The first two games in the Twisted Metal franchise will forever be all time classics.
It looked like the series was just going to keep on improving and become a stable of greatness
through the years.
That was until Sony couldn’t agree with SingleTrac on a new contract and thus handed
development to 989 Studios.
They had to build a entirely new engine, and thus the game feels much different than the
original two games, and in many ways, not as good.
Twisted Metal 3 has the same basic gameplay as the previous entries .Calypso is holding
another Twisted Metal tournament in which he grants the winner a wish, the losers get
euthanized, the ancient way.
It is a giant demolition derby but one that spics up the action by allowing the contests
to use machine guns and missiles.
And wouldn’t that make real life demolition derby's just that much better.
Add homing missiles to anything, and I think you got yourself a better time.
So you select a character, each one with their own unique stats, special weapon, and backstory.
Each one has a reason for entering the tournament.
Some are returning favorites like Sweet Tooth and Axel while some new ones are added.
Each car is measured in term of speed, armour, and special weapon.
You have to decided if you are going to sacrifice one or the other.
Do you want a car that is really fast of one that can take a lot of damage?
There are two main modes: Tournament and Deathmatch.
Tournament is the bread and butter of the game.
That is where you take a character through all the levels and bosses, and at the end
you get to see a cinematic detailing their wish.
Deathmatch is just a fast, pick where you want to cause mayhem and go.
The best thing is both these modes are available to be played with a friend.
I always found this game much more fun when playing with my brother.
You will do battle in large open environments.
You will go all over the world, from a Hollywood that is in ruin from an earthquake, to London,
and even Calypso’s blimp.
While the locations are varied and different, they leave much to be desired.
Most are very open, like the Washington DC map, which is basically just a large flat
square.
Some maps will have a secret area and level specific weapons, but not every map has them,
making you feel that more time went to more levels than others.
While London doesn’t get anything special, Hanger 18 gets a weapon called Spaceship which
can cause so much damage to every car.
And I can’t talk about this game without mentioning the soundtrack, which is just incredible.
The music provided by Rob Zombie really stands out as being absolutely perfect for this game.
You could easily imagine this being the music Sweet Tooth is listening to.
What is cool is the music is set to each level instead of rotating, making each song feel
connected with that level.
A big complaint about the game is that fact that it doesn’t really do much to move the
series forward.
Twisted Metal 1 was good, and 2 was amazing but this one is more of a step back than anything.
With a whole new team developing, you can understand why it would feel off.
It is like it is trying to be Twisted Metal instead of just being a Twisted Metal game.
While the game is fun on its own, it doesn’t really compare with the other games in the
series.
Those ones will forever be great car battle games, while this one is not an all-time classic.