(PS2, Incog Inc. 2001)
Speed kills. So do clowns with their heads on fire.
I mentioned somewhere in this project how I'm not really a fan of driving games, more specifically, racing games. I don't think they're bad games, I'm just terrible at them and I don't believe in using the brake button. For me, a game involving vehicles has to have some kind of gimmick, if that gimmick involves driving dangerously and without the hope of self-preservation, sign me up.
Twisted Metal: Black was a return to form for the franchise. Debuting on the Playstation around the consoles release, the Twisted Metal games document a series of tournaments in which crazed characters battle to the death in various modified vehicles laden with tricks and weapons. The winner of the tournament is granted a wish by its host Calypso, a man left scarred and burnt from his own lack of using the brake button.
After 989 Studios spectacularly failed with the abysmal third and fourth incarnations of the franchise, Sony handed the series to Incog Inc with hopes they could revitalise what had become a complete joke of a game. Incog went to work and produced a new, mysterious and dark vision of the TM universe, incidentally, they also produced an outstanding game.
TM:B is fantastic, the player chooses from one of a selection of seriously messed up drivers and their respective vehicle and goes headlong into war over a series of battlegrounds, along the way we learn of the chosen characters backstory and future plans should they win the tournament, after defeating the boss, the player is treated to an ending depicting the victor receiving their heart's desire.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
TM:B jams along at breakneck speed, with crisp graphics, brilliantly designed interactive arenas, slick weapon effects, vicious difficulty and a cataclysmic music score. The game truly captures the feeling that this tournament could bring about Armageddon with its constant destruction and an absolute disregard for both the environment or human life. The only thing these characters are speeding toward is oblivion.
The oppressive atmosphere is bleak and dirty. Black clouds, fog and thunderstorms permeate the skies, whilst buildings topple, factories explode and Ferris wheels come lose from their hinges and storm through sleepy suburbs, all this takes place while the vehicular homicidals speed around launching missiles, oil drums, freeze rays, landmines and a variety of trademark weapons against all and sundry.
The story mode's cut-scenes are brutal and grim, but tend to come off as very nu-metal cheesy and sometimes unintentionally funny when the game is trying way too hard to shock. Still, the backstories are curious and provide real intrigue for the character's fate.
I love Twisted Metal, but for anyone who has gotten over themselves, it is very hard to find fellow fans who aren't massively obnoxious. Y'see TM fans tend to take the storylines incredibly seriously and have a God-like reverence for killer clown mascot Sweetooth, despite the fact he is clearly the most un-original character in the history of horror. Wacky designer David Jaffe has gone on record claiming that "he is" Sweetooth. Many TM fans are die-hard to the point you wonder just how far their love for the games will take them. Imagine hardcore Nintendo fanboys but with added Slipknot and self-harm and you're getting there.
I may be being a bit judgemental but the majority of TM fans I've spoken to online have been unlikeable, rude and angry. I'm sure they're not ALL like that, but it seems that feeling sorry for yourself, hating life and Twisted Metal go hand in hand.
I imported an American PS2 just so I could play the uncensored version as the PAL release removed all the cut-scenes, all the written backstory and even some of the arena interactions, leaving the game butchered. So yes, I love TM:B enough that I imported a console solely to play it as it's one of my absolute favourite games, but fortunately I know where the line is between loving something and treating it as a reflection or a guide to your own life.
Twisted Metal: Black is total mayhem, it's annihilation in videogame form.
Jaffe has metioned that a PS3 sequel is coming but to date Sony have yet to confirm this. In these "Everybody's online" times it would be a perfect multiplayer.
Gentlemen, start your engines.
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