Kink3bird
04-03-2010, 02:49 PM
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/twiztedbannerthing_2.gif
Foreword
I placed Twisted Metal: Black in the other games section merely because there is no other game like it. The Electronics Boutique website registers it as a Action/Racing game. I almost did put this review in the Racing section because 100% of your game play time is spent as a vehicle but there is absolutely no racing going on. It is quite a action filled game but looking at that section you might imagine you'd spend your time running around as a powerful hero in a world of great fantasy and questing which does not fit all of TM:B's criteria.
To sum it all up, Twisted Metal: Black is a vehicular combat game with many underlying genres such as horror, shooter, fighting, fantasy and so on.
Also as a foreword, if you have a fear of clowns (Coulrophobia: The prefix "coulro=" comes from the Ancient Greek κωλοβαθριστής (kōlobathristēs), “one who goes on stilts”.) Then this game is absolutely 100% not for you. If you do have a fear of clowns and choose to ignore my warnings then make sure you either do not sleep alone, have a night light or television in your area of slumber, or some drugs to knock you out because you will experience many sleepless nights.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/TMBcover.jpg
Story
Anyone familiar with the Twisted Metal series knows this bit already but for those unfamiliar, it's rather simple to explain.
A mysterious and badly scarred man named Calypso hosts a vehicular combat based tournament in which players risk their lives to claim the tournaments prize -any single wish they desire, no matter the difficulty, rarity, or even reality of such wish.
There is a total of fifteen selectable players who are all inmates at Blackfield Asylum in the city of Midtown, where the games various arenas or levels take place. The diverse group of characters range from the Twisted Metal series mascot, a psychopathic, ice cream truck driving, serial killing clown named Sweetooth to a boy controlling his dead father by remote control named Yellowjacket.
Each character has a remarkable story that compares to a creation ranging from the darkest depths of Stephen King's mind to Rob Zombies gory and humorous take on serial killers like in his movie The Devil's Rejects.
When it comes down to story, TM:B has amazing creativity and originality vacant in most games.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/screen4.jpg
Game play
TM:B is a demolition derby that permits the usage of ballistic projectiles. Players choose a vehicle and an arena—or a series of arenas in the story mode—to engage in battle with opposing drivers. A variety of weapons and upgrades are obtainable by pick-ups scattered throughout the stage. The objective of the game is to be the last one standing.
The controls are set up extremely well with the default settings being well thought out and reminiscent to a shooter. With many other configurations to choose from, it's nearly impossible to find a button layout that doesn't comfort you. It takes a little while to get use to the fast paced action of the game as well as the control layout but once you got it down it runs much smoother then series' past.
The difficulty of the game is also something to praise and perfect for anyone looking for a challenge. When I say challenge I don't mean headache since the game is neither easy nor impossible since it uses a system where strategy and learning from past mistakes can make you an amazing player with any of the characters. You'll notice some characters are easier to play then others with each having a strength and weakness. This leaves plenty of room for strategy.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/screen7.jpg
Visuals/Sound
Visually, Twisted Metal: Black is easily one of the best-looking games for the PlayStation 2. Everything from the character selection screens to the loading screens are very stylized and polished. The vehicle models themselves are extremely detailed and have all kinds of attached little extras that give each one a unique look and a sense of true originality. Activating different weapons actually triggers vehicle-specific animations that show the weapons physically popping out of a little compartment on the vehicle.
The levels in TM:B are simply unbelievable--not only are they huge, but they also involve so much finding of new paths and destructible goodies; as well as discovering the games many Easter eggs that you can literally spend an hour on some levels just trying to find out where everything is. This feature not only remains true to it's past but manages to go all out in the series' first Playstation 2 installment.
Aside from vehicle models and level architecture, there is something that needs to be said about the amount of actual "blackness" in the game. A lot of what gives Twisted Metal: Black it's unique appearance and mood is the lighting. On the default setting, the game is extremely dark. All the vehicles are equipped with working headlights that effectively light your path. You can change this to be brighter or darker depending on your tastes, but either way, the game definitely has a dark, eerie feel to it. This darkness makes all the rockets, flames, and special lighting effects in the game look even more spectacular.
The sound department has a great mix of creepy and ambient music that plays while exploring and trolling the levels for power-ups that quickly change to a fast paced combat styled music whenever engaging a enemy or defending from one. The Rolling Stone's Paint it Black is the featured song of the game that not only perfectly fits in the title's opening sequences but the end credits.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/157108-2-1.jpg
The Verdict
Twisted Metal: Black is a amazing game in all aspects. Being one of the first juggernaut titles for the Playstation 2 it's still going strong with a dedicated multiplayer community much like a hit cult film. Fans of the series past will need to experience this and newcomers alike will want to pick this game up since from top to bottom it is filled with what the series is all about. Just going through the game with one twisted character gives you such a great story it'll want to make you play the entire game. Not only is it unlike any vehicular combat game out there but it's also the only game of it's kind out there at all... until the Playstation 3 version makes a appearance that is.
Story - A+
Game play - Addicting
Visuals / Sounds - Utilizes the full power of the Playstation 2
Verdict - 100% or just go buy it already
Twisted Metal: Black is still available in a local gaming store near you and costs around five American dollars for a used copy. It's original and online version are available on Amazon.com for around eighteen American dollars and for those who don't have a Playstation 2, at least check out all the twisted character's story lines on Youtube.
Foreword
I placed Twisted Metal: Black in the other games section merely because there is no other game like it. The Electronics Boutique website registers it as a Action/Racing game. I almost did put this review in the Racing section because 100% of your game play time is spent as a vehicle but there is absolutely no racing going on. It is quite a action filled game but looking at that section you might imagine you'd spend your time running around as a powerful hero in a world of great fantasy and questing which does not fit all of TM:B's criteria.
To sum it all up, Twisted Metal: Black is a vehicular combat game with many underlying genres such as horror, shooter, fighting, fantasy and so on.
Also as a foreword, if you have a fear of clowns (Coulrophobia: The prefix "coulro=" comes from the Ancient Greek κωλοβαθριστής (kōlobathristēs), “one who goes on stilts”.) Then this game is absolutely 100% not for you. If you do have a fear of clowns and choose to ignore my warnings then make sure you either do not sleep alone, have a night light or television in your area of slumber, or some drugs to knock you out because you will experience many sleepless nights.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/TMBcover.jpg
Story
Anyone familiar with the Twisted Metal series knows this bit already but for those unfamiliar, it's rather simple to explain.
A mysterious and badly scarred man named Calypso hosts a vehicular combat based tournament in which players risk their lives to claim the tournaments prize -any single wish they desire, no matter the difficulty, rarity, or even reality of such wish.
There is a total of fifteen selectable players who are all inmates at Blackfield Asylum in the city of Midtown, where the games various arenas or levels take place. The diverse group of characters range from the Twisted Metal series mascot, a psychopathic, ice cream truck driving, serial killing clown named Sweetooth to a boy controlling his dead father by remote control named Yellowjacket.
Each character has a remarkable story that compares to a creation ranging from the darkest depths of Stephen King's mind to Rob Zombies gory and humorous take on serial killers like in his movie The Devil's Rejects.
When it comes down to story, TM:B has amazing creativity and originality vacant in most games.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/screen4.jpg
Game play
TM:B is a demolition derby that permits the usage of ballistic projectiles. Players choose a vehicle and an arena—or a series of arenas in the story mode—to engage in battle with opposing drivers. A variety of weapons and upgrades are obtainable by pick-ups scattered throughout the stage. The objective of the game is to be the last one standing.
The controls are set up extremely well with the default settings being well thought out and reminiscent to a shooter. With many other configurations to choose from, it's nearly impossible to find a button layout that doesn't comfort you. It takes a little while to get use to the fast paced action of the game as well as the control layout but once you got it down it runs much smoother then series' past.
The difficulty of the game is also something to praise and perfect for anyone looking for a challenge. When I say challenge I don't mean headache since the game is neither easy nor impossible since it uses a system where strategy and learning from past mistakes can make you an amazing player with any of the characters. You'll notice some characters are easier to play then others with each having a strength and weakness. This leaves plenty of room for strategy.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/screen7.jpg
Visuals/Sound
Visually, Twisted Metal: Black is easily one of the best-looking games for the PlayStation 2. Everything from the character selection screens to the loading screens are very stylized and polished. The vehicle models themselves are extremely detailed and have all kinds of attached little extras that give each one a unique look and a sense of true originality. Activating different weapons actually triggers vehicle-specific animations that show the weapons physically popping out of a little compartment on the vehicle.
The levels in TM:B are simply unbelievable--not only are they huge, but they also involve so much finding of new paths and destructible goodies; as well as discovering the games many Easter eggs that you can literally spend an hour on some levels just trying to find out where everything is. This feature not only remains true to it's past but manages to go all out in the series' first Playstation 2 installment.
Aside from vehicle models and level architecture, there is something that needs to be said about the amount of actual "blackness" in the game. A lot of what gives Twisted Metal: Black it's unique appearance and mood is the lighting. On the default setting, the game is extremely dark. All the vehicles are equipped with working headlights that effectively light your path. You can change this to be brighter or darker depending on your tastes, but either way, the game definitely has a dark, eerie feel to it. This darkness makes all the rockets, flames, and special lighting effects in the game look even more spectacular.
The sound department has a great mix of creepy and ambient music that plays while exploring and trolling the levels for power-ups that quickly change to a fast paced combat styled music whenever engaging a enemy or defending from one. The Rolling Stone's Paint it Black is the featured song of the game that not only perfectly fits in the title's opening sequences but the end credits.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/Blademaster77/157108-2-1.jpg
The Verdict
Twisted Metal: Black is a amazing game in all aspects. Being one of the first juggernaut titles for the Playstation 2 it's still going strong with a dedicated multiplayer community much like a hit cult film. Fans of the series past will need to experience this and newcomers alike will want to pick this game up since from top to bottom it is filled with what the series is all about. Just going through the game with one twisted character gives you such a great story it'll want to make you play the entire game. Not only is it unlike any vehicular combat game out there but it's also the only game of it's kind out there at all... until the Playstation 3 version makes a appearance that is.
Story - A+
Game play - Addicting
Visuals / Sounds - Utilizes the full power of the Playstation 2
Verdict - 100% or just go buy it already
Twisted Metal: Black is still available in a local gaming store near you and costs around five American dollars for a used copy. It's original and online version are available on Amazon.com for around eighteen American dollars and for those who don't have a Playstation 2, at least check out all the twisted character's story lines on Youtube.