Twisted Metal (2012 video game)

The game focuses heavily on multiplayer combat, including various online game modes with up to 4 player split-screen and 16-players online (the online gameplay was discontinued in early 2019). For example, the Nuke Mode is a new online game mode where you choose a faction to play against an opposing faction. In this mode, each faction has a giant metal statue that is being held in the air by a helicopter, which the opposing team must try to destroy. In order to destroy these statues, the player must abduct the enemy team's leader, then sacrifice the leader to a missile launcher that will, in turn, launch a nuclear missile.

The person who sacrifices the leader and launches the missile has to control it to hit the opposing teams statue in the air. In order to win the opposing team has to repeat the process 3 times before the statue is destroyed for a team to win. There are four factions: the Clowns, the Dolls, the Skulls, and the Holy Men. The former having been announced as being inspired by Sweet Tooth and Dollface. The latter are led by Mr. Grimm and the Preacher respectively.[4]

Twisted Metal was in development for three years.[5] In early stages of the game, the background setting for Twisted Metal was in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The name of the project was tentatively titled, Twisted Metal: Apocalypse. This idea was later dropped, due to co-director, Scott Campbell, not being in favor for this post-apocalyptic version of the franchise.[6] The game began development as a downloadable PlayStation Network title, similar to Jaffe's previous Calling All Cars! title. Sony Computer Entertainment was impressed by the title and requested for the title to be expanded into a full retail game. The development of the title then shifted from a PlayStation Network game to a "(USD)$39 product" which was multiplayer-only, similar to 2007's Warhawk and 2008's SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation. Sony then requested for the game to contain a single-player mode with a story element, while Sony's marketing department said "Yeah, you guys don’t realize how many fans love the Twisted Metal universe, you gotta give us the stories."[7]

The game was first unofficially announced to be developed by Jaffe and his new company, Eat Sleep Play, developing a new title in the Twisted Metal franchise for the PlayStation 3. The announcement, not officially confirmed by Sony, came from a hidden message that was decoded in the Twisted Metal: Head-On "Dark Past" documentary where groups of numbers appeared on screen at points during the video which corresponded to letters of the alphabet. When deciphered, the message reads "Twisted Metal is coming on PS3". The title of the game is believed to have been displayed various times throughout the documentary which is the original Twisted Metal logo but in colors of rustic browns and yellows.[8]

For two years, Sony would not officially confirm the existence of the game, and upon further questioning on multiple occasions Jaffe would insistently decline to comment further, and in general refused to officially announce the title of Eat Sleep Play's first major game until Sony was ready for him to do so. Despite this, rumors persisted heavily that Eat Sleep Play was indeed developing another Twisted Metal. While presenting an award at the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony in the States, a heckler in the crowd yelled, "Twisted Metal!" To which Jaffe replied, "Soon, bitch. Eight or nine months."[9] In the months leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo of 2010, rumors surfaced that a new Twisted Metal would be announced under the names of either Twisted Metal X[10] or Twisted Metal: Harbor City, the same name as the cancelled sequel to Twisted Metal: Black.[11] In response to this, Jaffe posted on his Twitter, which he later confirmed in an email to the games site Joystiq that Eat Sleep Play was not working on a new Twisted Metal game.[12]

However, at the very end of Sony's E3 2010 press conference, a surprise live-action teaser trailer was shown, with no previous indication as to what it was, that revealed a new Twisted Metal game. The trailer was followed up by a real-life replica of the character Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck driving onto the stage, driven by a man in a Sweet Tooth costume (based on Twisted Metal: Black). David Jaffe and Scott Campbell appeared out of the back, revealed that Eat Sleep Play was in fact developing a new Twisted Metal game, simply entitled Twisted Metal, and then proceeded to give a gameplay demonstration.[13] After the press conference, a blog post went up on the official PlayStation web site by Jaffe explaining why he had outright lied about the existence of Twisted Metal for PS3 and Eat Sleep Play's involvement. He explained that he felt E3 was a show all about joyful surprises, and that because of the internet, those were becoming increasingly rare. In light of this, Sony approached him to make a surprise E3 announcement, and he decided to do whatever it took to keep it a surprise in hopes that the fans of the series would experience such a reaction of joy and wonder.[14] At E3, Jaffe and Campbell further detailed the new online multiplayer mode, and gave the official tentative 2011 release date.

Prior to its release, Twisted Metal was marketed and promoted heavily through the use of numerous Internet and TV trailers. In addition, Sony offered anyone who logged into the Shoot My Truck website on February 13 and 14 the opportunity to activate an M249-SAW aimed at the Sweet Tooth truck Sony constructed to promote the series.[15] For marketing considerations, the original release date of the game was pushed back to apply some "extra time, polish, and love". In addition, Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe asked fans to help pick what goes on the back of the box by voting for one of a number of choices.[16]

Buyers of the first batch of copies (Limited Edition) received a voucher to download Twisted Metal: Black for free. It is not a high-definition remake, however, it is simply a port of the original PlayStation 2 version; lacking the online function that was added in a later re-release.[17] In addition, every copy of Twisted Metal included a voucher to download the Sweet Tooth Outcast multiplayer skin for Starhawk.[18] Sony collaborated with several retail outlets on a pre-order bonus (early access to Axel) available through several store chains throughout the world.[18]

The game's score has a collection of original compositions by multiple artists such as Brain & Melissa Reese with Buckethead, Larry LaLonde, Dan Monti & Greg Tripi.[22] The soundtrack also features a collection of licensed tracks from well-known artists such as Rob Zombie, Iggy Pop and Wolfmother. The song "Get Twisted" was debuted by HipHopGamer, who is known more for being a video game journalist with the artist Brain performing the music. Two of the game's tracks, "Dragula" and "More Human Than Human" from Rob Zombie and White Zombie, respectively, have been featured in previous Twisted Metal games in the franchise.

Twisted Metal received generally positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the game 76/100.[23] Reviewers praised the multiplayer and gameplay, but several criticized its story mode, lack of characters compared to earlier installments, and somewhat difficult controls.

• Official website
• Twisted Metal entry on PlayStation.com