Scrap Metal Preview (Xbox Live)

Next stop, Awesomeland. With Mr. Awesome.

2010 couldn’t have started better for Xbox Live.  Last week, D3 Publisher released the fun Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond, and this week will finally see the release of Serious Sam HD.  But you haven’t seen anything yet.  Xbox Game Room is set for launch this March, Rocket Knight and Bonk revivals are on the way, and then there are the little surprise titles sneaking up on us, including Scrap Metal, the latest endeavor from Slick Entertainment (the creators of the hit game N+).

What is Scrap Metal all about?  Well, it’s essentially a clone of the Twisted Metal games, played from a top-down perspective (rather than behind-the-vehicle).  This view enables a wider view of the battlefield, making power-ups and opponents easier to see.  (This way, you won’t see someone sneaking up behind you for an easy kill.)  You choose from multiple racers on the brink of desperation, looking to better themselves by competing in the Scrap Metal tournament to become king of the road.  As expected, this road has plenty of speed bumps.  And by speed bumps, we mean vehicles armed to the hilt.

The early-going missions in Scrap Metal depend on sheer survival.  You’ll need to stay in one piece in order to survive each battle, as opponents come at you from all sides.  Fortunately, over the course of each event, you can track down health icons, along with nitro boosts to speed you out of nasty situations.  Survive long enough and you’ll acquire cash for your victory, which you can turn around to improve your vehicle in the local shop.  Strengthen your armor, increase your speed, or add more powerful weapons.  The choice is yours.  (Personally, we’d divide the money between armor and weapons, since you’ll need both.)

Unlike the Twisted Metal games, however, you aren’t stuck with the one vehicle through the campaign.  25 various vehicles are available.  Some bigger ones are ideal when it comes to taking damage, while those with small frames are faster.  You can even acquire yourself a hovercar straight out of Back To the Future II if you prefer, even though handling them is trickier since their tires don’t grip the ground.  Each one has specialty weapons assigned to them, including machine guns, rocket launchers and flamethrowers.  Oh yeah, there’s plenty to do damage with here.

For sale: one car, slightly used, impacted by missiles. Dirt cheap.

Scrap Metal’s single player campaign has 60 missions in all, with increasingly tougher enemies to face and certain conditions to meet during each event.  If you prefer multiplayer chaos, however, you can try out Destruction Derby and Crooked Cops.  Destruction Derby is exactly as it sounds, an eight-person battle where winner takes all.  Crooked Cops, however, is more interesting, as you’ll run across pursuers in nearly invincible police vehicles.  Both games support four players through Xbox Live, or you can play locally with friends.

Slick Entertainment’s latest game is certainly more colorful than its previous effort, N+.  The explosions, realistically modeled vehicles and fast-moving frame rate look outstanding at this point.  There’s also the option to play in 3-D, should you have the old-school red-and-blue glasses to see the effect.  (If you don’t, it’s possible Slick will offer them through a mail-in promotion, like Namco did with Legendary Tiger.)  It’ll be a retro-style effect, rather than what you’d get out of the new-fangled 3-D technology introduced this past week at CES.  No matter, we’ll definitely take it.

There’s no question that Scrap Metal is on the expressway to our hearts.  The gameplay looks like it’ll be lots of fun, backed by online support and a superb presentation.  It’s almost like Slick is hooking us all over again, as it did with N+.  We’ll see how this ride handles when the game hits the Xbox Live road this spring.