The Twisted Metal car combat games made the PlayStation their home, but after making a promising transition to PS2 in the form of Twisted Metal Black, disappeared from the roster for the rest of the machine’s lifespan. Very much a SCEI property, Twisted Metal has been through the fingers of a number of developers, each adding their own twist to the game. Unlike many car games featuring combat, the game dispenses with racing altogether in favour of putting the cars in a battleground and letti ... more >>

The Twisted Metal car combat games made the PlayStation their home, but after making a promising transition to PS2 in the form of Twisted Metal Black, disappeared from the roster for the rest of the machine’s lifespan. Very much a SCEI property, Twisted Metal has been through the fingers of a number of developers, each adding their own twist to the game. Unlike many car games featuring combat, the game dispenses with racing altogether in favour of putting the cars in a battleground and letting them duke it out, like a rather darker version of the Battle Mode in Mario Kart on the SNES.

Incognito Entertainment is the studio responsible for the popular and quite addictive Twisted Metal Black on PS2. The company was formed from members of Singletrac, a developer which also worked on earlier Twisted Metal games. Now after a sabbatical from creating car combat games, Incognito returns with Twisted Metal: Head On for an all-new Sony console, the very shiny PSP.

They’ve done European publishers SCEE proud as they serve up more car-nage with fourteen characters who come to do battle in a tournament hosted by the ghostly car crash victim Calypso. Men with cybernetic arms, FBI Agents, Policemen, Ghosts, Death himself, and of course the insane clown Needles Kane all pitch up to do battle in locations that range from Tokyo to LA, going via Paris, Egypt, Rome and more besides. And as you’re coming to expect from the PSP library, the game features wireless gaming, and is about as extensive as it gets. Not only can you play ad hoc with up to 6 players, you can use game sharing to play people who don’t own the game in the Paris arena, or go online using the infrastructure mode and play against people from all over the shop. Sony’s big PSP push is gathering pace now, and arguments about the console having no games are becoming harder and harder to substantiate.
<< less