"Twisted Metal III" is a vehicular combat game in which the player takes control of one of twelve unique vehicles. While in control of a vehicle, the player can accelerate, steer, brake, reverse, activate the turbo, turn tightly, toggle between and activate weapons using the game controller's d-pad, analog sticks and buttons. The game can be played in either the one-player "Tournament" mode or the multi-player "Deathmatch" mode. The Tournament mode consists of an eight-level game. The goal of each level is to destroy all of the opponent vehicles. The enemy vehicles are automatically chosen and their skill increases with each level that is successfully passed. The Tournament continues until all of the player's lives have expired or all levels have been completed. The player has the option to play with a computer-assisted ally to aid in destroying their opponents, but the ending cinematics will not be viewable if a computer-controlled ally is used. If a computer-controlled ally is used, the player has the option to share their total number of lives with the ally. When either player loses a life, the collective number of lives decreases. The Deathmatch mode is a one-to-four-player game in which the player fights head-to-head with other players, though computer-controlled enemy cars can also be incorporated. The Deathmatch ends when one player successfully destroys all other player vehicles, after which the match resets for another battle. Depending on the level selected, the player may select up to seven enemy cars to compete in the match.