Overall: 9.8. Twisted Metal 2. A car combat game that took a relatively simple formula from TM1 and just blew it up into something that still remains one the greatest and most influential games in gaming history.

The concept is simple. Drive around picking up weapons such as missles, bombs, napalm, etc and destroy your enemy before they blow you away. Man, what a genius idea. Drive around blowing stuff up? Who doesn't love that! TM2 took that basic idea from TM1 and added more interesting characters/vehicles, more diverse and bigger environments (all of which had destructible elements) and smoother controls (always a plus!).

Tack on a multiplayer mode and this game is just flat out fun to play with friends and can easily consumer hours upon hours of your time.

Graphics: 10. TM2's graphics are AWESOME. Now I'm including the destructible environments when talking about this. Whether it's blowing up the Eiffel Tower or escaping from the collapsing ground in the Arctic, you're always interacting with the environment. Not only are these features unique but they are pulled off fantastically. Explosions look great and realistic. Your vehicle appearance changes as it obtains damage. It all comes together to look just beautiful.

I think full motion video of the various endings would have looked better than the still images but I think the art style looks great and definitely enhances the experience in some aspects.

Sound: 10. Boom. You'll be hearing a variation of that word A LOT. The music is pretty good but the sound effects of explosions and weapons is fantastic. The voice acting is also very, very good. You don't get to hear a lot of it except for the intro and then the endings so you might not notice it much but it's rock solid.

Addictiveness: 10. I wish I could crank this number up to 11. This is such an easy game to pick up and play. Whether you're alone or with friends, it just never gets old. Since each character has their own ending, you'll want to play over and over until you get to see them all. Back in those days we couldn't look them up on youtube so there is definitely more mystique to them back then.

Story: 9. The story is so simple. Some maniac wants people to kill each other for his amusement. I guess he has special powers to grant them any wish they want? Doesn't make all that much sense really, but it's good enough. The story gets a high rating because there are so many alternate endings as well as side stories with the hidden characters Sweet Tooth and Minion.

Depth: 10. TONS of depth here. Every vehicle has it's strengths and weaknesses. You got the sports car Spectre that is fast and has good handling but can't take a pounding. Axel has giant wheels so you can just run over other vehicles but the handling is weak. Grimm Reaper is fricking motorcyle! How much damage do you think that guy is gonna take. Each of them has their own special weapon. Spectre with homing missles that go through walls and sonic shockwave from Axel. But by far the best is Minion with the triple homing missle that just decimates an enemy vehicle. There are special moves that are executed from button combinations- It's been awhile since I played but I think its Left, Right, Up for freeze? Each stage has something different to offer with hidden power ups- destroy the Eiffel Tower to create a bridge to a rooftop and find power missles. The stages are so diverse and expansive that you really feel immersed into the environment. As mentioned previously, there is an ending for each character which increases the replayability.

Difficulty: 7. The game can be pretty tough actually. They have difficulty levels but you can only go halfway through the game (up until Mini boss Minion) on Easy. Playing on Co-op helps a lot but you don't get the special character ending unless you beat it on single player mode. One thing that can't be faulted for the difficulty are the controls. They are rock solid and much better than the original. I believe in the original you couldn't turn your car while stopped. Sure, that's not realistic, but this makes it a little easier. Beating the game with some of the characters seems absolutely outrageous (looking at you Grasshopper).

I honestly haven't played this game in a long time but I'm going to have to rectify that shortly. If you can get your hands on a copy, which isn't too hard on ebay, you'll be satisfied with the purchase. One of the best games that the PS1 has to offer and that's saying A LOT.