Twisted Metal 4

In concept, Twisted Metal 4 is a demolition derby which permits the usage of ballistic projectiles. Players choose a vehicle and an arena—or a series of arenas in the story mode—to engage in battle with opposing drivers. A variety of weapons are obtainable by pick-ups scattered throughout the stage. The objective of the game is to be the last one standing. The game's plot takes a different turn of events compared to its predecessors. Its intro video details the tournament's story, starting around the 1900s as a circus-type caravan that traveled across the country spreading destruction everywhere. A young Sweet Tooth finds himself amazed by the contest and runs off in its pursuit, entering and eventually winning. As his wish, he desires to become the star of Twisted Metal, which Calypso gladly grants. At first revered by the chaos he created, as time went on Sweet Tooth became jealous of Calypso, until he decides to initiate a coup d'état helped by a group of little clowns, and takes control of Twisted Metal. It is also discovered that Calypso's source of powers comes from a mysterious ring that consumes the souls of those who die, increasing his strength and youth, and Sweet Tooth having taken it, finds that he possess the same abilities as Calypso to grant wishes. He tends to cheat people with their wishes like Calypso does as well. ==Development==

After a contractual dispute with the developer of the first two games in the series, SingleTrac, Twisted Metal development duties were handed over to Sony's in-house development team, 989 Studios. In development of Twisted Metal III, the source code and physics engine for Twisted Metal 2 weren't available because they were property of SingleTrac. Therefore, new ones had to be created from scratch instead. The new source code introduced advanced physics simulation and AI techniques to the series. In development of Twisted Metal 4, the game was reworked to improve upon the shortcomings of Twisted Metal III, introducing smoother gameplay and softer physics. Levels were expanded further and an increased arsenal of weapons was created which would ultimately become exclusive to this game. ==Characters==

The game includes a total of 13 selectable characters from the start. Most characters were original characters created for the game, whereas a few of the returning characters appear as stage bosses without story. Unlike previous games in the series, each stage counts with its own boss (two bosses in The Oil Rig) to defeat in order to advance. Every boss becomes selectable after defeating the story mode at least once. The musician Rob Zombie is included in the playable characters due to the large number of his songs on the previous installment in the series, Twisted Metal III. == Reception ==

Twisted Metal 4 was less commercially successful than its predecessors, selling 465,000 copies by April 2001. The game received mixed reception from critics, holding a rating of 68.04% based on seventeen reviews according to review aggregator GameRankings. The licensed heavy metal and hip hop soundtrack was positively received, with Nix liking some of the more bizarre selections. Fielder and AllGame's Damien Thorpe regarded the soundtrack as fitting, with Fielder singling out the Rob Zombie remixes as the best selections, though he said that the music "doesn't really draw you in", and Chin complained of the songs' implementation causing them to become repetitive. George Ngo of GameFan expressed distaste for the Rob Zombie remixes, which he pointed out were holdovers from the previous game, and Shaun Conlin of The Electric Playground was annoyed by the reappearance of "Dragula", which had garnered a pervasive presence in video game soundtracks. Nix described the sound effects as muted but heavy and elaborated on the Dolby Pro Logic support's enhancements to the audio. However, he negatively compared the weak vehicle sounds to toy cars. Thorpe dismissed the sound effects as bland and uninspired, and Amrich was disappointed with their recycling from previous installments. ==References==