Twisted Metal 2 Hard Speedrun WR

Well here we are. This is the culmination of the last month and a half’s worth of grinding put into learning this game’s mechanics, its AI design, and level layout. It was definitely a taxing experience on my mental well being to reach this point, but we’ve finally arrived here. A sub 20 run on Hard.
Also quick disclaimer for some who might’ve noticed that I had not put WR next to any of my runs in this game. That belonged to ‪@SukiPanda‬
as well as pretty much every other category associated with this game. Really entertaining gameplay to watch and basically served to give me motivation to attempt this so shoutout to him.
LA: Time 1:32
Always nice to start off the run on a good note.
This is an above average time and anything around 1:30 mark is definitely a target for this level. Really fortunate for me that I was spawned right next to the remote bombs and got to take out Spectre quickly. Got lucky that 5 of them decided to come towards and be generally easy to take out.
Moscow: Time: 1:13
Eh. This stage is always so volatile based on the AI pathing so less than desirably times can occur. It’s not the worse time ever so I can make do with it.
Paris: Time: 1:24
Debatably the best stage of this run. Beating this or LA in under 1:30 is ideal. Got every one to funnel into the town square and museum which made things very easy to manage. At least I got to carry over 1 remote bomb to Amazonia.
Amazonia: Time: 1:49
1:50 or below is absolutely cool by me considering the AI’s trouble with pathing on this map. Whenever you can get them to group up as Hammerhead and Warthog did early it’s bomb’s away. Every explosive does max damage here when you are above the lava so nuking them is a good strategy, especially considering you can refill on them in the Minion section.
Minion: Time: 0:54
Could be worse, could be better. Ideally I’d want a time of 40 seconds and under here, but given Minion’s chaotic movement that’s not always feasible. I’d rather just wait till he gets to the bridge so as not to deal with him flying all over the place and freeze locking me.
New York: Time: 1:25
Perfect start to the second half! Got all but Grimm to come towards the platform and gave them the boop. Hammerhead gave me a mini heart attack there, but thankfully he chose not to freeze me to death. Also thank God that Mr.Slam special glitch at 9:11 didn’t send me toppling to my death. Unexpected act of mercy by this devilish game there.
Antarctica: Time: 1:50
Acceptable in every way. Given how the previous stages have gone up to this point, any time around 1:50 is welcome. Got off to a sketchy start as I had to wait on the island for about 25 seconds for someone to spawn there. Fortunately, I had 4 quick boops soon after, and was able to go back to the main area. Happy none of them chose to be too sporadic and waste valuable time, especially Grasshopper.
Holland: Time: 1:43
Finally, this is the run of Holland I’ve needed in one of these attempts. Stage got off to a very shaky start with Sweet Tooth being his usual broken self, but at least I was able to dispose of him before my first death. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing besides that 1 scary moment when Grimm froze me. Majority of them grouped up behind the windmill, and allowed for me to get 5 fast kills with nothing but my ramming and Axel Power. It also left Outlaw one homer from death allowing for an extremely quick wrap up to what is the most stressful stage in the entire run.
Hong Kong: Time: 2:20
Maaaaannnnn, this stage got off to such a great start too. Just couldn’t help yourself huh Shadow, you spammy bitch. The start of this stage is as good as anyone could ask for. Got to take out Mr.Tooth, Spectre, and all the freeze spammers in one quick succession. Of course things just had to go haywire to some extent after that. Thanks for taking that health Twister. Too fitting that I die to a random ricochet. Well gotta restock now on those remote bombs for DT now.
Dark Tooth: Time: 1:01
Had to go on a little scavenger hunt for supplies beforehand. Once I was ready to face him, Dark Tooth was relatively tame compared to how spastic he is with spamming those freeze missiles and homers. It allowed me to unload my arsenal upon him and get a relatively quick kill with low amounts of stress.
DT Head: Time: 0:27
I’ll take it. Got a decent spawn point and was able to locate him fairly quickly. Really happy that last special came back, keeping him from going unga bunga and destroying me with his barrage of missiles. Finally this run concludes.
One last final rap up for this run. Big thanks to everyone that tuned in and gave me advice to push on in this insane test of the endurance of the human spirit. Really wish I could’ve done so deathless, but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth. Happy to have you guys on this crazy ride with me.
Special thanks:
‪@mr.bp-dcbg‬
‪@Proutbedaine‬

[@lordraiden1038]

New WR kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJvRfnh3nLCUpdksi=AiKupn8_o9v4LOQC

[@Kroaking]

This is sick! Nicely done. Love to see people still interested in this franchise, never thought there were speedruns until I came across you.

[@lordraiden1038]

Thank you bro. Yeah there’s a community of people that speedrun and attempt to push these games to their limit. Mine are mainly the Singletrac games and Black, but I’ve been giving 4 a go recently too.

[@Kroaking]

@@lordraiden1038That's awesome. I still play black and 2 with my fam, since TM has been in the family for generations at this point lol. Really cool to see you push the games to their limits, since I've only ever been exposed to casual play.

[@lordraiden1038]

@@Kroaking Same here. Some of these games were passed down from my dad when I was younger. Me and my sister have done some coop runs on this game too. It honestly is much more enjoyable playing with someone else.

[@Kroaking]

@@lordraiden1038 Yeah, nothing quite beats the feeling of beating hard mode with a family member or friend. Truely a champagne popping moment.

[@lordraiden1038]

@@Kroaking Speaking facts my friend. 🍾

[@graduator14]

Congratulations! You truly are Twisted! It's fascinating how different and precise your strategies are from other speedruns I've seen!

[@lordraiden1038]

@@graduator14 Appreciate it brother. Honestly Twisted is probably the perfect way to describe me and others that speedrun this game lol. Yeah to me half of speedrunning is just planning out your routes and knowing where to go at all times. I like to take my time with these runs to plot out all the best spots to go to for either taking out the AI or gathering pickups. Anything to try and counteract the onslaught this game loves to throw at you.

[@graduator14]

@@lordraiden1038 Well said! Precise routes for a chaotic game.

[@Proutbedaine]

Yo congrats man! Never imagined you'd get the sub 19 so quickly! I was sure you'd eventually get to it but, holy shit! Amazing work!

[@michaelmathias2930]

Impressive and Congrats!

[@patrckhh20]

Amazing run!

[@lordraiden1038]

Thank You brother!

[@Proutbedaine]

Just finished reading your description and seeing my name right at the end caught me so off guard haha! That's so nice of you, and it means a lot to me for real! :D

[@lordraiden1038]

Your support and comments helped me Through a lot of the slog speedrunning this game can be. Gave me ideas for ways to really capture my thoughts and strategies, and deliver them in a more digestible manner. Happy I was finally able to deliver that run to you as promised.

[@Proutbedaine]

@@lordraiden1038 Awww, man I'm really glad to hear I could somehow have that kind of effect on you for real!

[@lordraiden1038]

@@Proutbedaine I’m thankful. Having people that enjoy these types of runs especially in more niche genres like these, and enjoy learning about what goes into them. Makes it that much more rewarding to finally capture those elusive target runs and give an example of what I’m theorizing about. Being able to spread my knowledge through my experiences is a unique experience. I enjoy our exchanges as well my friend.

[@Proutbedaine]

​@@lordraiden1038 Makes me happy to hear you do too hehe! And yeah that makes a lot of sense and it's certainly something I enjoy and appreciate that you've been doing. And I'm really glad that you see the value in it and get satisfaction from it! That's also a really constructive, productive and healthy outlook on it all honestly!

[@Vitinzeras]

Amazing man. Do you play on ps5?

[@lordraiden1038]

@@Vitinzeras Appreciate that man. This is on the 4, I’ve played it on both though. Game looks really good on both consoles honestly.

[@Jafar_1360]

Perfect 👏👏👏👏

[@lordraiden1038]

Big ups 🙏.

[@mr.bp-dcbg]

I don't know what's up with youtube, but I'm pretty sure I left a comment here. Anywho, it's ashamed that a time like this has been achieved on a so called popular classic yet the viewcount doesn't reflect that. The fact that this actually beats out some of the "old" Minion records should tell you something about the run, and the RNG this game has as well. I thought about taking a stab at getting a sub20 time after you uploaded a 20:19 run not too long ago, but after seeing this, I don't think that'd happen. It's always good having Twister or Mr. Grimm on the map since they're basically just fodder, and hoping the remote mines respawn in your favor. While I still play this game and am doing noradar runs after speedrunning this game with every vehicle there's just somethings in this game that could use improvement if they were to ever do a remaster. Oddly enough this seems like the Twisted Metal game where a custom arena creator could be made because of it's "simplistic" design with slopes and such. I don't know if you've ever played the classic title DOOM, but in terms of graphics and designing levels (with modern software) you can literally re-create these TM maps in that game.

[@lordraiden1038]

Yeah I don’t know what’s up with YT either. Someone else left a comment requesting a Shadow run before you did a few weeks ago and when I went to respond it was already cast into the shadow realm. Maybe it’s something with their censorship algorithm. Anyway, this video actually started as my fastest growing for this game the first few days then it just dropped off. I’ve noticed the TM Black speedruns gained a lot more views than these, and I’d probably just attribute that to the fact it’s the most talked about game on here. Hell, even some of the Atlus title and Persona videos I did had well over a thousand views on them within a day of me uploading. Just more KZbin algorithm shenanigans. Honestly I think you could put together a clean run on here, given you seem to have a higher sense of self preservation than I do. Your load times on average though might make it a bit harder since you’re losing at least 30 seconds or more with duckstation loading times. I warn you if ever do go for it, pace yourself better than I did. Not worth losing your sanity over this slot machine RNG from hell incarnation of a game. Side note: Mr Grimm’s frontal hurtbox is kind of messed up in this game like it is in 1. Like when you ram him with some characters he just goes flying to the side and it does no damage to him. Thankfully Axel’s ramming is so broken it’s not a problem with him, but even with Minion I have to usually to rear end him, or get him from the sides to do reliable damage. If this game were to ever be remastered, the #1 priority has to be to fix that abominable weapon knockback. There’s no conceivable reason why homing missiles or any Special weapons for that matter should be pinballing you all over the stage, or even worse sucking you back in the direction you’re getting hit from. I’ve watched a few of those Doom map recreations and it reinforces what you’re saying about their layout. Simple is better. Also appreciate you paying proper homage by having half the level audio just being you getting spammed by Special weapons. The true immersive TM 2 experience.

[@sttrsp9700]

why do your health packs have a heart instead of the typical cross?

[@lordraiden1038]

Red Cross isn’t a fan of people using the cross in their games. Basically forced them to change in when they dropped this game on PS4/5.

[@sttrsp9700]

@@lordraiden1038 whoa whoa whoa, you're telling me i can play tm2 on my ps4? i thought only black. holy crap thats amazing

[@lordraiden1038]

@@sttrsp9700 Yeah buddy. That’s how I’m able to record all this gameplay. Released this game and TM1 with PS Premium in the classics collection. Also both are in the store for $10 each.

[@eatanotherzio6811]

​@@lordraiden1038And if you bought it years ago on ps3 its already free