I've played this game extensively (almost 30 hours) and as of 9/6/2025, a patch was released which addressed the issues expressed in the negative review. I've waited a long while before writing this review, so hopefully it is a objective and fair assessment of the game's overall experience.
As a Twisted Metal fan who still wonders whether Sony will do a new game in the series one day, I'm happy to get fan-made games of Twisted Metal that go above and beyond to replicate the TM car combat formula, add some personal touches, and include ideas and concepts that may not have ever been in the original TM games. Death Metal Derby is a car combat game that's basically Twisted Metal, but with original characters and levels. There are clear influences from the TM series in terms of characters and levels and stories (the most obvious one is the host, Levid, serving as the "Calypso" in this game), but admirable effort is made to create an original world with its own characters and stories, as well as recreating the car combat gameplay of TM.
For those who are curious, this game features the following:
-A Campaign mode, with stories and endings for 12 characters (some characters cannot be played in this mode due to not having any stories). The campaign is structured in a 5-level format; the first level is a 1v1 on a Small arena, the next 3 levels are on Medium-Large maps vs more enemies, and the last level is a boss fight
-A Deathmatch mode, which lets you play any of the characters and levels that you have unlocked
-A "Hall of Heroes" that basically serves as a Gallery mode, letting you view character comic book intros/endings, cutscenes, and in-game accolades/achievements
-An Options Menu that allows you to adjust the game window screen size, framerate (30-144 FPS and Max), difficulty (up to 7 difficulties - Super Easy, Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Deathwish), V-Sync
-Lots of cheat codes and secrets to discover. Some codes unlock characters, some let you access secret levels, and some serve as actual in-game cheats that give you a modifier (Infinite Weapons, anyone?)
-This game can be played up to 4-Player splitscreen in Campaign and Deathmatch mode, locally and remotely (the original TM series only had 2P Co-Op while 3-4P is Deathmatch only)
Below is a list of Pros and Cons I have of the game.
Pros:
+ Lots of unlockables and secrets to find. As a TM player who prefers a single player experience with substantial unlockables to get, this game was practically made for me.
+ Distinct cartoony/comic book-y art style and presentation.
+ Characters have comic books presenting as their intro and ending; a neat alternative for animated movies or text based endings. Character personalities and motivations are a nice mix of selfish and benevolent, and the character endings maintain the twist aspects from the main TM series
+ Large base roster of characters and levels; there are 20 unique characters and 26 unique levels in this game, which is far more content than most TM games.
+ Some unique character/vehicle based traits not utilized in the main TM games; for instance, one of the vehicles (Von Tesla) has infinite Turbo due to his character motivation being that he wants to give Infinite Energy to the world. Another character/vehicle is a butcher whose Special is entirely based around running over pedestrians on the map, who serve as ammunition for the Special.
+ This game properly replicates the intended "battle royale" aspect of the Twisted Metal contest; the AI actually fight each other and wear each other down/kill each other. Harder difficulties and certain levels may see less of that happening, but it's still a viable strategy to let the AI go at each other - especially if using a vehicle that has low armor. In the main TM series, only TM3 and TM4 have this happening to an extent, and in all other TM games the AI gang up on you.
+ The game is sound technically, running with little to no hints of lag (despite the visual noise and amount of enemies on screen), and the load times are reasonably fast. Deathmatch with 10+ enemies on smaller maps are more likely to see heavy lag, but at least it's only under a very specific (and understandable) circumstance.
+ Having a Weapon Wheel, which none of the main TM games had. Wonderful option
Cons: (Some of these may verge on nitpicks due to the possibility of being easily addressed in future updates)
- I enjoyed some of the levels (Rooftop Rampage is my favorite), but some of the other levels are a mixed bag; partly due to them feeling like there could be more to them (Pyramid Pummel for instance could take more inspiration from TM Head On Egypt and include secret paths) or not playing out well (Doom and Bloom is a large map that has a lack of cover and pickups are too spread apart, to the point that the level feels impossible on harder difficulties). It's nice to have 26 levels, but more levels at the quality of Rooftop Rampage would be great.
- Some of the character Specials need reworking. Things such as there being 2 different Specials that are shared between 4 characters (mutually exclusive), and some are hard to use and don't do the damage to justify their difficulty of use.
- Tracking on some homing weapons are somewhat unreliable; if you're not fully facing an enemy, the homing weapon may end up curving around them. Sloped angled surfaces may also mess with tracking and cause homing weapons to overshoot the target
- Map interactivity could be expanded upon; most map interactions are primarily limited to destroying objects and buildings, but nothing like accessing secret rooms or creating unique passageways.
- No customizable controls. I did get used to the controls, but it would be nice to change into the traditional TM controls. There are two buttons that do Jump; it would be nice to change the secondary Jump button into a different function, like Braking. For that matter, no PS4 controller support
- Lastly, while it's understandable that making unique stories (given that the character will have fully voiced intros and endings with accompanying comic book strips) can be time consuming, it's still a bummer that all characters cannot be played in Campaign mode. Some of the character bios at the Character Select screen for the Campaign-inaccessible characters already show that character having a particular wish or desire, so it's practically begging for a Campaign Story to see how their wish unfolds.
When this game released, although I enjoyed the game, the initial $30 price tag might be a bit much for anyone to truly recommend it - even for hardcore TM fans. Now with the 9/6/2025 patch (which addressed a number of issues, such as reducing visual overload and re-balancing difficulties) and an accompanying price drop to $15, I'd say this game is worth giving a shot.
