In a word, “wow.” The graphics this time around in Twisted Metal III are very nice. The polygons are tight, as is the physics engine. I was amazed by the control and handling, and would go so far as to say the vehicles are as responsive and act similarly to the physics model in Gran Turismo. The sound is also outstanding. Sure, you have your basic explosion and machine gun sound effects, but you also get a kick-ass soundtrack from Rob Zombie and Pitchshifter. The music rocks, folks.

As in the past Twisteds, you battle your vehicle against another vehicle (or vehicles) on your way to win the Twisted Metal contest. If you win, you are granted one wish that will be enacted by Calypso, the head bad dude in the Twisted Metal universe. If you lose, well, you die (but you can always continue!). Twisted Metal III looks and sounds fantastic, but I have two problems with it. First, most of the level designs are boring, and all are pretty small. I can forgive that, based on how great the graphics are and how well the vehicles respond, but... (everyone has a big but) the game seems to move so slow. There is really no sense of speed in my opinion, which is my biggest complaint, and scored as such. I can live with the smaller levels/better graphics trade off, but the “need for speed” really gave me a flat. An impressive showing for 989 Studios in their first spin with the Twisted Metal license, but more work is needed.

The difficulty for Twisted Metal III is adjustable enough to accommodate anyone.

The game plays almost identical to the first two Twisted Metals, except now the Dual Shock Analog is supported. I was disappointed with some of the level designs -- some were as creative as the past games’ levels, but about half were fairly lame and uninspired. I also felt that the levels in TM3, although great looking, were very small. I guess they had to be to get those high quality graphics?