Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal brought to PlayStation 3 a legendary vehicular-combat franchise that had defined the whole subgenre on the original PlayStation. The principle remained untouched: you pick a bizarre vehicle, drive into a closed arena full of ramps, tunnels and destructible objects, and shoot at everything that moves. Each machine has its own special attack, on top of which you pick up rockets, mines and ammo scattered across the map and fire directly from a mounted machine gun. The handling is deliberately arcade-like, because the goal isn't the perfect racing line but the perfect hit. A set of defensive tricks is added too, from shields to invisibility, so combat isn't just about firepower but above all about timing.

The campaign is split into three storylines led by the series' iconic racers, including the clown Sweet Tooth, and their stories are told through live-action cutscenes in the style of cheap horror. The premise is always the same: the mysterious Calypso grants the winner any wish, only ever in the cruelest way possible. This darkly comic cruelty is typical of the series, and the second half of the game, an online multiplayer for up to sixteen players, builds on it. Alongside classic deathmatch came team modes and especially Nuke, in which you must capture the enemy leader and use his head to guide a missile onto the opposing team's statue.

Technically, this was a fast and legible game that managed to keep a full arena of explosions running without breaking pace, even though visually it felt more functional than spectacular. The soundtrack leans on hard guitar music and reinforces the impression of a title from a different, rougher decade. Reviews were decent, with criticism aimed mainly at the campaign's high difficulty and at the fact that the game arrived when interest in vehicular combat had already faded. Today, Twisted Metal is interesting precisely for its uncompromising nature. It's a loud, fast and utterly unserious affair that works best with a group of people around one screen, since the game supports split-screen. At the same time, it's the series' last major entry, so it also carries the weight of a full stop on an entire PlayStation era for fans.