It's been a long road full of damage and destruction, but we've finally reached the end.
We've been through the highs and the lows, the good and the bad, but we've arrived at the end of the Twisted Metal franchise. It's crazy, it's been 10 years since we've last had a new Twisted Metal game (at least an original one, remasters and compilations don't count), which is crazy to think about in a lot of ways. Remember, this used to be one of Sony's banner franchises, one gamers looked forward to with each new console generation. Even after a few lackluster entries early on, the series rebooted with Twisted Metal: Black to much critical acclaim and continued with a well crafted entry in Head-On. Sure, it was frustrating to hear about all of those cancelled games and lost half finished ideas, but the series was very much still top of mind for PlayStation owners throughout the life of the PS1 and PS2. But those of us that were able to decipher a secret message included as part of the making of documentary included with the Extra Twisted edition of TMHO knew that the hype train was going to continue into the next generation. That message: "
Look, there's a reason this was the last game in the series. It's not that the game is bad, because it isn't. It didn't quite deliver on all of the hype surrounding it, but it was still okay and far from awful enough to be considered a franchise killer. It sold okay and it got solid reviews, so it begs the question: what happened? Why was this the last Twisted Metal ever released despite being a solid title? There are a few issues, but I believe it came down to two major factors. The first is that it strayed a bit too far from the Twisted Metal formula we all came to know and love. In all of my past reviews, I list out the vehicles that are in each game and how they've changed since the last one. Each of those vehicles have drivers, and these characters provide the meat of the character development and story. Many of these characters were synonymous with their vehicles, to the point where they became interchangeable (I.E. Sweet Tooth's driver is Needles Kane, but he's always just called Sweet Tooth). These drivers are a major part of the TM lore and experience...and almost none of them in this game. Instead of having unique drivers for each car, you are limited to three, Needles/Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm and Dollface. The Preacher is also selectable, but only in multiplayer modes. Instead of entering the Twisted Metal tournament on their own, these series stalwarts are now gang leaders, electing to have their underlings drive vehicles as part of their teams. Of course, you aren't limited to just their traditional vehicles. Sweet Tooth, Reaper and Darkside are all available, but so are tons of other vehicles. Outlaw, Roadkill, Shadow, Axel, Warthog, Crimson Fury and Junkyard Dog are all back, with Meat Wagon, Road Boat, Death Warrant, Kamikaze, Vermin, Talon and Juggernaut as the new vehicles. I guess it's functionally the same as the old games in the series, all of the vehicles have their own unique ratings and specials. But it just doesn't feel right jumping from vehicle to vehicle, or having someone like Sweet Tooth driving Outlaw or Shadow. That may be more of a preference thing, though I have had other long time fans complain to me about this. I guess this being a major issue is debatable at the end of the day.
But what wasn't debatable was how big an issue TM's biggest feature caused, especially right after launch. When we heard Twisted Metal was going to have online multiplayer, we were all insanely pumped. Remember, this was before every other game was a multiplayer online game or battle royale, so this was a big deal. More and more games were going online, taking games of all kinds in new and exciting directions. And besides, is there another gaming franchise that fits that playstyle any better than TM? Fans of the series waited. And we waited, and waited but finally, after a delay, the new Twisted Metal was here. We turned it on, we updated our PS3s, we loaded up online mode...and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. I thought it was just me, we didn't have the greatest internet connection and I was sure it was just because so many gamers were logging on to the server at once. But the issue persisted for months. It turns out this was a server-side problem, making it damn near impossible to get into games. About three weeks after launch, I was finally able to get into an online game after waiting for about 30 minutes. And it was awesome! But once it ended, I had to wait again. This was a far cry from only having to wait about 2 minutes to get into a game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I guess the point of this long winded, confusing anecdote is that the main feature of Twisted Metal didn't work, like, at all and it caused major backlash. It did eventually get fixed to some degree, but even when the worst was over the lobbies were still awkward and the matchmaking was still terrible.
But hey, the servers were shut down in 2018 so none of that matters anymore. There were plenty of offline modes and the game still at least played okay. The traditional TM controls returned yet again and they are still intuitive and responsive. I think this version is a bit stiffer than previous installments, but not by much. The button combination specials are gone, you can freeze, drop mines and activate your shields with a tap of the D-Pad, though this also means you can't use that to steer anymore. New this time are alternate specials, which allow each character to use two different versions of their signature attacks. Most of the weapons return, with a sniper missiles and shotguns added. You can also switch out your machine guns this time around, with sub machine guns, shotguns, magnums and mini-rockets also available. Other game modes were also available for the first time including hunted, where the goal is to eliminate one specific player, and nuke, where you must capture opposing players and use them to launch missiles at the opposing team's base. The levels are big and expansive, with tons of shortcuts, destructible objects and items. You can even play on smaller or larger versions of each map to better suit your desired game length and playstyle. If there's one place where TM nailed it, it's level design. These are some of the most interesting levels the franchise ever had and definitely have tons of exploration to offer. It may not have been the most innovative, but it's well put together from a gameplay perspective.
That said, there are a few things that make the game far less enjoyable from its predecessors. For one, the A.I. seems like it constantly gangs up on you. The computer opponents rarely fight each other in the older TM games, but at least they move about the map as if they are trying to do so. But here, it feels like they just lock on your location and stalk you relentlessly. The characters are all insanely unbalanced with some just being flat out better than others. The smaller cars especially are difficult to play as, a well placed special from certain characters will destroy Reaper in one hit. The lack of character balance goes beyond the stats, as some of the specials are just so much stronger than others. Meat Wagon's gurney bomb, Shadow's coffin shot and, especially, Sweet Tooth's mech transformation are just insane. These problems are further compounded by well meaning yet poorly executed design choices, most notably when playing against Talon. Talon was a cool idea in theory, as the series' first flying character in the form of a helicopter. But he is an absolute nightmare to deal with as the TM engine really wasn't designed for characters like this. He is damn near impossible to hit, although he does have low armor so you don't need to land too many shots to actually drop him. As a whole, it feels like TM was designed almost entirely around online multiplayer, which left the single player experience a little bit lacking.
Which brings us to story mode. The mode is quite different this time around, with the player taken through the stories of Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm and Dollface, in that order. I get they wanted to focus on the three characters specifically, but it would have been nice to at least be able to pick the order I played them. Anyway, the atmosphere wades far closer to the dark and disturbing nature of Black (this and TMB are the only two games in the series to receive the "M" rating), though it doesn't quite push it as far. Each character's story arc is explained through entrance, middle and ending films, which are interesting stylistically and very well done. Sweet Tooth's story is only slightly altered, ice cream truck driver Marcus Kane loses his mind, becoming notorious serial killer Needles Kane. As usual, TM isn't really bound to much of its past cannon, though this isn't the first time they've explored the whole "Marcus Kane (the driver of Roadkill in most of the past games) and Needles Kane are the same person" plot. Grimm is a completely different character, he's gone from the actual grim reaper to a Vietnam Veteran to the son of a stuntman, tragically scarred after watching his father die in action. He's probably the most interesting and best designed character of the three. Dollface is now a former supermodel named Christa Sparks (not to be confused with the driver of Grasshopper from TM2 and Head-On), using her mask to conceal a minuscule scar and hoping once again to walk runways throughout the world. Her story is just meh, she's not really interesting at all, though she has a really cool design.
I think my biggest problem with story mode is that it's very short and wants you to focus more on completing objectives than destruction. In some games, that would be okay, but this is Twisted Metal we're talking about. The boss battles are absolutely awful, they feel like they are from an entirely different game. All of these battles force you to jump through ridiculous hoops that don't fit the game's playstyle, absolutely suffocating any fun you might have been having up to that point. Hell, the Sweet Tooth boss has a timed obstacle course. Why? That's okay as a mini-game, but as part of the main game it's stupid and frustrating. Why take the "combat" out of "vehicular combat?"
At the end of the day, it was a perfect storm of issues that led to this being the last TM title. It's not like some series' where you can pinpoint a franchise killing game or business decision. But the server issues combined with the decline in popularity of vehicular combat games, combined with the ascension of first person shooters as the primary online games of choice, combined with the title's major departures from others in the series was too much to overcome. For me personally, the latter was the biggest issue. Twisted Metal just didn't feel like Twisted Metal with all the changes to the characters, locales, lore and presentation. TM2 felt like the ideal version of the series, Black felt like a darker version of the series, but this one just felt off. It was almost as if they were targeting gamers who were moving full-time into online multiplayer rather than fans of the series. I guess it was a sign of the times and I should have seen it coming, but it was disappointing to someone who had been with the series since day 1. When I think about TM, I still think about it as the kid in 1996 who booted up the PlayStation Picks demo disc on the PS1 he rented from Premier Video and had his mind blown. TM2, Head-On, Black, hell, even TM3 and 4 spoke to that person far more than this game ever did (though I want to make it clear that it's still a much, much better game than TM3 or 4). I still liked more about Twisted Metal than I disliked, but it almost felt like it should have been a different game in a different franchise.
And now, 10 years later, Twisted Metal is coming back...as a television show. The show will allegedly be an action comedy, which I guess makes sense, TM always did have a silly edge to it. Anthony Mackie is slated to star with Neve Campbell, Stephanie Beatriz and Thomas Hayden Church also confirmed. Details are minimal and there appear to at least be some references to the games. Mackie's character is called John Doe, which was the name of Roadkill's driver in Black, while Church will portray a character called Agent Stone, the name of Outlaw's driver in TMB. But the similarities appear to end there. Here's the show synopsis currently listed on IMDB.com:
"Follows a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland."
Ummm...wut? Looks like we're about to get yet another video game adaptation created by someone who never played, heard of or even researched the game they are supposed to be adapting. I don't have high hopes. My hopes were much higher nearly 15 years ago when I heard Twisted Metal was announced for the PS3. I'm not going to say it met those expectations, because it didn't. It obviously didn't hit home for a lot of people, otherwise we'd have more games in the franchise over the past 10 years. Twisted Metal may have been a tad disappointing, and technical problems may have kneecapped its most promising feature, but it was still a solid effort. Maybe we will get a new one some day.
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