Twisted Metal: Head-On

 Thus far, our Twisted Metal marathon has taken us through the series, highs, lows and reboots. Now it's time to revisit what may be the series' most underrated title.

Twisted Metal: Head-On rarely gets any love from the gaming populace at large and is often just forgotten when discussing the series as a whole. I myself didn't even know it existed until several years after its release, when I started buying up cheap PS2 games that Gamestop was liquidating towards the end of the system's life cycle. Initially released for the PlayStation Portable in 2005, the game was ported to the PS2 as the "Extra Twisted" edition in 2008 with added content. Full disclosure, that is the version I played for the review. I do actually have the PSP original, but I lack a functioning PSP, so playing that would have been a slight issue. The port was handled by Eat Sleep Play studios. Wait, another new developer for TM? What happened this time? Well, the PSP port was indeed developed by Incognito, the same folks that handled Twisted Metal:Black. But the Twisted Metal team rarely stays in once place for long. Series director David Jaffe and producer Scott Campbell decided to leave Incognito in 2007, bringing many of their ex-SingleTrac and now ex-Incognito cohorts with them to form Eat Sleep Play. At least they were able to take both the game engine and TM license with them this time. As part of an exclusivity deal with Sony, the decided to port TMHO to the PS2.

Honestly, TMHO feels closer to Twisted Metal 2 than Black ever did. It scaled things back a little bit from TMB, both in terms of atmosphere and difficulty. This led to both some positives and negatives, but overall I would say it was a little more akin to what I used to look for from the series. Of course, it wasn't as polished or as story driven as Black, but that wasn't to say it was completely without a plot. The game is a direct sequel to TM2, with the events of TM3 and 4 mercifully retconned out of existence. Calypso is ready to start up yet another Twisted Metal tournament, with a number of familiar faces ready to do battle. Roadkill, Mr. Grimm, Sweet Tooth, Specter, Outlaw, Axel, Grasshopper and Mr. Slam are all back with their same drivers, while Shadow, Thumper, Specter, Twister, Warthog, Crimson Fury and Hammerhead all return with new drivers. It was a little bit disappointing to only see two new characters, the ATV and unlockable sub-boss Cousin Eddy, but at least they picked a good cross section from the series' history. TM has never really been super tight with its cannon and it shows here as Outlaw, Twister, Roadkill, Grasshopper and Mr. Slam's stories all lean heavily on events that happen in those cars' endings in TM2. But let's be honest, the story is secondary here, the nonstop action is what we are all really here for.

TMHO keeps the screen layout, HUD and weapons selection from black, which I think was a positive. Even though there really weren't any new weapons, the selection in Black was pretty much perfect as is and I don't think they really needed to add any more. Cars can now jump, which does occasionally come into play, though it's usually just used to get powerups that are a bit out of reach. The biggest new edition here though is the upgrade system, which plays a major role in how your characters behave. Defeated enemies yield upgrades that will improve your speed, turbo, armor, jumping, machine guns and, most importantly, your special weapon. Each character's special weapon has two versions, regular and upgraded. The upgrades vary from just adding additional rounds to chargeability to extra damage. I think this was kind of cool and it adds to the strategy of how you have to play some of these characters. Some of the upgrades are small, nice-to-have kind of changes, while others are almost a requirement to make the characters' special viable. Warthog's upgraded Patriot Missiles are great, they add extra shots and better homing, but they aren't exactly necessary. But Thumper's special has been reduced to a few relatively weak fireballs, it needs the upgrade to bring back the flamethrower. Overall, the upgrades are an interesting change that help keep the gameplay fresh. There were no major changes to the controls or anything like that, the hit detection is still fair and the game is even more transparent than its predecessor, as it tells you exactly how much damage everything does.

I really like the level design in TMHO, even if the actual locales aren't as interesting as those in Black. As with TM2, TMHO sees you traveling the world to a variety of different cities to cause destruction. The levels are big, expansive and filled with secrets, there are so many hidden teleporters and destructible pieces of the environment that it feels like everything leads to something. Most of the levels have multiple elevations, with access to rooftops and other similar locations common throughout the game. The environments may be a little sillier that those in Black, but they certainly have their own charm. You get to explore a huge castle in Transylvania and battle in the middle of an F-1 race in Monaco, which is awesome. I do think some of the levels have a little bit too much empty space concentrated around big focal points, but that could just be me. The biggest problem though comes from the lack of enemies in each level. I don't think there are ever more than five opponents on at once, which is an issue with such big levels. You will often find yourself driving around aimlessly searching for targets, especially when there are only one or two left. It's also unfortunate that the A.I. tends to crowd around very specific points on the map, which means it's unlikely you will see entire levels on the first playthrough. There are unlockables throughout, accessed by locating teleporters and completing mini games. These are okay, some are ridiculous but others are actually pretty fun. I would have preferred to just find the unlockables though.

TMB definitely took things way too far in terms of difficulty, but I think Head-On slid a little far back in the opposite direction. The game is a bit too easy, though cranking things up to the highest difficulty level does add some challenge. Part of this is because there just aren't that many enemies per stage and you don't die instantly from falling into pits (though you do take a decent amount of damage). The biggest issue though comes from the upgrade system which, while still more good than bad, adds some unintended quirks to the game. Once you get the armor upgrade with any of the bigger vehicles, you can pretty much sit still and trade with any opponent you come across. If you also have upgraded machine guns and special, it's pretty much impossible for the CPU to race you. It is also way too easy to stock powerups, I was constantly being told my weapons bay was full, something I don't think I've seen more than a few times in TM1, 2 or Black. There are already too many powerups scattered around the stages, but once you have all your upgrades, all subsequent upgrade pickups will give you more weapons. And not just a few, like, lots of extra missiles. It was kind of fun to be able to unload with weapons rather than conserve, but it definitely threw off the difficulty curve. I think it's underrated just how important balanced difficulty is in games, at least in games that aren't designed for the sole purpose of being as difficult as possible. TM2 nailed this and as I play through the series, I find that's a large part of what makes it an all time great and its successors merely very good.

I have to give credit here for the overall package that came with the "Extra Twisted" Edition. Of course, you get the full PSP game, but an additional stage and new characters have been added. You also get access to Twisted Metal: Lost, an early build of what was supposed to be Twisted Metal: Harbor City featuring four new levels, the complete TMB roster and even a new character. There's a making of documentary, usually these things are added on just for fluff but this one is actually interesting and worth a watch for fans of the series. Turns out Jaffe actually agrees with me about TMB being way too hard. For the first time in the series, you are able to play as one of the drivers outside of their vehicle, as Sweet Tooth's driver Needles Kane is playable as part of "Sweet Tour" mode, again a beta version of a cancelled TM game. There isn't much to do, though this does serve as a way to unlock certain items. It's awesome they included all of this stuff, (though it does kind of make longtime fans wonder what could have been) but perhaps the best thing offered here came in the form of cut content from a previous game. That would be the ending cinemas from the original Twisted Metal, which were viewable for the first time here. Trust me, if you are a fan of the series at all, or even if you or not and just love horrible acting, you owe it to yourself to watch these. I wouldn't even call these B-movies, they're far, far below that. They are like F-movies, or whatever's below that. It's as unintentionally hilarious as the Nicholas Cage version of the Wicker Man. Scratch that, it's even more unintentionally hilarious. It makes The Wicker Man look like The Godfather. I think the special effects are from the 40's or 50's, if that.

Overall, Twisted Metal: Head-On was an excellent addition to the series, even if it was far different from its immediate predecessor. I think it would have actually been cool to see TM continue as two separate series, the mainline following the story of TM2/Head-On and the other following the darker, more sinister Black universe. Of course, we know that didn't happen. Instead, what we got was...well, we'll look at that next week. The series' next step was a bit away from TMHO, which I believe led to the game being forgotten. That's a shame, because it's an outstanding title, even if it's a bit too easy and has a little too much open space. It's definitely worth checking out today for most gamers and a must play for TM fans. One of the more underrated titles out there.

9/10