
There are tons of extras to unlock such as hidden vehicles and levels but after this is
accomplished there isn’t much else to do. Yes, it will take you a while to beat the game
for the first time, but once you do you can fly through it with most of the other characters
and it kind of gets boring after a while. But you will still have hours upon hours of great
play before you will get bored. The multi-player is another great feature that you will spend tons of time on. With this in mind, you must remember that TM:B online is slated
for a November release. For those of you who think, “Oh, I will just wait for the online
version to come out.” Well you better think again, because Sony stated that it will be an
expansion which means that you can only play it if you have the original version. On a
good note, it won’t be a full priced PS2 game, and is rumored to be around $30 US
dollars.

My final thoughts are this. This is one of the best PS2 games to date, if not the best. It
belongs next to everyone’s PS2. If you don’t already have this game, then you belong in
the mental institution right beside Sweet Tooth and the rest of ‘em. You will gets hours
of gameplay out of this title and also be ready for the expansion which will be one of the
first online games for the Playstation 2. If you don’t already have TM:B, get it NOW!
You won’t be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/01, Updated 08/08/01