Twisted Metal: Black

"Dark, Disturbing, And Fun As Hell"

The Twisted Metal series was one of my favorite series on the PSX. It is one of the best first party games made by Sony and only second to the Gran Turismo series. So did Twisted Metal: Black (TM:B for future reference) live up to the hype made by fans of the series? Damn right it did.

This is basically a shoot'em up, but you do it while you drive. The controls are very easy to get used to. There is a button to go, reverse, shoot, and change weapons. It is pretty much exactly like the previous Twisted Metal's if you have played them. Overall, the controls are good.

The actual gameplay is top notch. You basically pick a character and then you battle a few other characters to the death. You are in cars so you have to blow each other up by any means necessary. You start out with machine guns only and have to get pick-ups along the way. The pick-ups are health and guns mainly. Some of the pick-ups might give you heat seeking missiles and some might give you a special. It all depends on what you get. Every character has a different special. Once you use this on another character, they lose a lot of health. If you are about to die, you can go and get in this little thing and it will give you all of your life back. The game plays really fast because there are so many people going all over the place. Overall, the actual gameplay is great.

The characters are awesome. There are probably around 15 different characters. Each one has their own story, car, look, and level of sanity. The cars they drive look great. My personal favorite would have to be Sweet Tooth and his ice cream truck. I mean, who expects you to kill them in an ice cream truck?! The cars range from a taxi to a guy in this little machine that holds two big wheels together. All of the characters are true killers and that's what they are there to do. Kill. Overall, the character designs are great.

All of the levels look great. They range from a little town to a big disaster area. The level designs have a good bit of variety in my opinion. There are around 15 different levels. They are interactive for the most part. For examples, if you see a building somewhere with windows that look like you can go through them, you most likely can. There are a few places that if you go through them, the walls could smash together and damage your vehicle. Overall, the level designs are great.

The single player is great. There are a few modes to play in. One is like a story mode where you progress through the levels and learn the story of the character you are playing as. There is also a mode where you can just pick a car and then go blow up stuff. Overall, the single player is great but the multiplayer is even better.

The multiplayer is so bad ass. Imagine going at it with 1, 2, or even 3 of your friends at the same time. It is what truly makes the Twisted Metal series shine. This game has some of the best multiplayer that has ever been in a game. You can play deathmatch and you just blow each other to hell and back. Truly fun. Overall, the multiplayer rocks.

There is also the online capabilities. If you bought the network adapter for the PS2, you can get a mail in card and get a copy of Twisted Metal: Black Online for free. Imagine 4 or more people just going at it in TM:B. It is so much more intense than playing multiplayer or single player. Overall, the online capabilities are great.

There is a lot of replayability if you have multiplayer or online capabilities for the game. Me and my friends play this a lot and just blow each other to hell and back. If you only have it for single player, it might not last you as long. The game can get boring with single player only although it will take you a while to unlock all of the characters, levels, and movies. Overall, it is of good replay value I guess.

The story lines are great. Each character has their own story. It all starts out when Calypso is recruiting people for his contest. He will go to the local mental asylum and ask people to join. He gets a few contestants. Once you start playing through the story mode, you will unlock more things to the story. You will learn why the character was in the mental asylum and what happened at the end of the contest. This game has some of the best stories ever told in video games yet they are truly gruesome and disturbing at the same time. If you don't think you could handle the stories, you could always skip them and keep playing the game.

The graphics are average. Explosions look great. The car designs and level designs look great and are of good variety. The game's graphics really give it a genuine feel to it. The game is always played in a dark place and a place that suits the feel of the game. Overall, good graphics.

The sound is great. The explosions and guns sound sweet. The soundtrack to the game really suits the mood of the game. It is mostly hard rock. Overall, good sound.

To buy or to rent you ask? I would probably rent this before buying because the story lines might turn you off. You may just not like the gameplay overall but most people do. Anyways, if you liked the previous Twisted Metal's, this one is a must buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/03, Updated 01/25/03