Boys and girls, men and women of all ages, step right up to the carnival of chaos, the grind house of gore, the apex of destruction derby game play. Yes, this is Twisted Metal for the PS3, the latest installment in the Twisted Metal Franchise. The classic car combat game is reborn, sparing no vehicle from the destructive wrath of Calypso, leader of the Twisted Metal tournament.

The game focuses on basic car combat.  You pick a vehicle and are sent off to the battlefield loaded with a few basic weapons, but to do some serious damage, you must collect icons to gain new weapons. The outcome of each battle is influenced by what vehicle the player chooses.  Some are faster and have high attack power while others are lumbering behemoths with mountains of health under their belts. There is a whole buffet of weapons and cars from which to choose as well as your typical leveling up system in multiplayer and game modes ranging from an all out death match to Twisted Metal’s own original objective game type “Nuke”.

The single player differs from the multiplayer slightly. There are three characters to choose from, each with their own unique story modes, each to earn one free wish from a man named Calypso. The most prominent character is the franchise’s returning poster boy: Sweet Tooth the Clown. Sweet Tooth is a psychotic killer whose wish is to find the one girl who has gotten away from his rampages. The other two characters are Mr. Grimm, the son of a stuntman, and Dollface, a fantastic model with a dark secret. Who knows if they’ll make it to the end, or if their wishes are really what they expect them to be?

Overall the game is a great revival of the series and brings all sort of new fun to light. The only warning that should be given out would be for the pure graphic nature to the game. This is not for the faint of heart as you will see body parts flying all over the place. Other than the graphic nature, Twisted Metal is a fantastic addition to a great franchise; it’s certainly worth checking out.