Twisted Metal 2

"Again! Gimme the controller!"

-Visuals 9/10-

Twisted Metal is a game of driving and firefights, on insane levels with insane drivers. Well, this one is no different. Substituting some of the cars from the first game, and adding brand new ones, along with new car designs, this game is another leap forward for Twisted Metal titles.

The cars are much more detailed this time around, giving you a better idea of what you're driving, from the paint jobs, to the special weapon animations, you won't be dissapointed with what you see in this game. The characters bio screens are a 'cartoon' style drawing, but they show you who you're driving with, and give you an idea of the mind set.

The levels are no longer erastaz creations, but take you to the major cities across the world. You'll be amazed at what you see, fighting through the streets of Hong Kong, the open fields of Holland, to the ice caps of the Antarctic. The effects that you find with these levels, include buildings that can be destroyed, ice caps which fall from beneath your car with too much weight, and even the Statue of Liberty..

Every level is beautifully detailed, and fits the name of the game, Twisted Metal 2: World Tour...or so it's listed at the local rental store. It's an amazing sight to behold, with every visual aspect being covered. But, with such an accomplishment, comes the same problem that the first Twisted Metal had...the 'anti-framing', this also comes about, when you're too close to a building, and, instead of fading the building out like some games do, this one just cuts the visual out so you can see the car.

-Audio 8/10-

There is nothing much new with the soundtrack, outside of the fact that the musical scores are different. You'll find similiarities in this music track, as you would have in the first one, this can be a little boring to listen to after awhile, considering that the levels you drive upon are, again, huge. You may end up listening to your CD player or something else before too long.

The sound effects have changed somewhat, but only with the new cars, the special weapons all have an effect that is as unique as the car itself, and you'll listen to them without realizing it...it doesn't quite capture your attention though. Nothing new with the actual weapon pick ups, the missles still sound as they have before, but again, this is one of those games where your concentration is on the battle before you, not so much what you're hearing.

-Control 9/10-

Yeah, it's back, and still the same, simple, easy to interface control as you would have found in the first one. Giving you the option of switching up your control configuration to something that would make you comfortable, is always a plus.

There is a slight change in what you can do in-game now with the control, in the way of creating special attacks on the fly, with a few direction presses, this being a new-concept in the Twisted Metal games at this point, it's something new to add to the control that wasn't there before, but it can be a bit tricky.

As you move through the game trying these, it may take a few times to get the specials to come off, the PSX controller isn't that responsive this time around with them, and you'll have to hammer on the buttons a couple of times to get a move off...but it's nothing that you'll notice unless that's all you're trying to do.

-Gameplay: One Player 6/10 - Two Player 9/10-

Twisted Metal at it's finest. It still retains the original concept, of blowing up your enemies and trying to survive. This can be a little repetitive as far as this title goes, with no true goal other than gaining your wish at the end.

You'll have some time to figure out the controls, and you'll spend alot of time exploring the various levels that you drive through, they are huge, and there are several different places to go, and look around, just to get a feel for the game. However, you'll find that, with doing all of this, once you've done it, it's highly unlikely that you'll do so again.

It would have been nice to add something at this point, as the only thing that is truly new, are the cars...but again, once you've played through, you probably won't play through a second time witht he same car.

The Two Player options in this game do make it fun. Giving you the chance to play either a Deathmatch style game, or a Co-Op type game, you'll have many a fun hour playing with a friend through the game, teaming up and blowing away your enemies.

The Deathmatch pits you against a friend, with all of the cars, and all of the levels at your fingertips. It gives you a certain amount leeway with what you can do, but there isn't any of the contest settings, meaning point sets, time limits, anything like that. This probably would have been awesome if it allowed for a four player adapter to be used to get a group of people playing through.

The Co-Op is definately fun. You and a friend choose your cars, and then battle through against the enemies in a race to the end...the catch here, is that you and your friend share lives throughout al of the levels. So prepare to get mad if your friend doesn't quite get the hang of this, and uses up all of the shared lives in the process.

-Overall 9/10-

Twisted Metal is one of those games, that, no matter when you play, it's fun. All of the games in the series have this going for them, in terms of graphics, sound, control, and gameplay, save for Twisted Metal 3. The two play options are nice here, but don't give you enough of what you might want out of it.

The fact that this was only the second game to come from the Twisted Metal series, means that improvements could be made on the future titles, such as witht eh graphics, the sound, all of it...and it eventually it was. Regardless,you'll have alot of fun with this title, and your friends will as well.

This game is a rental game for sure, and purchase if you're looking to own the collection of Twisted Metal games. It';s got what it takes to be one of the classics in anyone's PSX game library, but only if driving-battle games are your cup of tea. Some people have a problem with most of the drive/battle games, as they are all pretty much the same.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/00, Updated 03/31/00