O.k., first off, let’s get this out of the way. Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 was made by Singletrac, who made the first two Twisted Metal games. 989 (Sony) made Twisted Metal 3 when Singletrac went off on their own (Sony retained the rights to the game and characters, etc.). Now, as much as I would rather not, obviously I’m gonna have to compare the two. So here it goes...

The graphics for Rogue Trip are pretty darn good. There is a marked improvement from Twisted Metal 2. The graphics are much more crisp and clear, and the sound is pretty cool too. There are the ever so currently popular techno-tracks, as well as music provided by The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. Now, the ‘Tones ain’t really my bag, baby, but I really do like this trend that we have been seeing as of late, with bands loaning songs to games. Even though Singletrac has squeezed better graphics out of the PlayStation, Twisted Metal 3 has better graphics. Due to the kick-ass sounds of Rob Zombie and Pitchshifter, I’d also have to give the nod to TM3 in the sound and music department.

You are in a car. There are other cars on the screen. Kill them.

Ok, if you’ve played Twisted Metal or Vigilante 8, you know how to play Rogue Trip. Pick a vehicle, and go nuts! Rogue Trip has some great level designs, but unfortunately has some of the weakest characters to choose from. I really couldn’t get excited by any of them, or their vehicles, but that’s pretty much my only complaint.

I am getting tired of saying this, but here it goes: There are many difficulty settings to choose from in Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012, so anyone can jump in and become one with the madness.

The level design in Rogue Trip is better than Twisted Metal 3, the frame-rate is better than Twisted Metal 3 (to be fair, TM3’s graphics are better), and Rogue Trip has cooler weapons. Once you launch a meteor shower on your opponent, you know this game is no dog. Did I say dog? How about launching a pack of toy poodles at your opponent? You know they’re hot on your heels when you hear them “yipping” behind you (I guess the programmers were big fans of “The Tick”). A feature that also separates Rogue Trip from the rest of the pack is the sightseeing gimmick. You can play as a renegade driver delivering vacationers to various “photo ops” around each level. If you do so, you get a nice chunk of change that can be used to buy better weapons or to repair your car. Other players can hit you with an “Eject” attack that launches the customer into the air, and all the cars can scramble to pick him/her/it up. (My favorite is the alien that screams “Stupid Earthling!” when you pull a bonehead move). Initially, I hated the “vacation” option with a passion, because it took away from what Twisted Metal was. Now that I’ve spent some time with it, I like it much more -- if fact, it’s one feature that separates itself from the other games.

Sure, Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 might not look as nice as Twisted Metal 3, but it sure has wild weapons and a sense of speed, due to a higher frame-rate. Gameplay wins on this day.