Twisted Metal: Black

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Twisted Metal: Black is a vehicle combat video game developed by Incognito Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 game console. It is the fifth installment to the Twisted Metal series and was released June 19th, 2001. An online-enabled multiplayer-only variant, Twisted Metal: Black Online was released later as a free send away. Both TM:B and TM:BO were reissued as part of Sony's Greatest Hits program. TM:B is now available to download from PlayStation Store for $9.99. This is a direct re-port of the original PS2 version. If you purchased the Limited Edition of Twisted Metal (2012), you will obtain a code for a free download of the game.

Story

TM:B is set in a fictional town named Midtown. All the stories focus on the perspective of each of the characters. Most of the characters in the games are being held in Blackfield Asylum, a mental institution. They then meet a man named Calypso, whom people believe to have ability to grant anyone's wishes. However, the characters will have to win Calypso's Twisted Metal tournament to make their wishes. TM:B is set in a universe far from the world in previous installments, being more graphic, violent, and dark. Most drivers are also now asylum patients released by Calypso after killing the guards.

Contestants

TM:B has a diverse cast made up from both new and returning vehicles, some of which have changed drastically from their previous appearances. There are a total of 17 vehicles in the game: 10 are available from the start, 5 are unlockable, and 2 are unplayable.

Vehicle	Driver(s)	Availability	Newcomer Vehicle?	Wish
Junkyard Dog	Billy Ray Stillwell	Default	✔	Get payback on the man who took everything from him.
Brimstone	Preacher	Default	✔	Purge himself of the demon dwelling from within him.
Outlaw	Agent Stone	Default	✘	Return to the past to undo a horrible mistake that haunts his life.
Mr. Grimm	Mr. Grimm	Default	✘	Exact revenge on the man who turned him into a monster.
Roadkill	John Doe	Default	✘	Overcome amnesia and remember who he is.
Crazy 8	No-Face	Default	✔	Get revenge on the man who ruined his face.
Spectre	Bloody Mary	Default	✘	End her path of loneliness and find "true love".
Darkside	Dollface	Default	✘	Remove her mask.
Shadow	Raven	Default	✘	Return the favor to the high school bullies that shattered her life.
Yellow Jacket	Charlie Kane & Son	Unlockable ( * )	✘	Find sanctuary to life with his undead father.
Axel	Axel	Unlockable ( * )	✘	Return the favor on the man who murdered his beloved wife.
WartHog	Cage	Unlockable ( * )	✘	Remove his compassion for human life in order to become the best serial killer.
ManSlaughter	Black	Unlockable ( * )	✔	Kill Calypso.
SweetTooth	Sweet Tooth	Default	✘	To abate the curse inflicted on him by the Preacher.
Minion	1311832119 111145	Unlockable ( * )	✘	Previous winner of Twisted Metal.
Tanker	-	Unplayable	✔	Not competing; Enforcers of Warhawk.
WarHawk	WarHawk	Unplayable	✔	Not competing; Attempts to stop the final contestant.

Game Modes

Single Player

Story
Challenge
Endurance

Multi-Player

2-4 Player Death Match
2 Player Co-Op
2 Player Last Man Standing
Twisted Metal: Black Online

Single Player Battlegrounds

When playing the story mode in TM:B, you will not play at all the battlegrounds in one playthrough. Instead, you make a choice between the Suburbs and Freeway as Stage 2, Downtown or Highway Loop as Stage 3, and Snowy Roads or Drive-in Movie as Stage 6. All other stages are set: Junkyard, Minion's Stadium, Prison Passage, Skyscrapers, and Warhawk's Rooftop as Stages 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8, respectively.

An all-new element special in Black is Calypso's helicopter fleet. They will drop at times, dragging weapons and health. Environmental attacks are available at most levels, being much more effective than previous renditions.


Junkyard	Suburbs	Freeway (unlockable for challenge & multiplayer mode)	Highway Loop	Downtown	Minion's Stadium (unlockable for challenge & multiplayer mode)

Prison Passage (unlockable for challenge & multiplayer mode)	Snowy Roads	Drive-in Movie	Skyscrapers (unlockable for challenge & multiplayer mode)	Warhawk's Rooftop (unlockable for multiplayer mode)

Multiplayer Battlegrounds

In addition to all the single player battlegrounds being available for multiplayer use, there are several designed specifically for multiplayer deathmatch mode.


Asylum Halls	Dogpound	Elevators (unlockable)	Power Plant (unlockable)	Sewers (unlockable)	Prison Ship (unlockable)

Mini Downtown	Mini Suburbs (unlockable)

As their names imply, Mini Downtown and Mini Suburbs are just smaller versions of the original stages, making them more suitable for 2-player combat. The Skyscrapers level is smaller in multiplayer mode due to the absence of the cathedral and the round-shaped building.

PS4 Trophies

These trophies can be rewarded on the PlayStation 4 version of the game:

Picture	Name	Description
	Field Medic	Exchange your weapons for health.
	Bank Shot Bonus	Hit another vehicle with a bank shot using the Ricochet weapon.
	Like father, like son	Unlock Yellow Jacket.
	Out for Revenge	Unlock Axel.
	Sweet Shades	Unlock Warthog.
	Calypso's Nemesis	Unlock Manslaughter.
	Total Carnage	Inflict maximum damage in one attack.
	Perfect Ten	Score a hit with all 10 missiles of the Zoomy or Reticle weapons.
	Hard Fought Victory	Win a Challenge mode match with the difficulty set to hard.
	Homicidal Tendencies	Unlock the Freeway, Mini Suburbs, and Prison Ship levels.
	A Bloody Finish	Complete Story mode with any character.
	On the Hunt	Collect all Black Cubes.
	Beware!	Unlock Minion.

Trivia

TM:B is the first game in the series to get an M rating from ESRB, particularly due to the graphic depiction of violence in the game. TM(2012) would become the second game to have the M rating.
Unlike every Twisted Metal title released beginning with Twisted Metal III, Twisted Metal: Black was released outside of North America, receiving a PAL territory release.
- The PAL version of the game greatly suffered cuts which included the removal of all the cutscenes (except a heavily cut middle cutscene of the selected vehicle entering and leaving Minion's Stadium and a shot of the vehicle driving down a street in the ending cutscene). Other cuts included the removal of the Boeing 747, the loading screen text pieces and in game info of the drivers. However, these short clips of the cutscenes were shown in the credits, as well as a gameplay clip showing the 747 being shot down. Also, flaming drivers do not run screaming from the wreckage after you make a kill, though such feature returned in TM(2012). The full list of changes can be found in this link.
A producer of 3D and Flash animation created a series of six original Flash "Webisodes" to promote the release of TM:B, beginning with No-Face, followed by Billy Ray Stillwell, Dollface, Bloody Mary, and Mr. Grimm, as well as the series' iconic character Needles Kane.
Minion's loading screens in this game have coded messages that when translated reveal that he's actually Marcus Kane, and that he thinks that him, as well as the other drivers, are trapped inside Sweet Tooth's head. This is a reference to Marcus' story in Twisted Metal 2, as he also thinks the events of that game aren't real.
- David Jaffe commented that he came up with that idea at the very last minute into development and it was never in the plans.^[2]
The game's main theme is Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones.
Mr. Grimm's middle cutscene flashback takes place in 1971, during the Vietnam War, and in his ending, he states that he has been in the asylum for 30 years. From this, it can be deduced that the game takes place in the year 2001, four years before Twisted Metal (1995) takes place. This is further reinforced by newspaper clippings in the manual dated late 2000/early 2001. The manual (No-Face's journal) also states that Calypso freed the Asylum patients on June 19th. This means that the tournament began the same day the game was released on North America: June 19th, 2001.
TM:B can be seen on a billboard in the game "Downhill Domination" which was also made by Incognito.
Nearly every character in the driver selection appears very different than they do in their cutscenes. Some differences are almost unnoticeable without investigation; such as Sweet Tooth being more muscular and Dollface's mask being more intimidating. Others are very obvious; such as Bloody Mary's ghostly face and Agent Stone lacking his helmet.
This is the first TM game that Calypso doesn't speak during his own narrative, but as seen on some of the character's endings (Billy Ray, Preacher, Sweet Tooth, John Doe, etc.), they say what Calypso said to them.
This game was supposed to have a sequel called Twisted Metal: Harbor City, however it was cancelled. A few edited levels and a car from Harbor City were eventually released as an extra feature in Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition and goes by the name Twisted Metal: Lost.
- Early prototypes of Harbor City were eventually leaked in 2019 and 2021, and both can be played through an emulator.
The music from this game changes depending on the situation similarly to the first Twisted Metal game. Most stages have songs for when you're not in a fight, for when you're in a fight, and when there's only one enemy left.
As of now, this is Minion's last appearance.
The first prototype name proposed for this game was "Twisted Metal: Wasteland", as seen in David Jaffe's design document from October 13th, 1999.^[3]

Credits Video

Gallery

Promotion Renders

Loading Screen

Cover Art

Concept Art

Design Doc

References

[1] ttps://www.ign.com/articles/2001/06/19/twisted-metal-black-ships-to-stores-go-get-it

[2] ttps://www.youtube.com/live/T2W7oHcKDr4?feature=share&t=2086

[3] ttps://x.com/davidscottjaffe/status/929821316055687168

[mixedupfiles-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 https://criminalcrackdown.blogspot.com/2006_12_07_archive.html

[5] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20031123174935if_/http://www.cecilkim.com/character/04x.htm

[6] ttps://x.com/davidscottjaffe/status/929821316055687168/photo/2

[7] ttps://x.com/davidscottjaffe/status/929821316055687168/photo/3

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