Combining the road rage-inspired dark fantasies of Mad Max with a twist of campy black humor, Twisted Metal III is a worthy addition to the emerging car combat genre. Though the game is sure to be a hit with newcomers of the series, fans of the previous Twisted Metal games will find that TM III doesn't quite fire on all cylinders. The story runs somewhere between Mortal Kombat and your wildest dreams of demolition derbies. But the paper-thin plot doesn't matter: you have a rad car and aren't afraid to use it. Whether you choose to control the monster truck driven by the little old lady, Mr. Grimm's motorcycle o' death, or what is quite possibly the coolest ice-cream truck ever, you'll speed and skid around the asphalt-covered levels, grabbing power-ups and blowing up your opponents with a wide array of vehicle-mounted weaponry.
In a game like this, several things are key: physics, control, and level design. Twisted Metal III departs from the previous games in the franchise. The levels are smaller and the physics and controls conspire to make the vehicles handle oddly. The bottom line: car-smashing fun that doesn't quite live up to the glories of the prequels. --John Cocking
Pros:
- Cool vehicles
- The London level
- Knocking your foes off the rooftops in Tokyo
Cons: - Driving in reverse using the analog controls
- There are some small, small levels
