I saw this review before I played the game, so the inconsistant tone bit confused me. All of the other TM games had a consistant tone of being psychotic all the way through, with the exception of maybe Black. The gameplay was psychotic, and so was the story; the wishes also seemed a bit wacko. Sweet Tooth in TM 2 wanted to be a little bug in a garden, so he could live a life of peace. He killed countless people to get that wish, so it seemed a little off, but it gelled with the tone of everyone being crazy in those games. In this TM, the only three playable characters (which I find as another problem, because there was at least 8 different characters in previous title, and all of them had there own story) are all evil. Evil is different from psychotic, because psychotic is wanting to go faster than the speed of light as a wish, or wanting a family road trip with Sweet Tooth. While evil is murdering an entire family, and using the wish to seek down the only remaining member so he can make her die and scream in agony and sheer terror. Also, it's murdering your way to the top of modeling, and using the wish to become even more famous.
This game definitely does have an inconsistant tone, especially because they kept the bright locations and gameplay from 2, with an even eviler story than Black. I say don't really go for this one, unless you're familiar with the series, and want to see the most famous characters again in a new story. If you're unfamiliar, but interested, then it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a dark storyline with some slightly dark gameplay, TM Black is your best bet. If you're looking for completely psychotic people doing psychotic things, then TM 2,3,4, and Head On are good choices. TM 1 had too many problems to hold up now, and TM Small Brawl was a spin off. If you're not interested in TM at all, then why are you reading this? That's basically what I think.