Twisted Metal 2

If you didn't like the original Twisted Metal don't bother reading this review -- nothing substantial has changed in the sequel. If you liked the original Twisted Metal don't bother reading this review either -- there's plenty of new cars and tracks in the sequel. If you don't fall into the above categories, read on.

The Twisted Metal story is simple. Each year, a dozen-or-so misfits and malcontents meet for a battle royale in souped-up cars straight out of Death Race 2000. The last person alive gets any wish granted by Calypso, the man behind the Twisted Metal competition. Your job is to take control of one the these cars in a variety of locations and then blast your opponents to kingdom come.

Graphically, the game is identical to the original Twisted Metal. On the plus side, the landscapes are richly detailed and the battlefields are complex. On the minus side, the texture-maps still look horrible up close and clipping and pop-in is still plentiful.

The game also controls much the same as the original. This means you will eventually choose your ride based on a combination of 1) how cool it looks and 2) how often its handling doesn t make you want to throw your controller through the TV screen.

This time around, there are plenty of tracks and a wider variety of vehicles. It appears that Single Trac listened to the folks on Usenet and included cool new cars like a hearse, a bulldozer and a grotesque man/car thing, Axel, that gives me the willies. Also new to this game are "special moves" that anyone can pull off. These include a freeze ray, a shield, and reverse weapons.

The game still shines in the two player mode. Life doesn't get much better than chasing your buddy around in a cop car and nailing him with a tazer. In fact, if you are into two-player games, there's no reason for you not to buy this game.

Overall, Twisted Metal 2 is a cool game with plenty of replay value if you like beating a game 12 different ways or are into two-player games. It's just a bit surprising that the game looks so much like the original. I guess they decided "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".