This review contains spoilers
I'm battening the hatches as I know there's a lot of die-hard fans of this installation who insist it's the best in the series, but my opinions are mine to wield no matter how poorly.
When people say a game is 'a product of its time', it often comes with all sorts of connotations. To me, this game is a product of its time in multiple ways and the context to understanding that is crucial. For those less versed in the clown game, this was the game David Jaffe (the original TM guy) and his crew got to make... AFTER 3 and 4, made by a different company of no relation who infamously made the game's initial bite completely toothless, forgoing the dark humor of the popular TM2 with extremely childish jokes like Sweet Tooth needing a dentist from too much candy, having a stage set in the North Pole with Santa's workshop or an angry cartoonish leprechaun who wants to be tall. So... What is the answer to having the reigns back on your franchise and wanting to prove that you should be taken seriously again? Shove in as MUCH murder and shock factor as humanly possible!
No, really. The first thing you're going to notice upon looking at our new cast is that they're in an asylum (Because crazy people are soooo scary! And speaking of being a product of its time, the unlockable child character is listed as having autism in his diagnoses like it justifies him being as 'crazy' as the others, lol.) and many of them are chomping at the bit for bloody revenge of some sort and this new mute bald Calypso who is often surprisingly honest with his wishes, which is the interesting polar opposite of how he was portrayed in all games prior, is just the guy to do it.
You're therefore going to see a LOT of 'I need this person(s) dead because reasons' motives that will often come perfectly true in grisly fashions and if that isn't their motive, chances are your driver will end up being the one dead because we need that body count. In particular, the character Preacher wanted the truth to his delusions that drove him to kill a baby and its family and upon finding out what he thought was a demonic possession/exorcism was merely a baptism and the demon was him all along, he takes this information well by... saying a man cannot run from himself and throws himself off the roof in suicide. You even hear him hitting a car after he falls while the screen cuts to black and credits. Shock value, I tell you. One interesting thing this game does do right for its aesthetic though is its soundtrack; past TM games were very 90s in their shredding guitars and 3-4 were full of licensed tunes by alternative artists of the time like Rob Zombie and One Minute Silence. This game forgoes both and instead goes for a deep, booming metal orchestral sound that helps sell the tension and unease you're meant to feel throughout the gameplay and story.
Not to exclusively jammer about corny edge and the early 2000s, the real reason I don't like this game and other people do. I sometimes think it's called Black because you cannot see SHIT. Even when I emulated it thinking I could get better quality than my tv and cranked up my screen brightness, save for the snow stage it's still personally extremely hard to make anything out for how dark the entire scenario tends to be with your only saving grace being the glowing around weapon pickups and colors showing which opponent car is which. Yet, not only is it dark... it's fast. If you came from earlier TM installments you practically have to hold onto your ass to keep control at the slippery speeds you fly to. Even in hindsight Jaffe and his team admit that because of their own tolerance levels rising as it went through testing, they cranked the speed higher and higher until it wound up at this point. Another thing past TM players might notice is the sheer ruthlessness of the AI - compared to before where the cars often went at each other as you'd expect in an elimination derby, THESE guys want YOU gone and the moment you're in their sights you had better be moving because they're on you like rabid dogs. This also isn't helped much for the balancing on the cars, making you feel like if you didn't pick the 'right' car (or be honest, used cheat codes) that you were just bound to make yourself miserable because your ride doesn't have enough armor to withstand the endless onslaught.
This paired with the aforementioned darkness and speed can provide some level of thrill that's surely what made it the classic it's considered, but perhaps a headache if you're not equipped for it. I know I can only play it for so long until my brain starts to ache, maybe I'm not built for this one and should hobble back to the baby fest that TM4 is. I think we can all agree that adding a helicopter boss in a game about ground level driving with tech that wasn't quite ready for that jump was rough though. Jesus christ.
TL;DR For 2002, this was rightfully a juggernaut slug that was meant to 'take back' Twisted Metal and put the pressure on. But in this day and age, as someone who's tried for ten years on and off to play this installation, it feels a bit too much too young too fast and overwhelming to the point of crossing the line between fun and obnoxious. I really do wish I could love this one as much as everyone else does.
When people say a game is 'a product of its time', it often comes with all sorts of connotations. To me, this game is a product of its time in multiple ways and the context to understanding that is crucial. For those less versed in the clown game, this was the game David Jaffe (the original TM guy) and his crew got to make... AFTER 3 and 4, made by a different company of no relation who infamously made the game's initial bite completely toothless, forgoing the dark humor of the popular TM2 with extremely childish jokes like Sweet Tooth needing a dentist from too much candy, having a stage set in the North Pole with Santa's workshop or an angry cartoonish leprechaun who wants to be tall. So... What is the answer to having the reigns back on your franchise and wanting to prove that you should be taken seriously again? Shove in as MUCH murder and shock factor as humanly possible!
No, really. The first thing you're going to notice upon looking at our new cast is that they're in an asylum (Because crazy people are soooo scary! And speaking of being a product of its time, the unlockable child character is listed as having autism in his diagnoses like it justifies him being as 'crazy' as the others, lol.) and many of them are chomping at the bit for bloody revenge of some sort and this new mute bald Calypso who is often surprisingly honest with his wishes, which is the interesting polar opposite of how he was portrayed in all games prior, is just the guy to do it.
You're therefore going to see a LOT of 'I need this person(s) dead because reasons' motives that will often come perfectly true in grisly fashions and if that isn't their motive, chances are your driver will end up being the one dead because we need that body count. In particular, the character Preacher wanted the truth to his delusions that drove him to kill a baby and its family and upon finding out what he thought was a demonic possession/exorcism was merely a baptism and the demon was him all along, he takes this information well by... saying a man cannot run from himself and throws himself off the roof in suicide. You even hear him hitting a car after he falls while the screen cuts to black and credits. Shock value, I tell you. One interesting thing this game does do right for its aesthetic though is its soundtrack; past TM games were very 90s in their shredding guitars and 3-4 were full of licensed tunes by alternative artists of the time like Rob Zombie and One Minute Silence. This game forgoes both and instead goes for a deep, booming metal orchestral sound that helps sell the tension and unease you're meant to feel throughout the gameplay and story.
Not to exclusively jammer about corny edge and the early 2000s, the real reason I don't like this game and other people do. I sometimes think it's called Black because you cannot see SHIT. Even when I emulated it thinking I could get better quality than my tv and cranked up my screen brightness, save for the snow stage it's still personally extremely hard to make anything out for how dark the entire scenario tends to be with your only saving grace being the glowing around weapon pickups and colors showing which opponent car is which. Yet, not only is it dark... it's fast. If you came from earlier TM installments you practically have to hold onto your ass to keep control at the slippery speeds you fly to. Even in hindsight Jaffe and his team admit that because of their own tolerance levels rising as it went through testing, they cranked the speed higher and higher until it wound up at this point. Another thing past TM players might notice is the sheer ruthlessness of the AI - compared to before where the cars often went at each other as you'd expect in an elimination derby, THESE guys want YOU gone and the moment you're in their sights you had better be moving because they're on you like rabid dogs. This also isn't helped much for the balancing on the cars, making you feel like if you didn't pick the 'right' car (or be honest, used cheat codes) that you were just bound to make yourself miserable because your ride doesn't have enough armor to withstand the endless onslaught.
This paired with the aforementioned darkness and speed can provide some level of thrill that's surely what made it the classic it's considered, but perhaps a headache if you're not equipped for it. I know I can only play it for so long until my brain starts to ache, maybe I'm not built for this one and should hobble back to the baby fest that TM4 is. I think we can all agree that adding a helicopter boss in a game about ground level driving with tech that wasn't quite ready for that jump was rough though. Jesus christ.
TL;DR For 2002, this was rightfully a juggernaut slug that was meant to 'take back' Twisted Metal and put the pressure on. But in this day and age, as someone who's tried for ten years on and off to play this installation, it feels a bit too much too young too fast and overwhelming to the point of crossing the line between fun and obnoxious. I really do wish I could love this one as much as everyone else does.