I can't even begin to describe how hard this game is.
I have always loved the Twisted Metal series. Even the lesser Twisted Metal games we're a guilty pleasure for me. I can't even begin to count how many hours I spent played Twisted Metal on the PSX as a kid. Upon playing the first level of Twisted Metal: Black, I was amazed. The game offered everything that the original series had to offer, but with better graphics, tighter control, smarter AI, everything. It had already become my favorite Twisted Metal game. But as I continued the game more and more, I began to realize something distrubing. The difficulty.
I can't even begin to describe how hard this game is. It seriously borderlines on impossible. That AI is so damn smart and so damn challenging. Oh my god, its frustrating. I beat the first level by a thread and each level after that just gets harder and harder. Now I'm saying that this game isn't fun. It offers as much destructive, addicting, challenging fun, as the original series offered. Maybe even more fun. But the difficulty is just so draining. After quite a few long, abusive, addictive hours of beating Dollface's story (Damn, that story was messed up), I had to motivate myself to go through another couple of hours to beat Axel's story. I did end up beating it, but I have to admit that I had to stop. I still haven't gotten any further. Not because I can't, but because, as much fun as the game is, thinking about going through another campaign almost stresses me out. I know this sounds ridiculous, but its that hard.
The game definitely still delivers though. The graphics are great. Each level is very well designed and the usual post-apocalyptic world is portrayed very nicely. Each vehicle and weapon is well detailed. The combat is incredible and chaotic. The battles are filled with plenty of explosions, missiles, machine guns, and just overall complete destruction. The storylines of each character are very well written and quite disturbing. Playing through each campaign is worth it for almost the plot advancement alone.
Despite the difficulty level, Twisted Metal: Black still offers some of the best gameplay of any Twisted Metal game. I'm sure most Twisted Metal fans, and especially ones who enjoy quite a challenge, will love this game and should go pick up this game as soon as possible.