Scrap Metal (XBLA) Impressions

While Scrap Metal is out now, and I'm no longer the top of the charts, I'm stil playing around with the game and gettng enough experience under my belt for a fully fledged review. Frustration aside, I'm still attempting to make my way through the main campaign and I plan on playing some multiplayer now that people are actually online. That still worries me. I know I'm not all that great at the game, and if I make my way online, I'm thinking I'm probably going to get blown to pieces before I even reach turn one. Anyways, here are some quick impressions:

//I'm towards the end of the campaign but the difficulty has ramped up in an incredible way. Starting with one of the boss races at the end of the second to last area, I cannot clear a single mission. I've tried several different cars and none of them are fast enough, handle well enough, or have the firepower to take out Petrov Piston. Fuck you Petrov Piston.

//On another note, I've really loved playing the alternative missions. Every map has similar races like demolition races, elimination races, and survivor missions. These are all fun, but nothing beats driving a gas tanker with a flame thrower attached to it. It's similar to the Rampage missions you used to find in Grand Theft Auto.

//I've also enjoyed the ability to switch back and forth between control schemes on the fly. Some of those alternative races require the precision of the RC car controls, while most need only the arcadey feel of the basic controls.

//Scrap Metal does such an awesome job of providing varied, arcadey, vehicular destruction. There's a very obvious nod to the top down arcade racers in Scrap Metal, but the game totally launches from that pad and hits the moon. It adds a ton of variety in both mission design, track design, and car design. That wealth of alternatives makes every match unpredictable and, basically FUN.

I'll be playing more Scrap Metal this week, and I'll be online before Friday. Drop me a line at danielrbischoff@gmail.com if you'd like to party up and play online, or simply message and friend request me on Xbox Live. My gamertag is coolyfooly88.