

Finally, the new remote weapons are a nice addition to the arsenal. They have a lot of variety, are interesting for the most part and are full of secrets. The arena designs are better this time around as well. Gone are the constant and annoying flip-overs from III (although the programmers over compensated for this a bit by having the cars flip back a little too quickly). The game engine plays and feels very much like the first two offerings from Singletrac. The good news: 989 went back to the drawing boards and has given us a better game than the previous offering that was Twisted Metal III.

Every Twisted Metal game only tends to take baby steps outside its tried and tested format, and there's little change in the fourth installment. If you're hoping to immerse yourself in plotlines and find challenges with a good learning curve, you're not going to get much out of it. It's also great as a brainless party game. What the game accomplishes - it serves well as a thrilling destructive battler should you have a few moments to kill.

Also, not forgetting the addition of Rob Zombie as a playable character! Of course, the narrative is a little crazier - which is entertaining - but like many games of the genre, Twisted Metal 4 becomes stale pretty quickly. There are improvements from its predecessors, including physics, visuals, and overall gameplay tweaks. While the romping vehicle destruction is fun - the controls still feel a little stiff. It's pretty straightforward - a choice between a competitive tournament and a deathmatch will test our skills as top dogs in the Twisted Metal trade. Each with their own unique abilities to head forth and unleash fury on the other cars in the arena. Like all the other games - you'll be presented with a selection of suped-up vehicles to choose from. Low and behold, he takes over the tournament, and mayhem ensues. The fourth game features a clown named Sweet Tooth passionate about the Twisted Metal competition that rival clown Calypso runs. They do give you the shivers whenever they come on the screen - but perhaps that is part of the intrigue in the series. I, like many, have a bit of disdain for the characters centered around Twisted Metal - those creepy clowns.
