Twisted Metal: Head-On

Developer(s)	Incognito Entertainment (PSP) Eat Sleep Play (PS2)
Publisher(s)	SCEA
Director(s)	David Jaffe
Producer(s)	Gene D. Martin
Designer(s)	David Jaffe Scott Campbell T. Don Henderson
Artist(s)	Gene D. Martin (lead)
Writer(s)	Tom Kling (stories) Gene D. Martin (stories) David Jaffe Scott Campbell
Composer(s)	Inon Zur
Series	Twisted Metal
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2
Release	PlayStation Portable NA: March 24, 2005 EU: November 4, 2005 PlayStation 2 NA: February 5, 2008
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

Twisted Metal: Head-On is a vehicular combat video game developed by Incognito Entertainment and released by Sony on March 24, 2005 for the PlayStation Portable and February 5, 2008 for the PlayStation 2.^[1] Head-On shares not only the distinction of being the seventh game released in the Twisted Metal series, but also is the first game in the series to ship fully online-enabled.

Head-On is a direct sequel to Twisted Metal 2, ignoring the events of Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4. Akin to other games in the series, Head-On revolves around the same theme of a man named Calypso holding a vehicular combat tournament called "Twisted Metal" with the promise of granting the winner whatever they ask for. In 2006, Twisted Metal: Head-On was one of the first games in the PSP Greatest Hits line in the U.S.

PlayStation 2 port

In 2007, it was announced by David Jaffe that Twisted Metal: Head-On was to be ported to PlayStation 2 and was released on February 5, 2008. The game was developed by Jaffe's newly formed studio Eat Sleep Play and was retitled Twisted Metal Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition.^[2] It was never released outside of North America, and only in NTSC format.

It contains extra features and bonuses such as the live action end movies from Twisted Metal, (which at this point, had never been officially released) a behind the scenes documentary, and a concept art book.^[3] There is also a code to download a Twisted Metal soundtrack. The game contained an answer to a question Twisted Metal fans have been asking for a long time. After fans deciphered a message in the Dark Past documentary as reading "Twisted Metal is coming on psthree", Jaffe confirmed it himself.^[4] The PlayStation 2 port did not have online play.^[5]

Twisted Metal: Head-On Extra Twisted Edition

The full game is ported over from the PSP to PS2 with all the same modes from the PSP version.

• Story Mode
  • Drivers choose their vehicle and progress through a series of arenas.
• 2-player split-screen
• Challenge Mode
  • Drivers choose their vehicle, arena, AI controlled enemies, then go off to battle.
• Endurance Mode
  • Drivers take on an endless onslaught of AI controlled opponents until the driver's death.
• Has an exclusive level, Transylvania Castle.
  • Combat takes place in a highly interactive and complex Romanian castle and its surroundings, with multiple features that could cause instant death.
  • Rather than compose two entirely new songs for the added stage, Transylvania simply features themed remixes of the Dark Tooth/Tower Tooth music from the PSP version. To compensate, one very basic, new track was created for the PS2 final battles: A moderately upbeat and generic tune that noticeably lacks the dramatic nature of the original tunes.

Sweet Tour

Players can run around as Needles Kane and explore a new level on foot and learn factoids about the Twisted Metal franchise straight from the developers. This is simply a bonus feature and not to be confused as a real game. Sweet Tour was going to be a new adventure mode to be included into Twisted Metal: Black 2 (a.k.a. Twisted Metal: Harbor City) before that game was canceled. It was supposedly going to feature Preacher as another character that could be played with. The player would then accept missions from different characters. It contains two levels: Asylum and Impound Lot. The asylum is where Sweet Tooth has been captured and locked up in a cage. However, he escapes which leads him to explore the abandoned asylum to find an exit. The second level, the impound lot, is the place where the cars are parked and it has many traps. The traps were not finished at the time, however, and players could walk through them without getting hurt.

Minigames

Head-On also includes minigames that players can access via teleporters, which range in location from the Eiffel Tower to the Great Pyramids. These are small games where players must collect power ups while circumventing obstacles that require a variety of tactics, including jumping over chasms, and destroying helicopters using napalm bombs. The catch is that the games are timed, forcing the player to think on their feet, as it were, while maintaining a balance of caution and risk. Players reaching the end of the mini-game prior to the timer's ending keep all their powerups. Several characters can only be unlocked by completing the minigames on certain levels.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PSP) 78.84%[6] (PS2) 73.16%[7] Metacritic (PSP) 79/100[8] (PS2) 73/100[9] Review scores Publication Score Edge 6/10[10] EGM 6.67/10[11] Eurogamer (PS2) 6/10[12] (PSP) 5/10[13] Game Informer (PSP) 8.75/10[14] (PS2) 7.25/10[15] GamePro [16][17] Game Revolution (PSP) B[18] (PS2) D+[19] GameSpot (PSP) 8.5/10[20] (PS2) 7.5/10[21] GameSpy (PSP) [22] (PS2) [23] GameTrailers 7.5/10[24] GameZone (PSP) 9/10[25] (PS2) 8/10[26] IGN (PS2) 8.4/10[27] (PSP) 8/10[28] OPM (US) [29] The A.V. Club C+[30] Detroit Free Press [31]

The game was met with positive to average reviews upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 78.84% and 79 out of 100 for the PSP version,^[6][8] and 73.16% and 73 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version.^[7][9]

References

External links

• Twisted Metal: Head-On at MobyGames
• Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition at MobyGames
• Official website (Europe) (PSP)
• Twisted Metal: Head-On at playstation.com (North America) (PSP)