Twisted Metal: Head On Lacks Replay Value

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good graphics, multiplayer, Twisted Metal name.

Cons: Single Player gets old and there's little replay value.

The Bottom Line: 
If you like Twisted Metal, vehicle shooting games, and good multiplayer on handhelds, this is a game for you. Beware of low replay value and a more kiddish appeal.

Author's Review
When the PSP came out, the game lineup was somewhat limited. After looking at several reviews, I decided Twisted Metal:Head On was going to be my first PSP game. I had played Twisted Metal on the Playstation 2, which was very hard and had very dark stories for the competitors. The PSP version, Head On, is rated T and the darkness is all but dumbed down to childish.

STORY:
There is not much of a story. It is basically just a shoot-em' up vehicle type game. Each character has their own story and once you win the game with a certain character, their story unfolds: usually not very long nor original. I found a lack of creativity evident in this PSP version. The endings for characters are done very cheaply it left me very dissapointed. No 3D animations. It's all flat drawings in slideshow format. This was dissapointing.

GRAPHICS:
Basically it's PS2 graphics squeazed into a handheld. Most of the graphics in-game are eye pleasing. When it comes to characters, they seems blocky. It's easy to pull off good graphics on a smooth car, but the real test is on a human model. People's faces in the game are done without much care. Hair is just a hair shape ontop on a head and hands are just a block with lines going through them. Despite these flaws the landscapes are rich, vehicles are well done, and enviornmental objects are usually interactive and detailed. In many instances, you can shot something within the enviornment which will change the enviornment, such as shooting down the Effil Tower in Paris.

SOUND:
In the first level there is actually a pretty decent musical track that plays. Other than that, all the levels had nice music which fit the enviornments. No more beeps and midi sounds from the Gameboy era, the PSP has real music. It's no wonder why the PSP can play quite good mp3's. All levels besides the first one have no music tracks. Just a bareable sound that plays.

GAMEPLAY:
Most people would buy this game because of its multiplayer feature. The ability to play wirelessly with up to 6 players is a feat which must excite many portable gaming enthusiasts. However, I have not yet been able to see the multiplayer in action. Single Player is somewhat short, but just barely bareable. There are approximatly 14 characters to choose from, all with different endings and special attacks.

Through levels, there are mini games which award you weapons and/or prizes; such as a new playable character or a new level to play on in another mode. These mini games help add to the gameplay, however, when you win some of these they give you cheat codes.

Codes which enable infinite weapons, mega guns (machine guns lock onto enemies), and a code that kills enemies in one hit. These codes can kill the game's life by a lot...no wait. It definetly kills the game. The game ends up being a long dragged-out period of time when you just track down enemies until they're dead. There is really no way you can lose after you know where all the health packs are. Thus, playing becomes almost like a chore. Cheat codes, while killing game life, help with gameplay as players have fun using the cheats when they could be getting bored. But after cheat codes gets old, the game itself won't ever be played again.

Other modes in Single Player are quite pointless since there is no reward to gain from winning. Endurance Mode is quite silly because all you do is fight an enemy until you die. Your total is counted and that is about it. Challenege is quite boring. Challenge Mode puts the player on the same maps they play in Story Mode but it's just one map and one rule: win the map. Extremely pointless and they only put it in the game so it would look good on paper that they had all these extra modes of gameplay.

OVERALL:
I do believe the multiplayer is a good option on this game, though I did not use it. Graphics are good, sound is nothing to complain about. Single player gameplay, however, could be better.

***UPDATE***
It's been over half a year since I wrote this review. I can honestly say I never play Twisted Metal anymore. Its replay value is pretty bad. I would not reccomend this for the long run. It's maybe a good rental game.