Review by: Shawn Quigley
Published: December 23, 1997

When Twisted Metal came out for the Playstation a year ago, it became one of the most successful titles for the platform. This fall Twisted Metal 2 was released and picks up where the last title left off. The story revolves around a battle or a contest to see who can be the last one standing. In the original Twisted Metal, the contest took place in LA, but this time around the action has moved to a worldwide venue. So, the contest begins to see who can win and survive the battle.

Twisted Metal 2 is an action game at heart with different vehicles and characters that are fighting for their lives. The game takes place in arenas, or different locations, that offer different settings for the battles to take place. There are over eight different locations for players to battle, each one offering different challenges to navigate.

The battlegrounds in Twisted Metal 2 are located all over the world. Los Angeles is still standing — barely — from the last contest held in Twisted Metal. This level is relatively small, making it more difficult to get away from the other enemies; and, there is a lightning generator that you can use to your advantage. The Paris location is one of the better levels, allowing players to take advantage of the fallen tower. In the Holland level, there are some windmills that players can get into, allowing you to play a little hide and seek during the battle. One of the most difficult levels, New York, takes place on top of all the huge skyscrapers that light up the skyline. What makes New York so difficult is that you have to be careful not to fall off the edge of any of the buildings or you definitely will die! This makes for some challenging battles. Imagine camping out on the edge of a building just waiting for someone to come crashing into you, thinking that they are going to knock you off. At just that second, you move away and watch them plummet to the ground — great effect. There are a couple other locations including Moscow and Antarctica.

What makes Twisted Metal 2 exciting are all the different types of vehicles from which to choose. This allows you to replay the game a number of times trying to figure out the best way to win with each vehicle. There are a a total of 12 cars that you can choose from in the beginning of the game. These cars are very different in what they offer to the gamer. The cars are named after the people that drive them. For example, Axel is a unique vehicle in Twisted Metal 2 that can be considered the signature vehicle to the game. Axel is a prisoner of his vehicle and needs to win the races to free himself. Each car in the game has a special weapon that it uses during battle. Axel’s weapon is a shockwave that expands out and hurts opponents depending on how far away they are. There are other vehicles such as Amanda, a deadly high-speed vehicle, and Simon, who has a jaw-slamming vehicle. These are just a few of the cars, with each one offering its own special weapon and attack to add more challenge to the game.

You can’t have an action game of this caliber without having some awesome firepower to use. Some of the weapons are projectile weapons that can be fired at opponents. These weapons are power missiles and homing missiles. Power missiles are the most destructive missiles in the game while homing missiles are great because they will track down your target. There is also an assortment of bombs, such as the ricochet bomb, which bounces around, and the remote bomb, which is great for setting and waiting for someone to stumble upon before detonating. There are other weapons such as napalm for setting others on fire and lightning for giving someone a little shock. You get these weapons by picking them up around the different locations. They are scattered around and sometimes are placed in difficult places, requiring you to get onto or go over something to get to them. There also are some non-weapon items such as first-aid kits used to repair your damage.