Yeah, everyone knows this game is a stinker. Made by 989 Studios, a new in-house development team who made a lot of games for the PS1 in the console's later years (one of them being Syphon Filter and many sports titles), they also took over development for Twisted Metal as well as Jet Moto when SingeTrac cut ties with SCEA.
So, what makes this game as bad as people say it is? The first problem is with the game engine. Somehow, 989 lost the engine for the first two games (in reality, SingeTrac took it due to it being their property), so they had to make a new one, and boy, does it not do good. When your vehicle gets rolled onto its roof, it stays that way until the game shrinks your vehicle and restores it to normal size back on its wheels. That can be annoying as during this time, your vehicle will be a sitting duck for any attacks.
Speaking of vehicles, the roster has the returning cast from the first two games like Sweet Tooth, Thumper, and Mr. Grimm, while Axel is the only newcomer from TM2 making a return. New characters include Auger, a crane cab equipped with a drill, Club Kid, a London kid who drives a minicar decorated in smiley faces and plants vortexes as its special weapon, and Firestarter, an arsonist in a hot rod that took Thumper's flamethrower, resulting in the low rider to take up a Sonic Blast special weapon that is nothing more than using soundwaves to push an opponent back. Also, some of the characters' story contradicts what was shown in TM2 (especially with Axel) and some of the drivers are stupid ideas (like Granny Dread, who drives this game's incarnation of Hammerhead).
And let's not forget about the levels. They are so small, offering no hiding places and opportunity for strategy. TM4 improved on a lot of things, and Twisted Metal: Head-On would make this game non-canon, so I recommend playing that if you like a sequel to TM2.
