Twisted Metal: Head-On

"Pretty cool, but has its faults"

To be blunt, I didn't expect a PS2-level game on the PSP. Never did. I thought the videos were playing tricks on my eyes. Well, as it turns out the PSP is quite an amazing piece of technology. Twisted Metal: Head-On is a showpiece game for the PSP that features everything you've come to know and love about the console Twisted Metal games. The game doesn't do anything to be "more portable" than the other versions; instead playing exactly like any other console Twisted Metal. This is pretty amazing, and the game itself is a blast to play, but there's a few things that the game should have done better. The controls are a bit questionable, and the gameplay seems faster and more confusing that it did on the Playstation 2. Some of this may be an unexpected side effect of the PSP's screen, which can't refresh QUITE as fast as how fast the game is moving. Anyway, on to the review.

Graphics

This game is a pretty good reminder that you're not exactly playing last-gen games. The car models are great, the terrain is detailed, and the explosions are amazing. Everything in the game has this gritty sheen that draws you into the world unlike any handheld game before it. While not as aesthetically incredible as Wipeout Pure, Twisted Metal has wide-open areas and long draw distances. The game does a fantastic job of proving the PSP's graphical muscle.

One of the major disappointments of the game is that it moves too fast for the PSP's screen. Sure, the PSP's incredible TFT screen has a great refresh rate, but with the incredible turning speed and the disappointing 30fps framerate it's easy to get mentally fatigued by all the blur. Eventually you'll get over this and into the game, but it'll be a frustrating few minutes before the adjustment.

The PSP's screen is very, very high resolution, and Twisted Metal uses this to its advantage. Everything is crisp and bright, straight down to the menus themselves.

Sound

Twisted Metal has a few rock tunes from bands nobody has ever heard of, mixed with some incredible opera scores that are just outstanding with the headphones. All of the songs are good, but some truly stand out. There's an unfortunately small amount of voicework (although each character has a few lines here and there). The sound effects get the job done.

Gameplay

Twisted Metal has always been about meaningless destruction, and Head On delivers this in droves. However, it seems to be faster than the previous iterations and the cars have a surprising amount of resiliency. This means you'll literally be chasing a car around for over a minute, gradually leeching its health. After a while, this can be a bit tiresome.

That's where multiplayer comes in. Twisted Metal is a multiplayer game at heart, and this version takes it to the high levels established by Twisted Metal Black. There's wireless multiplayer for up to 6 players, and there's also online Infrastructure mode. As of this writing, the online servers have been experiencing some difficulty handling all of the players. Assuming this is resolved, the game does have some fantastic online play. Players, unlike computers, will typically duke it out without running away. This makes the game a lot less complicated and more fun to play.

Overall, the gameplay is fun in short bursts which is good considering that's what Twisted Metal was designed to be from the onset.

Overall

It's not nearly as awesome as Wipeout Pure, but it has the immediate fun factor and online multiplayer modes that'll keep it in your collection for months to come. I recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/05