A Technical Analysis of the Twisted Metal 2 PS1 Manual
Date originally created: August 30, 2002
Twisted Metal 2 is a videogame developed by Sony Computer Entertainment America and SingleTrac. Released in late 1996 for the Sony Playstation, The gameplay of Twisted Metal 2 involves you selecting a car equipped with machine guns and special weapons and destroying other computer opponents across eight levels. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the printed manual that comes with the game and see what it's strength and weaknesses are. I will break my analysis down into various sections for readability.
The Cover Art
The first thing most people see when looking at a manual is its front cover art
if it has any or title of the product. For a manual to be good, I believe the
cover art must be eye catching and demonstrate a sense of what the product is
about. In this case, the Twisted Metal 2 PS1 manual definitely does not
disappoint. The cover art on the front shows four of the games characters, Axel,
Twister, Mr. Slam, and Hammerhead fighting each other in front of a burning
Eiffel Tower under a hellish looking sky in full color. The title of the game is
prominently displayed in a metallic font with bullet holes and Sweet Tooth's
head between the words METAL and 2.
This is an excellent example of good cover art because it is attention grabbing and, in a single image, conveys exactly what the game is about and what you will be doing. As stated above, Twisted Metal 2 is a vehicular combat game, and showing the four main characters locked in deadly combat against each other perfectly sums up the gameplay. Your eyes immediately get drawn to Axel first, with his two massive wheels and his character screaming in raw agony as he attempts to run over Twister, the blue race car trying to escape under the wheels. To Axel's right, you see Mr. Slam precariously close by about to deliver a slamming chomp with his metallic teeth-equipped front loader construction vehicle. Behind Mr. Slam we see Hammerhead firing projectile missiles at Axel, about to make contact. Behind Hammerhead to the right, we see huge flames engulfing the Eiffel Tower under a hellish sky. This is mostly accurate, as one of the game's levels does take place in Paris, France; however the sky itself in that level is blue instead of a hellish overcast, and to my knowledge never becomes that way during gameplay. This is possibly one downside of the cover art as someone might pick up this game expecting the level to look like that in-game and might be disappointed when they see a regular blue sky instead. Finally, the other important thing to note is that the Playstation logo is prominently displayed on the left-hand side and the region information is displayed in the upper-left hand corner (the NTSC U/C box). This is another good example of technical manual design as it quickly allows someone purchasing the game to know that they are purchasing the right version of the game in the correct region that matches their Playstation console.
Back of the Cover Art - Essential
Information and Warnings
The first page of the manual that's immediately behind the cover art details
essential warnings that are important to know before starting the game, such as
the small possibility of seizures while playing, special considerations to
projection TV owners, and how to properly handle the game disc. There is also a
hint line with information for both the United States and Canada and a consumer
product support phone number in case additional assistance is needed. At the
bottom of the page the Sony Online website is listed. This is a good first page
to have as it informs the consumer of important information that they need to
know before using the product.
Page 1 - Table of Contents
This page lists the table of contents for the entire manual. All sections and
pages are correctly numbered. Below the right hand side of the page is a smaller
black and white version of the cover art. Another interesting feature is each
page number (starting with this page up until page 29) is shrouded in a single
flame.
Page 2 - Turn the Key
This page demonstrates how to properly insert the Twisted Metal 2 Playstation
disc into the console. The page shows a picture of the console with all of the
buttons labeled. This is a great guide for Playstation owners if this was the
first game they would have gotten for the system. As the title implies, this is
similar to starting the engine of your car, which is a good analogy.
Page 3 - Grab the Wheel
This page has an image of a Playstation controller with all of the buttons
labeled. The text on the page details what the function of each button does
while playing the game. Continuing the analogy of using a car, the title brings
to mind you getting ready to start driving, which is a great analogy since you
use the controller much like a steering wheel with extra features in the game.
Page 4 - Welcome to Twisted Metal
This page has a large picture of Axel's face screaming on it. To the left side
is text which sets up the game's plot. The striking image of Axel with the final
line of text "I regret that I must kill to be free. Their deaths will not
be fair. But neither is my life" is a very powerful image and lets you know
you are in for some intense action ahead.
Page 5 - Game Views
This is the part of the manual where the game explains technically how it works.
On the top of the page is a black and white screenshot from within the Los
Angeles level of the game that shows what a typical play session looks like. The
screenshot has helpful labels to various things on the screen, such as your
health bar and map. There is text below the screenshot going into detail what
each item is on the screen and how to use it.
Pages 6 -7 - Where to Begin
These two pages explain the various modes of gameplay that Twisted Metal 2
offers. The manual helpfully explains things by telling you how to access each
mode from the title screen, which is the first interactive menu you get to after
the game boots up and the introduction movies play. There is also accompanying
descriptions for each game mode telling you exactly what their purposes are.
Page 8 - Attacks and Weapons
As the title implies, this page lays out the three types of attacks you can
perform while playing the game: special attack, advanced attack, and combo
attack. In the advanced attack section, the manual shows you three advanced
attacks you can do, but notes that there are many possible attack types for you
to discover. This is a great incentive to have the player experiment with
different combinations on the controller to find more moves. In the combo attack
section, the text helpfully describes what a combo attack was and tells you to
go to page 10 to see some examples of possible combinations.
Page 9 - Weapon Pick-Ups
This page lists the various weapon pick-ups available to the player in the
various levels of Twisted Metal 2. There are small images of what each item
looks like with accompanying text of what each item does. The character Mr. Slam
is also at the bottom of the page with his chompers out, which hilariously makes
it look like he's excited to get some of them!
Page 10 - Combo Attacks
Continuing from the description at the bottom of page 8, this page describes
combo attacks in detail. The page lists three example combo attacks, with three
pictures and steps accompanying each attack. I'm really impressed with how they
managed to fit so much information on a page, as this is definitely the most
dense page of the manual yet.
Page 11 - Pedestrians
This page shows the various types of pedestrians you can encounter and hit
within the various levels. As with the other pages, screenshots accompany the
labels showing what each one looks like. There are also hilarious short text
descriptions next to each one that have puns for blood or screaming. An example
of this is the Artists accompanying text which reads: "I hear red is his
favorite color".
Pages 12 - 13 - The Battlegrounds
These two pages discuss the eight levels contained in Twisted Metal 2. Each page
contains four levels, and each level has a title label (the location of the
level), a screenshot showing what the level looks like, and a text description
describing the level itself and how many opponents you will be facing. The
screenshots provided, even though they are in black and white, give a good
representation of the look of each level.
Pages 14 - 25 - The Vehicles
These series of pages showcase all of the default playable characters in the
game. Each character takes up a full page and shows the following information:
· Character name
· A mugshot of what each character looks like in-game
· Car Name/Type
· Driver Name
· Driver Info
· Biography
· License Plate
· Special Weapon name
· A text description at the bottom of the page detailing what each special
weapon does.
· A rendered image of what the car they drive looks like
These pages do a great job showing off the various playable characters and their abilities. Much like the Combo Attacks page, it really is impressive how they managed to lay out so much information on each page using both images and text!
Pages 26 - 27 - Credits
These two pages show the credits of the people who helped develop this game. In
the centerfold of the page, we see a large picture of Sweetooth's head grinning
viciously, perhaps victoriously?
Page 28 - Notes
This is a blank page where the player can jot down important information to
reference while playing the game. Something that the player might jot down on
this page is if they discover a secret advanced attack not listed in the manual.
One cool design choice between this page and page 29 is the continual streak of
bullet holes going across the two pages.
Page 29 - Warranty
The last page of the manual describes Sony Computer Entertainment America's
warranty terms for this game. To the left-center of the page next to the
warranty text is a picture of the Eiffel Tower with flames below it.
Back Cover
On the back cover of this manual is a full color advertisement for another game
developed and released by Sony Computer Entertainment of America around the same
time called Jet Moto. The top of the page has the orange text "BRUTAL
ALL-TERRAIN RACING" along with three screenshots of various levels from the
game. The game's logo is in the center of the page, and the bottom-right corner
of the page has five bullet points detailing what the game is about and its
various features. The screenshots provided do a good job showcasing the game and
get the reader pumped at the idea of racing futuristic hoverbikes across various
types of terrain.
Conclusion
Overall I would have to say that this manual is an excellent example of what a
technical manual should be like. From its front cover to back, each page
contains important information laid out in a logical and efficient manner. There
is no wasted space on the pages, and each page is bursting with personality -
from its gritty artwork to its witty text. These elements come together
masterfully and hold your attention to keep you interested in wanting to learn
more about the game. While I have a lot of praise for this manual, the only
improvements I can see that would make it even better would be:
· Make the cover art slightly less deceptive by showing the characters fighting
each other in Los Angeles instead of Paris. Los Angeles in the game is already
destroyed, and by showing this level instead of Paris it would give a more
accurate level portrayl.
· Make the black and white pages of the manual full color instead of just black
and white. I understand that this was probably done as a cost-saving measure,
however if each page was in full color similar to how the front and back pages
were, that would make this manual perfect.
With all of that being said however, the manual is perfectly fine as is and I rate this manual a 9.5 out of 10.