The Xbox LIVE Arcade House Party promotion is well underway, promoting some great little titles in the eventual lead up to the remake of Perfect Dark due out at the end of the month along with the release of Games Room.

Tower Defence game, Toy Soldiers, kicked off proceedings very nicely indeed but this week’s game, Scrap Metal is probably the weak link in the House Party lineup but still an excellent game.

The game is a lot of fun but when it is sandwiched between the freshness of Toy Soldiers and the Retro nostalgia that Perfect Dark should deliver then it may seem a little weak to people who haven’t actually played it.  The basic element of top down, strap a weapon to your car and go racing is present here and Scrap Metal has also added a freshness to proceedings by introducing different modes and including boss battles to liven proceedings even more

A lot of comparisons are rightly made for it being similar to Twisted Metal and Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road.  People that play this game will probably also have fond memories of hanging off of wheels in the arcades or their first Playstation.  The main guts is the single player campaign which allows you to race different events over a series of tracks.  Destroying cars on the track unlocks more cars which can be re-designed, modded slightly ready to put in your garage that holds 4 cars.  There is a good variety of events here and is perhaps what keeps this from failing in quality where there are some faults present.

Control is one of the issues that Scrap Metal has some trouble getting around, though the developers at Slick Entertainment did the right thing and offered players two ways to set them. There’s directional steering, where you simply point the stick in the direction you want your car to go, the accelerating done for you. Then there’s a more traditional left/right steering model that may feel more familiar, but can lead to confusion for some people thanks to the top-down viewpoint. Depending on which way you’re facing, right may be left and vice-versa. Some people will have an easier time with either, some will only be able to play in one or the other, but either way it’s nice to have the choice.

The problems that seem to plague either control method comes from some occasionally weird responsiveness of the cars slipping and sliding around the tracks. The game requires and element of control as you race your car against your opponents and some of the one on one battle bosses but the control is a little loose than expected form a game like this which can result in you spinning out and thus having to restart which can become pretty frustrating.  The tracks, on the other hand, are beautifully presented and very well designed.  It is just a pity that you have to compensate so much on the control system to nail a lap and remain competitive.

The multiplayer side of things keeps this game alive and great battles can be had between friends.  It also takes the control frustration away too as you are all playing on a level playing field and games that I have played have been lag free so far.  The events that you can play are similar to the single player events and if set up with the right crowd will give you hours of fun.

The cost in points may well be the main thing to put people off but if you are going for the full set when it comes to Block Party games, don’t forget you are going to get 400 of those back at some point which makes this game a more attractive proposition.  The faults of the game, although I may have gone on about them too much, can be forgiven here and Scrap Metal is a must for all Car Wars gamers who especially love a bit of multiplayer fun.