Twisted Metal: Head-On
European PlayStation Portable cover art
Developer(s)Incognito Entertainment[a] (PSP)
Eat Sleep Play (PS2)
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)David Jaffe
Producer(s)Scott Campbell
Designer(s)David Jaffe
Scott Campbell
Writer(s)David Jaffe
Composer(s)Inon Zur
SeriesTwisted Metal
Platform(s)PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2
ReleasePlayStation 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 published by Sony Computer Entertainment on March 24, 2005 for the PlayStation Portable and February 5, 2008 for the PlayStation 2.[1] Santa Monica Studio assisted on development for both titles. Head-On was the seventh game released in the Twisted Metal series, and the first game in the series to ship fully online-enabled.

Head-On is a direct sequel to Twisted Metal 2, while ignoring the events of Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4 and other installments. 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.

PlayStation 2 port

A PlayStation 2 port of Twisted Metal: Head-On 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 is thus only available in NTSC format.

The PS2 port contains extra features and bonuses, such as the unreleased live action end movies from Twisted Metal, a behind the scenes documentary and a concept art book.[3] Each physical copy also comes with a code to download a Twisted Metal soundtrack. The documentary includes 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] It also lacks the online play feature of the original PSP version.[5]

Minigames

Head-On also includes minigames that players can access via teleporters, which can be found in each level during Story Mode. These are bonus levels where players must collect power ups while circumventing obstacles that require a variety of tactics, including destroying taxicabs, jumping over chasms, and destroying helicopters using napalm bombs. The catch is that most of these minigames are timed, forcing the player to think on their feet, as it were, while maintaining a balance of caution and risk. Reaching the end of the mini-game prior to the timer's ending allows the player to all their powerups. Several characters can only be unlocked by completing the minigames on certain levels.

Reception

The game was met with average to positive 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]

Notes

  1. ^ Santa Monica Studio assisted on development.

References

  1. ^ Twisted Metal: Head-On ported from PSP to PS2 this Christmas; New Eat Sleep Play studio PS3 and PSP games coming in 2008
  2. ^ Randy Nelson, "Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition: A surprise gift for Metal fans from the series' creator", PlayStation The Official Magazine 003 (February 2008): 44.
  3. ^ Casey Lynch, "Review of Twisted Metal: Head On: Extra Twisted Edition", GamePro 235 (April 08): 80.
  4. ^ Jaffe - Twisted Metal PS3 is Next Project Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ David Jaffe speaks on PSP-to-PS2 ports, Eat Sleep Play's PS3 game, and more Archived 2012-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b "Twisted Metal: Head-On for PSP". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  7. ^ a b "Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  8. ^ a b "Twisted Metal: Head-On Critic Reviews for PSP". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  9. ^ a b "Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  10. ^ Edge staff (June 2005). "Twisted Metal: Head-On". Edge. No. 150. p. 94.
  11. ^ EGM Staff (June 2005). "Twisted Metal: Head-On". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 192. p. 109.
  12. ^ Androvich, Mark (2008-02-05). "Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  13. ^ Bramwell, Tom (2005-12-21). "Twisted Metal: Head-On Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  14. ^ Reiner, Andrew (May 2005). "Twisted Metal: Head-On". Game Informer. No. 145. p. 128. Archived from the original on 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  15. ^ Miller, Matt (April 2008). "Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition". Game Informer. No. 180. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  16. ^ Four-Eyed Dragon (2005-03-07). "Twisted Metal: Head-On Review for PSP on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  17. ^ Lynch, Casey (2008-02-05). "Review: Twisted Metal: Head On: Extra Twisted Edition". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  18. ^ Dodson, Joe (2005-03-23). "Twisted Metal: Head-On Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  19. ^ Hurh, JP (2008-02-19). "Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  20. ^ Kasavin, Greg (2005-03-18). "Twisted Metal: Head-On Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  21. ^ Rivers, Trevor (2008-02-06). "Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  22. ^ Williams, Bryn (2005-03-23). "GameSpy: Twisted Metal: Head-On". GameSpy. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  23. ^ Graziani, Gabe (2008-02-08). "GameSpy: Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition". GameSpy. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  24. ^ "Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted Edition". GameTrailers. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  25. ^ Bedigian, Louis (2005-03-21). "Twisted Metal: Head-On - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  26. ^ Bedigian, Louis (2008-02-04). "Twisted Metal: Head On: Extra Twisted Edition - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  27. ^ Clements, Ryan (2008-02-01). "Twisted Metal: Head-on: Extra Twisted Edition Review". IGN. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  28. ^ Sallee, Mark Ryan (2005-03-18). "Twisted Metal: Head-On". IGN. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  29. ^ "Twisted Metal: Head-On". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. June 2005. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  30. ^ Mastrapa, Gus (2008-02-03). "Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  31. ^ Schaefer, Jim (2005-03-27). "A FAB FIVE: First PSP games race to the front of the pack". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on 2005-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-17.

External links

Twisted Metal series
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