A very addictive and ambitious vehicular destruction derby!
(-) the unlockable characters upset the balance of the roster
Mostly everyone knows that Twisted Metal started out here on the Playstation, with the demented creep who is Calypso hosting a demolition derby contest and the winner gets one free wish. But the wish usually backfires through a plot-hole and makes the life of the contestant miserable. This, in my opinion, is one of the best Twisted Metal games ever spawned and the one that made me a true fan to the series.
The core gameplay of Twisted Metal is as smooth and simple as it always was. You drive around in a car and pick up weapons like missiles and bombs, with a special attack and also shield, freeze and other abilities if you have the energy. There are a few new items though, like a missile that propels straight up and slams into an opponent on the ground, and another missile that flies in the air and shoots fireballs at opponents.
You have your usual characters, though they have been changed a bit since the last game. Demonic and insane Sweet Tooth has a deadly special that seeks opponents and destroys them on its own! Axel has his usual shock wave but sends enemies on fire. And Minion is bigger and badder than ever with his usual fire and freeze but it pushes the target opponent back pretty far. There are also numerous new additions, like Goggle Eyes that sprays rancid poison breath, Rob Zombie (you're kidding right?) which seems appropriate because his music is featured in the game, as well as some other bizarre additions. However the character roster seems unbalanced in my opinion. Because once you unlock the big dogs like Sweet Tooth, Minion, and others after playing the story mode, the other cars are simply no match for them.
You'll find yourself playing in a wide variety of levels with some interactive elements, like a construction yard where you can operate the crane, a city with a moving subway, Sweet Tooth's bedroom was a very surprising appearance, and a carnival. There are also unlockable levels that are really no more than pixel made blocks of colored lines that form simple environments like a pit, four islands, a mound, and others.
A first time feature in the game is the ability to create you own car, which is pretty limited to certain sizes and shapes, colors, only three special attacks, and an okay amount of voice acting for the specials but for some reason no female voices. As limiting as this feature is, it was a pretty smart move.
The graphics are pretty average for this generation. The vehicles look alright as do the environments, but it's easy to find some graphical glitches here and there such as falling through the level. But considering its console generation Twisted Metal 4 looks about as good as the limitations of the Playstation could permit.
If you talk about all time, this was the Twisted Metal game I've come to enjoy the most. Although future offerings on the Playstation 2 were more elaborate, they just don't satisfy the nostalgia I've come for this masterpiece. This is easily one of the greatest games that this generation had to offer.