Author's Note: I have been sick for the past few days so this review will be lacking in most areas.
Sup fool?
Twisted Metal: Black is a return to the dark-gothic style of TM that we all grew up loving. After the horrible recevption of TM3 and TM4 989 Studios folded and the series was returned to the proper developers Incong, Inc headed by David Jaffe, of God of War fame, after they broke off from SingleTrac, the developers of the first and second games. The games uses the Kinetica engine.
Twisted Metal: Black is a PlayStation 2 exclusive.
Story:
TM:B is set in a dystopian world that is always covered in thick, coal colored skies. Calypso is the promoter of a vehicular demolition derby, deathmatch style I should add, contest known as Twisted Metal. TM is fought all over the gods' green earth, or in this case, gunmetal grey and bus stop toilet brown., which must mean that there is no God up in the sky. No sign of heaven anywhere in sight. All that was true is left behind. Once I could see now I am blind... Sorry, I just love that song.
Twisted Metal takes contestants from all walks of life and pits them against each other to the death and the winner gets whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, their heart desires. Though Calypso's trade mark double cross returns for those who wish for nobles ends. To go along with the gothic setting of the game its takes place within a single city known as "Midtown", with most competitors coming from the city's mental asylum, "Blackfield".
Each of the characters stories starts with them being visited by Calypso, who knows what they desire and offers them in his contest. More of the characters' background is revealed in their mid point cutscene, which happens after the sub-boss Minion is defeated. Unlike the previous games the characters themselves narrate their own stories.
Character Selection:
Many of the vehicles from the first two games return for this incarnation. While the vehicles have the same names though the drivers do not. And for trivia purposes, Sweet Tooth is the only vehicle to keep the same Driver in all the games of the series, Needles Kane. Grimm, Outlaw, Roadkill, Darkside, Minion, Warthog, Shadow, Spectre, Axel, Yellow Jacket and the aforementioned Sweet Tooth all return. There are fifteen vehicles in all to play as. The final five you unlock are not institutionalized but are just a insane as the other contestants.
Keedles Kane helps control Childhood obesity
Vehicle: Brimstone; Driver: Jebidiah aka Preacher - A delusional evangelist seeking to rid himself of the demon inside him. Drives a El Camino.
Vehicle: Crazy-8; Driver: Frank "No-Face" McCutcheon - A small-time boxer with his face severely disfigured wanting revenge on the surgeon that disfigured him. Drives a orange derby car.
Vehicle: Darkside; Driver: Doll face - A young girl who wants to remove the mask locked onto her head.
Vehicle: Junkyard Dog; Driver: Billy Ray Stillwell - A deformed redneck farmer seeking revenge on a cropduster pilot who had attempted to kill him. Drives a tow truck.
Vehicle: Grimm; Driver: Mr. Grimm - Cannibalistic Vietnam War veteran out for revenge for what happened to him and his friend in Vietnam 30 years ago. Drives a motorcycle with a sidecar.
Vehicle: Outlaw; Driver: Agent Stone - A former SWAT team sniper, he committed a great mistake during a mission and wants to be redeemed. Drives a SWAT SUV.
Vehicle: Roadkill; Driver: John Doe - A man with amnesia who struggles to remember who he was. Drives a old-junker car.
Vehicle: Shadow; Driver: Raven - A Gothic school outcast seeking revenge for her best friend Kelly, who was drowned. Drives a hearse.
Vehicle: Spectre; Driver: Bloody Mary - A violent, lovesick bridesmaid who wants her ideal husband. Her name is possibly a reference to the well-known cocktail. Drives a blue corvette.
Vehicle: Sweet Tooth; Driver: Needles Kane -Psychotic serial killer/mass murder. Wants to remove a curse placed on him that causes his head to be on fire. Drives an ice cream truck.
Vehicle: Axel; Driver: Axel - Blaming himself for his wife's death, he drives a 2-wheeled torture device as punishment. Wants to find her murderer.
Vehicle: Yellow Jacket; Driver: Charlie Kane and son - The son rebuilt his dead father and controls him. He wants "things to get better". Drives a taxi-cab.
Vehicle: Warthog; Driver: Cage - A serial killer, he wants to get rid of the remorse he feels when murdering so that he can outdo and kill Sweet Tooth, becoming Midtown's greatest serial killer. Drives a Station wagon mounted to a flame tank.
Vehicle: Manslaughter; Driver: Black - A mysterious man seeking Calypso's death. Drives a dumptruck.
Vehicle: Minion; Driver: Marcus Kane - Last year's winner, believes that everything around him is fake and that it's all in Sweet Tooth's dark mind. Drives a tanker truck.
Vehicle: Warhawk; Driver: Unknown - Final boss. Attack helicopter named after the SingleTrac game Warhawk
Gameplay and Weapons:
TM:B plays just like the previous games so those you missed a few games in the series will have no trouble picking this game up. Another feature that returns from the first game is that your machine guns overheat with continued use. The power rocket, homing missile, napalm, adn all the classics are there. Along with new special attacks that range from stupid to devastating. And also environmental hazards return. To pick up weapons you simply drive over them. Pedestrians also return for this game so you can act out your sociopathic fantasies. When vehicles explodes they go up in a mushroom cloud and sometimes the driver will run around on fire giving you the chance to run them over.
Censorship:
In the PAL regions TM:B does not feature any cutscenes at all. In the Junkyard level in the North America they player can shoot down a circling jet with a homing missile, while in the PAl release the plane has already crashed.
Online:
Twisted Metal: Black Online was a free send-away disc for those you purchased an early adopter of the PS2 network adapter. The game featured all the playable characters from the original release. In TM:BO the whore characters were Minion, Spectre, and Roadkill.
Final Score: 9/10
Extra Info:
*The soundtrack to the game feature the song "Pain it Black" by the Rolling Stones. The beginning of the song is at the menu screen and the song if played in it's entirety during the credits.
*This is actually the first TM games to be rated "M".
Sup fool?
Twisted Metal: Black is a return to the dark-gothic style of TM that we all grew up loving. After the horrible recevption of TM3 and TM4 989 Studios folded and the series was returned to the proper developers Incong, Inc headed by David Jaffe, of God of War fame, after they broke off from SingleTrac, the developers of the first and second games. The games uses the Kinetica engine.
Twisted Metal: Black is a PlayStation 2 exclusive.
Story:
TM:B is set in a dystopian world that is always covered in thick, coal colored skies. Calypso is the promoter of a vehicular demolition derby, deathmatch style I should add, contest known as Twisted Metal. TM is fought all over the gods' green earth, or in this case, gunmetal grey and bus stop toilet brown., which must mean that there is no God up in the sky. No sign of heaven anywhere in sight. All that was true is left behind. Once I could see now I am blind... Sorry, I just love that song.
Twisted Metal takes contestants from all walks of life and pits them against each other to the death and the winner gets whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, their heart desires. Though Calypso's trade mark double cross returns for those who wish for nobles ends. To go along with the gothic setting of the game its takes place within a single city known as "Midtown", with most competitors coming from the city's mental asylum, "Blackfield".
Each of the characters stories starts with them being visited by Calypso, who knows what they desire and offers them in his contest. More of the characters' background is revealed in their mid point cutscene, which happens after the sub-boss Minion is defeated. Unlike the previous games the characters themselves narrate their own stories.
Character Selection:
Many of the vehicles from the first two games return for this incarnation. While the vehicles have the same names though the drivers do not. And for trivia purposes, Sweet Tooth is the only vehicle to keep the same Driver in all the games of the series, Needles Kane. Grimm, Outlaw, Roadkill, Darkside, Minion, Warthog, Shadow, Spectre, Axel, Yellow Jacket and the aforementioned Sweet Tooth all return. There are fifteen vehicles in all to play as. The final five you unlock are not institutionalized but are just a insane as the other contestants.
Keedles Kane helps control Childhood obesity
Vehicle: Brimstone; Driver: Jebidiah aka Preacher - A delusional evangelist seeking to rid himself of the demon inside him. Drives a El Camino.
Vehicle: Crazy-8; Driver: Frank "No-Face" McCutcheon - A small-time boxer with his face severely disfigured wanting revenge on the surgeon that disfigured him. Drives a orange derby car.
Vehicle: Darkside; Driver: Doll face - A young girl who wants to remove the mask locked onto her head.
Vehicle: Junkyard Dog; Driver: Billy Ray Stillwell - A deformed redneck farmer seeking revenge on a cropduster pilot who had attempted to kill him. Drives a tow truck.
Vehicle: Grimm; Driver: Mr. Grimm - Cannibalistic Vietnam War veteran out for revenge for what happened to him and his friend in Vietnam 30 years ago. Drives a motorcycle with a sidecar.
Vehicle: Outlaw; Driver: Agent Stone - A former SWAT team sniper, he committed a great mistake during a mission and wants to be redeemed. Drives a SWAT SUV.
Vehicle: Roadkill; Driver: John Doe - A man with amnesia who struggles to remember who he was. Drives a old-junker car.
Vehicle: Shadow; Driver: Raven - A Gothic school outcast seeking revenge for her best friend Kelly, who was drowned. Drives a hearse.
Vehicle: Spectre; Driver: Bloody Mary - A violent, lovesick bridesmaid who wants her ideal husband. Her name is possibly a reference to the well-known cocktail. Drives a blue corvette.
Vehicle: Sweet Tooth; Driver: Needles Kane -Psychotic serial killer/mass murder. Wants to remove a curse placed on him that causes his head to be on fire. Drives an ice cream truck.
Vehicle: Axel; Driver: Axel - Blaming himself for his wife's death, he drives a 2-wheeled torture device as punishment. Wants to find her murderer.
Vehicle: Yellow Jacket; Driver: Charlie Kane and son - The son rebuilt his dead father and controls him. He wants "things to get better". Drives a taxi-cab.
Vehicle: Warthog; Driver: Cage - A serial killer, he wants to get rid of the remorse he feels when murdering so that he can outdo and kill Sweet Tooth, becoming Midtown's greatest serial killer. Drives a Station wagon mounted to a flame tank.
Vehicle: Manslaughter; Driver: Black - A mysterious man seeking Calypso's death. Drives a dumptruck.
Vehicle: Minion; Driver: Marcus Kane - Last year's winner, believes that everything around him is fake and that it's all in Sweet Tooth's dark mind. Drives a tanker truck.
Vehicle: Warhawk; Driver: Unknown - Final boss. Attack helicopter named after the SingleTrac game Warhawk
Gameplay and Weapons:
TM:B plays just like the previous games so those you missed a few games in the series will have no trouble picking this game up. Another feature that returns from the first game is that your machine guns overheat with continued use. The power rocket, homing missile, napalm, adn all the classics are there. Along with new special attacks that range from stupid to devastating. And also environmental hazards return. To pick up weapons you simply drive over them. Pedestrians also return for this game so you can act out your sociopathic fantasies. When vehicles explodes they go up in a mushroom cloud and sometimes the driver will run around on fire giving you the chance to run them over.
Censorship:
In the PAL regions TM:B does not feature any cutscenes at all. In the Junkyard level in the North America they player can shoot down a circling jet with a homing missile, while in the PAl release the plane has already crashed.
Online:
Twisted Metal: Black Online was a free send-away disc for those you purchased an early adopter of the PS2 network adapter. The game featured all the playable characters from the original release. In TM:BO the whore characters were Minion, Spectre, and Roadkill.
Final Score: 9/10
Extra Info:
*The soundtrack to the game feature the song "Pain it Black" by the Rolling Stones. The beginning of the song is at the menu screen and the song if played in it's entirety during the credits.
*This is actually the first TM games to be rated "M".
