Let it rip! note
June 2003:
Since the arrival of a mysterious young woman in the small town of Sweet Liberty, rumors have spread among the town's folk...
There have been many strange and disturbing encounters, and there is talk of a sinister cult developing.
One month later...
All hell has broken loose.
Since the arrival of a mysterious young woman in the small town of Sweet Liberty, rumors have spread among the town's folk...
There have been many strange and disturbing encounters, and there is talk of a sinister cult developing.
One month later...
All hell has broken loose.
… and that's when the awesomeness ensues.
Twin Caliber is a 2002 open-world Run-and-Gun action game made by Rage Software, and one of the company's last releases prior to it's 2003 bankruptcy.
A zombie outbreak had occurred in Sweet Liberty, a sleepy, rural town somewhere in the States, with most of the citizens mysteriously converted to the living dead. The town's sheriff, John T. Fortman, barely managed to survive the undead onslaught, and when every officer and upholder of the law within Sweet Liberty has been massacred by the undead, Fortman eventually decide to rely on desperate measures - by releasing Valdez, a convicted murderer and death row inmate (one put in behind bars by Fortman himself, no less) - so they may work together and investigate the source of the outbreak.
The game was originally made for various consoles, but only managed to gain a PlayStation 2 release because of Rage's financial issues.
Let's get it on, Junior.
- Abandoned Hospital: "Out of Patience!" takes place in an empty hospital, devoid of the living. The dead (or undead), on the other hand, are everywhere. But what's even better is Valdez' suggestion to look for clues in the morgue!
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: "Slug it Out!" is set in one, containing hordes and hordes of enemies and a giant centipede boss.Fortman: Hope nothing nasty backs up from the sewers...
- Airborne Mooks: Winged monsters will show up alongside zombies in several areas, swooping all over the place to attack. Achieving a bloody overkill will result in the game raining chunks of flesh. There's even a Giant Flyer version serving as a King Mook.
- Always Night: Each and every single level is set after dusk, with the game's implication that the whole scenario takes place in a single night. It does seem to be dawn in the game's final scene, though.
- Amusement Park of Doom: "Main Attraction" is set in an abandoned amusement park infested with zombies and monsters. There's even a stage set in the funhouse, where the game display will tilt and the environment goes askew, just like a real-life funhouse.
- Apocalypse Cult: After a quarter into the game, it turns out the reason behind the zombie outbreak is a pact made by a doomsday cult, one led by their unnamed High Priestess, to unleash Hell on Earth. Amidst fighting zombies, Fortman and Valdez will also be frequently swapping lead with human enemies using firearms.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Fortman and Valdez, who spends the game kicking ass alongside each other. On single-player mode, one of the two will be controlled by an AI.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: In more than one stage, notably the burning prison courtyard, with the entire area coated in flames while Fortman and Valdez shoots their way out.
- Bears Are Bad News: Well, zombified bears certainly are, with the game inexplicably throwing a number of growling ursine zombies in several areas.
- Belly Mouth: The giant zombie boss fought on a train in "Off the Rails" doesn't have a head, but it does have a gigantic gaping mouth in it's exposed stomach.
- Blood Knight: Both Fortman and Valdez, but especially Valdez.Valdez: What, and miss out on all the shooting? What's got into ya? Well so long babe, we have some heads to crack.
- Body-Count Competition: Fortman and Valdez have their respective onscreen kill-tallies listed on the bottom of the screen. And a separate meter (red for Fortman, blue for Valdez) at the bottom of the screen displaying the amount of zombies massacred, which is constantly pushing each other.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The final cutscene have Fortman and Valdez defeating the High Priestess of the cult in her final form. But on their way out, the exit is blocked by dozens and dozens of cultists, firearms trained on the two. Fortman and Valdez then makes a Self-Destructive Charge, guns firing all the way, and then the screen goes black.
- Boxed Crook: Fortman, the town's sheriff, managed to get the death row inmate Valdez on his side, promising Valdez a pardon if they could put their differences aside for a while to face the undead. Valdez is more than happy to comply, only because it means he can slaughter everything he sees outside the prison.Fortman: Your choice, kid - stick with me or die.
- Creepy Cemetery: The appropriately-named "Rest in Pieces" is set in the city cemetery, with zombies rising out of the grave to be shot at.
- Creepy Centipedes: One of the bosses is a giant centipede monster Fortman and Valdez battles in the sewers, where it will stick itself in and out the ground repeatedly to chew on the heroes. Shoot it's exposed underbelly for damage!
- Darkened Building Shootout: Various stages against cultists are set in basements, or otherwise dimly lit rooms, where Fortman and Valdez will be shooting enemies in near-total darkness. Thank goodness for Muzzle Flashlight, though...
- Fortune Teller: In the amusement park, Fortman and Valdez comes across an old gypsy fortune teller in her tent, which is inexplicably not overrun by zombies or monsters. After they consulted her, they then found out the truth of the cult behind the outbreak.
- Frankenstein's Monster: The game's first boss, a stitched-up hulking zombie ogre attached to a power generator via wires, with electric nodes sticking out it's neck. This Frankenstein zombie can even manipulate the wires attached on itself to blast electricity on Fortman and Valdez.
- Friendly Fireproof: Downplayed, in the middle of some insane shootouts it is possible for players controlling either Fortman or Valdez to accidentally hit each other while filling an area with lead. Shooting another ally won't cause damage to the ally's health, but it comes with a -1000 point penalty.
- Gatling Good: The minigun, one of the most powerful weapons and the only one which requires both hands to carry. It's the type whose ammo belt is attached to a bag-pack.
- Giant Enemy Crab: A gigantic crab-monster the size of a room serves as one of the last bosses.Valdez: Glad I don't have crabs like this every day!
- Giant Mook: Fortman and Valdez will encounter giant zombies late into the game, roughly 70% through. These oversized monsters walks with a hunch and towers over Fortman and Valdez, and have gigantic scythes for arms which they use for inflicting a Shockwave Stomp.
- Gorn: Each and every single onscreen kill comes with plenty of red, with the aftermath of shootouts having crimson patches on the walls, floors and furniture.
- Guns Akimbo: Fortman and Valdez spends the entire game kicking ass while carrying multiple guns at a time. In fact all the guns (except the two-handed Gatling minigun) can be used two at a time, allowing players using either character to target multiple enemies all at once.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Happens very frequently, to both zombies and human cultists, where shooting them enough in the torso will turn them into a pair of legs. Which staggers a bit before keeling over.
- Improvised Zipline: In the cutscene after defeating the High Priestess the first time, Fortman and Valdez then makes an escape as more cultists pursues them via a zipline from the rooftop.
- Locomotive Level: "Off the Rails" is set on an automated train leaving a lumberyard, full of zombies which must be all killed before it reaches it's destination. It climaxes with Fortman and Valdez facing hordes and hordes of the undead on top of the train, including the stage's boss.
- Ludicrous Gibs: The game is filled with good stuff like these, allowing Fortman and Valdez to literally paint an area with spilled guts of enemies. Scoring a quick enough kill and you'll even be rewarded with a cutscene of an enemy falling apart into bloodied chunks in slow-motion!
- Lumber Mill Mayhem: "Lumbered" inexplicably have Fortman and Valdez fighting an animated sawmill in an enclosed storeroom, who attacks by extending multiple circular saws on them from all directions. They'll need to shoot the saws to damage the boss and make it back off, and target three generators to shut it down.
- Minecart Madness: "Goin' Down!" have Fortman and Valdez leaping into a speeding minecart for taking a shortcut and shooting enemy cultists on pursuing carts. This is the only stage where everything's running on full auto.
- Monster Clown: The boss of "Main Attraction" (an amusement park-themed stage) is a hulking, six-armed zombie clown who fights Fortman and Valdez in the middle of a circus tent, brandishing a meat knife on each hand. It alternates between slashing the two and throwing his knives, and then backing off to retrieve even more knives until it's put down.Valdez: Bad clown! BAD CLOWN!
- More Dakka: To kill more enemies with.
- One-Winged Angel: The High Priestess, as a Final Boss, turns into a reptilian-humanoid horned demon monster to fight Fortman and Valdez. Not cool.
- Overheating: One of the few - very few - realistic aspects of the game. While Fortman and Valdez can go crazy with shooting everything in sight, if they overused their current firearm the game will throw an overheating warning, at which point they'll need to switch weapons. Continue using the same weapon and it will suddenly jam, something not desired when faced with hordes and hordes of zombies and monsters.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: It is indeed better, because shotguns can take down enemies gathered in groups with a single shell. And both Fortman and Valdez can actually use two shotguns at the same time without any problems, despite real-life shotguns needing a spare hand for cocking a spent shell.
- Step One: Escape: The first level, "Unlikely Partnership" is set in a prison with Fortman bailing death row inmate Valdez from his cell. And then they realize the prison is overrun with zombies and decide to work together to kill their way out.
- Super Window Jump:
- A cutscene in "Aftermath" have Fortman and Valdez barging their way into City Hall after killing hordes and hordes of zombies and flying monsters, and NOT through the barricaded front door.
Fortman: Through the side window, now!- "Visiting Time" from the hospital stage have Fortman and Valdez in a seemingly-empty corridor on a higher floor, before flying monsters suddenly crashes through the windows.
- Swamps Are Evil: The second stage, "Swamp Fever", which is set in a marsh outside the prison after Fortman and Valdez got out. Beware of zombies crawling out the waters, or zombified animals making their debut...
- Wall Crawl: The hunched zombies who crawls on all fours can scale walls before pouncing at Fortman and Valdez.
- Walking Armory: There's practically zero limits to the amount of firearms Fortman and Valdez can carry. As the game goes on they'll have at least five rifles, shotguns and machine-guns strapped to their backs, pistols holstered to their legs, while carrying two other firearms on each hand.
- Zerg Rush: The tactics used by the zombies to overwhelm Fortman and Valdez, where they will try swarming the players through sheer numbers in each area.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The game's bread and butter, with a sinister cult being the culprit.
- Valdez: Shall we entertain them?
Fortman: It would be rude not to.
[cue gunshots]
