One of the best Twisted Metal games of all time? I'd like to think so!
User Rating: 10 | Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition PS2
Twisted Metal: Head On took me by surprise! First, I had no idea it even existed until I found it on the bargain shelf one day by accident. I then learned it was a game that was originally released on PSP and later converted and brought to ps2. I'm not going to go over the general principles of this game because honestly, if you haven't heard of what this series is about or played one of the games by now, there is no hope for you! There were many changes to this entry that went outside the regular realm of past Twisted Metal games and don't worry, they were all good. This game is easily tied with a couple of other entries in the franchise as my favourite Twisted Metal game. Head On stars 10 characters from Twisted Metal lore, many mainstays, and a few we haven't heard from in a long time. These characters include Grasshopper, Mr. Grimm, Outlaw, Roadkill, Shadow, Spectre, Sweet Tooth, Thumper, Twister & Warthog. The game has 3 modes: Story Mode, Challenge Mode & Endurance Mode. Story Mode is the main chunk of the game where you choose your character and proceed through all levels of the game in an attempt to win the Twisted Metal Tournament. In Challenge Mode you pick your character, pick a level, and choose 7 enemies to compete against in a one level free for all. And in Endurance Mode you pick your character, pick your level, and you are sent enemies one at a time, to see how long you can last. Here I am going to get in to the details of this game, so if you don't want me to spoil it for you, stop reading now! As for the levels in the game, there are 13 of them. Here is how they break down: 1) Big Blue Stadium; 2) Los Angeles; 3) you choose between going to either Paris or Egypt; 4) Los Angeles: Cousin Eddy [this is a boss level]; 5) Roman Ruins; 6) you choose between Russia or Greece; 7) Monaco; 8) Transylvania; 9) Tokyo Streets; 10) Tokyo Rooftops; 11) Tokyo: Dark Tooth/Tower Tooth [this is the final boss level]. One of the big differences in this game is that in each level (with the exception of the two boss levels) you can find a warp platform that takes you to an in-level mini game! Be warned, many of them are quite frustrating, but they are well worth it as they contain many great prizes! In Big Blue Stadium the mini game there gives you an extra life. The mini game in Los Angeles unlocks the secret character Mr. Slam! Awesome. The mini game in Paris unlocks the Paris: Death Match level (this is just a variation on the Challenge Mode of the game). The mini game in Egypt unlocks the Egypt: Death Match level. There is no mini game in the Los Angeles: Cousin Eddy level, but the first time you beat this level you unlock Cousin Eddy and one of his ATV riding henchmen for use in the game. The mini game in the Roman Ruins unlocks the Roman Ruins: Death Match level. The mini game in Russia unlocks the secret character Axel. The mini game in Greece unlocks the Greece: Death Match level. The mini game in Monaco unlocks two things, depending on how well you do. It unlocks the secret character Crimson Fury as well as an extra life. The mini game in Transylvania unlocks the Transylvania: Death Match level. The mini game in Tokyo Streets unlocks the Tokyo Streets: Death Match level. The mini game in Tokyo Rooftops unlocks two things, the secret character Hammerhead (ooh baby!), as well as an extra life. The last level has no mini game as you have to face 2 bosses. The first one is Dark Tooth, who is pretty easy. The second is Tower Tooth, who is . . . not so easy, but not so hard . . . all at the same time! It's complicated. Anyways, if you beat the game with 5 different characters, you unlock a special level in Challenge Mode where you can use Tower Tooth. This can only take place though in the Roman Ruins level. If you repeat the mini games over after initially completing them you can also unlock some secret codes. I managed to unlock four of them. To use the codes you have to start the game and be in-level. Once there you hold down the L1 & R1 buttons, then enter the code. The four codes I found are: 1) Mega Guns: press x, triangle, x, triangle; 2) Killer Weapons: press x, x, up, up; 3) Infinite Weapons: press triangle, triangle, down, down; 4) Trade Weapons for Health: press triangle, x, square, circle. The other major difference in this game was the character upgrades. Every time you make a kill on an enemy (in Story Mode) they leave behind an upgrade. The upgrades apply to your armour, machine guns, special weapon, health and energy, as well as giving you weapons bonuses. Once you gain all of these upgrades you can become and unstoppable force, it is awesome! You can make kills really fast when you are tricked out. I've had levels start and 5 seconds later I've already gotten rid of some poor sap! Gameplay remains killer on this game and the weapon and health pickups are even more numerous, which makes for a better experience. You can almost waste weapons in this game there is so much stuff lying around! There's nothing worse than having low health and no weapons, and you end up running around like an idiot because you can't find either of them. This game solves that problem with a vengeance. Twisted Metal: Head On also comes with a big bonus. Apparently work was started on a follow up to Twisted Metal: Black, called Twisted Metal: Harbour City. This game never saw completion because 6 of the lead developers were killed in a plane crash. However, as a bonus they released what they did have completed as a separate component on this game, which they called Twisted Metal: Lost. This game has the same modes as the Head On component: Story Mode, Challenge Mode & Endurance Mode. All of the characters from Black are back, including: Axel, Brimstone, Crazy 8, Darkside, Junkyard Dog, Manslaughter, Mr. Grimm, Outlaw, Roadkill, Shadow, Spectre, Sweet Tooth, Yellow Jacket & Warthog. However, there are only 3 levels to the Story Mode: 1) Suburban Terror; 2) Stadium Slaughter; 3) Carnival of Darkness. The suburb level I found to be OK at first, but it has definitely started to grow on me. However, the stadium and carnival levels (especially the carnival level) are perhaps two of the greatest Twisted Metal levels I have ever played! They were fantastic. The first time you beat Story Mode you unlock two things, the secret character 12-Pak, and the secret level Death Port. I really enjoyed 12-Pak, he looks like a twisted 80's NASCAR or something. As for the Death Port level, it's too bad you can only play it in Challenge and Endurance Modes, because it is good! It is a very small level where there is no place to run and hide, so it's constant action. Chaos, really! There is one more unlockable you can gain in Lost. If you beat Story Mode on Hard, you unlock the secret character Gold Tooth. Basically he's Sweet Tooth decked out in gold plating and cool wheels. It is quite obvious this game was going to be a follow up to Black, it is very similar in that it has that very dark and evil vibe to it. As a whole, this Twisted Metal game is a definite must have for any fan of the franchise. It is quite different from many of the other entries in the series, but different good, not different bad. And considering I found it for $19 on a discount rack you would be very hard pressed to beat the value!
