If Clint Eastwood Was a Video Game
Twisted Metal, the reboot of the classic and beloved Sony franchise, is basically Clint Eastwood. Like Clint Eastwood, the core of Twisted Metal is absolutely stunning, refined, and badass. But even though Clint Eastwood is an astounding individual, one can't help but feel disappointed that something so fantastic is housed inside such an old body. And true to the analogy, Twisted Metal has fantastic core gameplay that is wrapped inside of poor, dated, and wrinkly design decisions and production.
One of the reasons why Clint Eastwood is so amazing is through decades of refining his multiple talents of acting, politics, directing, and doing super badass shit. The gameplay of Twisted Metal has aged just as well as Clint Eastwood has. Wonderfully. The classic deathmatch style of up to 15 cars zooming around picking up missiles and slamming into one another feels absolutely fantastic. A steady framerate that rarely hitches and sharp controls creates the smoothest car combat I have experienced. And though the speedy pace of the game and initially unwieldy controls are a tough barrier to entry, the game plays fantastically after the learning curve has been scaled. Many new mechanics such as the remote detonation of napalm and ricocheting remote-controlled cars meld perfectly with classic mechanics such as freeze missiles and having your car hop, Mario Kart style. Overall the gameplay is a hard to master concoction of speedy cars, tight controls, and a lot of explosions. And though the last time most people experienced this type of gameplay on a mainstream level was a decade or so ago, it was like Twisted Metal was put into oak barrels to age like fine scotch. And like a well aged scotch, Twisted Metal's core gameplay will be consumed kicking and screaming, but be highly rewarding.
One thing developer Eat, Sleep, Play made clear from the beginning of Twisted Metal's development is that this is a game for the fans. And this team led by Twisted Metal veteran David Jaffe deliver stories, characters, vehicles, and maps that all respectfully harken back to the two seminal installments in the franchise: Twisted Metal 2 and Twisted Metal: Black. The characters' endings are all classically early Twisted Metal stories in featuring "be careful what you wish for" scenarios. And, like in Twisted Metal: Black, the characters are all more or less portrayed as psychopathic serial killers in front of a backdrop of a grim dystopian world. The overall narrative is bleak and fantastic, and is interwoven by the individual stories of three fan favorite characters' stories: Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm, and Dollface. And though this title only features three stories instead of previous titles dozens, the well produced full motion video and lengthy overarching narrative help make up for the absence of many dark Twisted Metal stories.
Though the story and narrative of the campaign are fantastic, getting through it is an absolute chore. Some of the missions are classic deathmatch, or some variation of said game type. And those are serviceable and are great at presenting what Twisted Metal is best at: blowing stuff in your own style, not barred by any rules. Twisted Metal's campaign falls flat when rules are introduced. For example, each of the three stories has a race mission, which are all absolutely terrible. The races all require you to pass through a checkpoint every 5 or so seconds, and if you miss just one, you are likely to lose. Since the cars are as likely to spin out as explode off the track, the complete lack of a recovery system makes the races undoubtedly the worst part of the game. It's understandable why the developers felt the need to create variation in their campaign. But the Twisted Metal style of gameplay fundamentally does not fit into a race scenarios or checkpoint battles, as the volatility of putting 12 cars armed with missiles together does not allow the precision a race with difficult obstacles requires. Though, some of the new variation in the campaign are fun ways of creating an excuse to blow dudes up. For example, the Juggernaut mode has you fight a powerful semi-truck that is consistently spawning new enemies to explode. The bosses are frustrating, not presented well, and are difficult to approach. For example, an on screen control indicator described in order to use a specific ability, you have to press the "right button". I don't know if that was a temporary lack of specificity, or a clever metacommentary on how the player have to find the correct button to press on their own. However, the campaign's saving grace is the final boss, which is completely unique. And though it has its issues, it is an outrageous send off the game's lacking campaign.
The game's online multiplayer has some connection issues, making it difficult to enter a game. It also has a server browser, which may be seen as a good or bad thing, depending on if you prefer customization or accessibility. The multiplayer's progression system is pretty barebones, but the conceit of Twisted Metal gameplay online carries the online mode well enough. The game performs well, but has pretty long load times (which is a hassle when you have to restart the races so much), and I've only encountered one minor bug. The game has a fantastically grim aesthetic and looks great too, especially considering how good the performance is.
Twisted Metal is a wonderfully old game. And though it may seem like a contradiction, it is in fact a blast to play through. If you're the type of person that is spoiled by the conveniences of modern games and lack the nostalgia or explode-lust to fuel you, Twisted Metal might annoy you enough to turn you off. However, if you're willing to put up with a couple hitches, the title will give you outrageous satisfaction that will remind you of the good old days of playing Twisted Metal 2 on a beanbag with Blink 81 playing in the background.
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that regardless of his aged vessel, Clint Eastwood could still take most young bucks out there. And same goes for Twisted Metal.
