Twisted Metal: Black Online
It's TM:B. It's online. You should buy a network adaptor so you can get it. End of story.
Published: September 25, 2002
This will probably be the shortest review I've ever posted on the site, but that's only because I'm essentially reviewing what amounts to an add-on pack. So, if you're interested in the nuts and bolts of the Twisted Metal: Black Online's offline or core gameplay, feel free to take a gander at 101[/reviews]]this first. It'll set you up for what I'm about to wax ecstatic about for the next couple hundred words.
Now, assuming you've already played (or at least read our review of) Twisted Metal: Black, there's really no need to set things up. The online part of the title is self-explanatory, and for the most part, you play TM:BO as you would a regular offline game with a few small differences before the actual game starts. The music, levels, vehicles and controls are a carbon copy of the full offline game, so don't expect anything radically new when you first slip the disc in other than the noticeable absence of that eerie 19 note intro from "Paint it Black" as the camera swoops through the free-framed chaos on the way to the menus. Oddness.
TM:BO, like all online PS2 games, first checks your memory card with all your online info and loads in the necessary options. Once you've created an account (oddly enough located in the options screen of all places), you simply use your username and password to log in, which kicks you into the main lobby were you can choose the server closest to you. Being that this is a free mail-in, and most people won't have gotten their mailers yet, there's really nobody online as of this review, though a couple of us with advance copies were able to get together and zip into a match within a couple of minutes.
For those just wanting to get in on whatever action is already happening, you simply have to highlight the game you want and hit X. We had a bit of trouble connecting to a game thanks to our World's Crappiest Routerâ„¢, but eventually we were able to hop in and once in the game cruised along perfectly with no lags or pauses - even with the bandwidth cap that the World's Crappiest Routerâ„¢ imposes on everything slipping in and out of our DSL connection.
For those who want the party brought to them, you can create and host a game, tossing in bots to supplant flesh-and-blood-over-wire opponents. You're able to set options for maps (including single player maps like Suburbs, Junkyard, Freeway, Prison, Skyscrapers, Downtown, Drive-In Movie and Highway Loop; multiplayer-specific maps like Snowy Roads, Power Plant, Dogpound, Sewers; mini-versions of the single player maps with Mini Skyscrapers, Prison Ship, Asylum Halls, Mini Downtown and Mini Suburbs; and of course recreations of the boss levels for Minion's Stadium and Warhawk's Rooftop), how and when they cycle (frag limits, time, etc.), game type (deathmatch, last man standing, man hunt and collector, which charges you with picking up artifacts scattered all over the level before others can in a single life), car and adjust mods for the matches (limiting which weapon or vehicle can be used, how much the HUD displays, unlimited weapons, and the awesome power relics, which add a little strategy to otherwise familiar gameplay).
Graphics and gameplay-wise, it's the same game you've come to love (or should have by now), and impressively enough, manages to still hold it's own in light of all the releases that have come since it was kicked out the doors back in June of 2001. I suppose it's a testament to what Incog Inc was able to with their relatively limited time with the budding PS2 hardware, and should serve as a perfect example of what they'll be kicking out with War of the Monsters next year.
So, since this really isn't a question of "should I buy this game?" since it's entirely free, I suppose the only real question is, "should I send in the mailer for this game?" to which the answer is a resounding yes. Since nothing has changed I'm going to score this the same as I did back when I reviewed TM:B over a year ago. What are you waiting for, grab yourself a stamp, a pen (and if you don't have one, a network adaptor) and get to mailing!
Now, assuming you've already played (or at least read our review of) Twisted Metal: Black, there's really no need to set things up. The online part of the title is self-explanatory, and for the most part, you play TM:BO as you would a regular offline game with a few small differences before the actual game starts. The music, levels, vehicles and controls are a carbon copy of the full offline game, so don't expect anything radically new when you first slip the disc in other than the noticeable absence of that eerie 19 note intro from "Paint it Black" as the camera swoops through the free-framed chaos on the way to the menus. Oddness.
TM:BO, like all online PS2 games, first checks your memory card with all your online info and loads in the necessary options. Once you've created an account (oddly enough located in the options screen of all places), you simply use your username and password to log in, which kicks you into the main lobby were you can choose the server closest to you. Being that this is a free mail-in, and most people won't have gotten their mailers yet, there's really nobody online as of this review, though a couple of us with advance copies were able to get together and zip into a match within a couple of minutes.
For those just wanting to get in on whatever action is already happening, you simply have to highlight the game you want and hit X. We had a bit of trouble connecting to a game thanks to our World's Crappiest Routerâ„¢, but eventually we were able to hop in and once in the game cruised along perfectly with no lags or pauses - even with the bandwidth cap that the World's Crappiest Routerâ„¢ imposes on everything slipping in and out of our DSL connection.
For those who want the party brought to them, you can create and host a game, tossing in bots to supplant flesh-and-blood-over-wire opponents. You're able to set options for maps (including single player maps like Suburbs, Junkyard, Freeway, Prison, Skyscrapers, Downtown, Drive-In Movie and Highway Loop; multiplayer-specific maps like Snowy Roads, Power Plant, Dogpound, Sewers; mini-versions of the single player maps with Mini Skyscrapers, Prison Ship, Asylum Halls, Mini Downtown and Mini Suburbs; and of course recreations of the boss levels for Minion's Stadium and Warhawk's Rooftop), how and when they cycle (frag limits, time, etc.), game type (deathmatch, last man standing, man hunt and collector, which charges you with picking up artifacts scattered all over the level before others can in a single life), car and adjust mods for the matches (limiting which weapon or vehicle can be used, how much the HUD displays, unlimited weapons, and the awesome power relics, which add a little strategy to otherwise familiar gameplay).
Graphics and gameplay-wise, it's the same game you've come to love (or should have by now), and impressively enough, manages to still hold it's own in light of all the releases that have come since it was kicked out the doors back in June of 2001. I suppose it's a testament to what Incog Inc was able to with their relatively limited time with the budding PS2 hardware, and should serve as a perfect example of what they'll be kicking out with War of the Monsters next year.
So, since this really isn't a question of "should I buy this game?" since it's entirely free, I suppose the only real question is, "should I send in the mailer for this game?" to which the answer is a resounding yes. Since nothing has changed I'm going to score this the same as I did back when I reviewed TM:B over a year ago. What are you waiting for, grab yourself a stamp, a pen (and if you don't have one, a network adaptor) and get to mailing!
