$20 Game of the week: Twisted Metal Black (PS2)

In the early days of the PS1, the Twisted Metal series was to players what Halo pretty much is to Xbox players these days. It was an intense and bizzare car combat game that was filled with bizzare characters with equally bizzare vehicles blowing each other up with bizzare weapons. The first two editions were developed by developer Singletrac. The second game in the series, World Tour, was at the time considered by most to be the best in the series. However, the games took a dip in sales with Twisted Metal 3,when most of the developers had left after a contractual dispute with Sony and joined with GT Interactive. Sony’s in-house development team 989 studios handled the production, rewriting the code for the artificial intellegence and driving physics. These changes attracted new players while turning off longtime fans of the series. Twisted Metal 4 had corrected many of the faults from 3 and had even added a 4-player mode, but by then players had already moved on. Sony wanted to revive it’s flagship vehicular car-combat series for the Playstation 2. Enter Twisted Metal Black.

The original developers from Singletrac rejoined Sony to produce Black, and while it was removed entirely from continuity, it became an instant hit with fans and critics alike. The story took a much more darker tone, with a look inspired by films like “Se7en”. As a result, the game earned the series’s first “M” rating. Instead of the misfits from the provious games, the cast was made up of a group of psychotic killers escaping from a mental hospital to take revenge on a world that wronged them. For instance, instead of being the grim reaper, Mr. Grimm is a former Vietnam vet turned cannibal who wears the skull of his dead comrade. Spectre had also been changed from a super spy to a homicidal jealous bridesmaid. The specials hd also reflected the change. A preacher character attacks opponents by flinging one of his crucified followers at them.

Twisted Metal had returned to gaming in a huge way. In 2005, Twisted Metal Head-on was released as a PSP launch title which bought the series back to it’s more comedic origins, and there is no doubt that Twisted Metal will be heading to the Playstation 3. For now though, do yourself a favor and grab this. Also if you can find it, get the greatest hits version which contains a second disk featuring an online mode.