Unless you count the continued popularity of Mario Kart, we’re a long way from the ’90s heyday of car combat games. Modern multiplayer combat primarily concerns games in which people shoot each other, but David Jaffe, Scott Campbell, and their team at Eat Sleep Play are aiming to amend that phrase to end with the words “with cars.” They’re working on a new Twisted Metal title, the first original one to hit consoles since Twisted Metal: Black launched on the PlayStation 2 a decade ago.
Twisted Metal differs from shooters in more ways than the “shooting people while driving” part. In some respects, it’s more accessible than those games; in others, it’s even more impenetrable.

Twisted Metal (PlayStation 3)
Developer: Eat Sleep Play
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release: February 14, 2012
In the hour or so that I spent with Twisted Metal, I kept noticing one aspect of the combat: it can take a pretty long time to kill someone. That’s not an accident, according to the Sony producer who demoed the game for me. He explained that the design decision was a result of Jaffe’s dislike of the pace in most multiplayer shooters -- the series co-creator isn’t a fan of the endless spawn-die-spawn cycle. In those games, it doesn’t take many bullets to kill you, and firefights rarely last long.
Twisted Metal, on the other hand, offers a much higher degree of “survivability,” said the producer. You’re going to have to work for a kill, but the designers believe that increased survivability only makes the game more thrilling. Here, combat is “all about the chase,” which, I guess, makes sense for a game featuring vehicular mayhem. In addition, the folks at Eat Sleep Play are hoping that longer lives will help to reduce the amount of frustration that new players have to endure while learning the ropes.

That decision makes a lot of sense, since it will likely take more than a few hours to understand Twisted Metal’s chaos. Multiplayer is the focus of this game, and it’s clear that Eat Sleep Play is devoting a great deal of development time to important facets such as balancing vehicles’ abilities and tweaking weapon damage, but the modes and options are so numerous and varied that I found myself overwhelmed during the demo. Jaffe has likened Twisted Metal to a fighting game, and the comparison seems apt -- I don’t have any understanding of the minutiae of fighting games, and it’s impossible for me to have fun with them unless I’m playing someone who’s just as clueless. The depth here is staggering; with such a steep learning curve, it’s important for the game to teach newbies well, and ensure that they can have fun, too.
You can outfit vehicles with an arsenal of your choosing. Each car has two special attacks, in addition to its standard firepower. A high degree of destructibility means that level geometry is always in flux. Some of the cars are better used as support vehicles, like the Juggernaut, a slow tractor-trailer that can open its rear doors for up to two teammates to hang out and man turrets. Many weapons employ a risk/reward mechanic: charging attacks makes them more effective, but in many cases, also more difficult to succeed with. One of the playable vehicles is a damn helicopter, and Sweet Tooth can transform into a freakin’ mech. The variety of opportunities will likely give rise to high-level strategic play, and will hopefully lend Twisted Metal a long shelf life.

I played in three different levels: one set in the suburbs, another in a theme park, and a snowy take on New York. Although there’s plenty of work to be done before the game’s Valentine’s Day launch, the environments impressed me with their size, destructibility, and variability. The level set in a fictionalized New York is full of secret shortcuts, and its verticality -- you can go up into buildings, or head down into the subway -- provides for great hide-and-seek gameplay. The theme park balances a large open area, complete with a Ferris wheel that can be detached from its moorings, and winding narrow paths on its outskirts. The suburban landscape is sparsely populated and offers near-total destruction. All of them seem to offer play spaces that are “fair” to both sides without having mirrored halves.
I played with the classic control scheme, where the face buttons cover vehicle control and the triggers fire weapons. Eat Sleep Play is also including controls based on modern racing games, with acceleration and braking on the triggers. As I said earlier, Twisted Metal isn’t exactly a pick-up-and-play experience, but once I figured out the controls, I did manage to race around the maps and score some kills. The frame rate never dropped during the fast-paced action, and I didn’t see any silly AI bot behavior.

While online play is the star of the show, the game also offers local split-screen action for up to four players, just like old times. However you play, you’ll need to invest a good amount of time to learn the ins and outs of Twisted Metal, even if you’re not new to the series. Thankfully, it looks like it will be worth it.
twisted metal 2 and black were some of the best times i've ever had with a videogame with friends. nothing like slamming your friend off the side of a skyscraper with a construction vehicle.
I loved Twisted Metal: Black's story mode, I hope this has one as well... I'm tired of developers neglecting single player experiences, since Call of Duty, Halo and Battlefield pretty much has that market sewn up.
There is.
Sold!
I hope everyone else enjoys it.
Jaffe doesn't want an Online Pass in this game, but It all depends on Sony whether or not there will be a pass.
Also, really? Are you one of those whiners who complain about this one small thing, when every new copy comes with a free Online Pass?
Black is still the best TM outta all of dem!
BTW, people who support an online pass. Jaffe himself admits this game only appeals to a niche market of gamers, as much as I love TM I won't argue that fact. So by enacting online pass bullshit you narrow the pool of prospective MP gamers to an even smaller number for those of you worried about a thriving/viable online community you can play with.
I was lucky enough to play some of the demo this summer and I love Jaffe's take on MP. It's really nice to not be spawning endlessly after a mere 1-2 shots from your enemy, wherever they were.
The driving controls felt just as tight as any I remember from the old days, and the aiming controls were easy enough for me to get kills with. And boy! You had better be stocked with fire, homing, power missiles, specials and all those other goodies from the old days because it will take A LOT to destroy an enemy vehicle. Most of the kills I got were people already halfway damaged by someone else, lol.
And the level I played reminded me of how I felt the first time I played TM2. Very big and spacious. So much that when the match was over I was wondering whether I had even seen the whole map or not.
Sorry to mostly repeat Samit, TL;DR and all that. Just wanted to say I love this game and it's developers. Just no online pass, please? Either that or just have a dev drop me an email and I'll pay him personally for a copy as long as he promises to keep the cash for himself, hahahaha.
Oh yeah, MAJOR PROPS for including split screen!
If, all of a sudden, every single game with an online pass saw a drastic reduction in sales while all others considerably thrived, don't you think publishers would start to notice when profits started going down? I do. But I admit the likelihood of this happening in reality is nil.
And hey, COD seems to be doing just fine without an online pass. Sorry to bring it up, but it's true. I can't believe I just made a statement that made Activision look like a good guy, but in the case of online passes it just might be true.
And yes, Sony's insistence on online passes likely assures that most of my purchases will be for my 360. I'm still looking for a reasonably priced used copy of Uncharted 3.
It's fine to bring it up, but a bit ignorant at the same time, look at the number of sales it generates, CoD probably get's more traded in then most games, but at the same time the amount of money it get's for a 2.5 game (not bashing but c'mon it's true) is incredible.
Like you said, to little people try voting with their wallets, and in the end I am also part of the problem, not wanting them, but not refusing to miss out on my game of choice because of it.
We can all hope for the day that a publisher get's taught a lesson and get's low sales specifically for the online pass, but that day I fear will never come, so instead I decided to coexist with the online pass, not necessarily accepting it, just knowing it won't go away.
If we start with COD4:MW, they created a compelling MP component and it caught on like wildfire. Regardless of how many copies got traded in, the game and it's later iterations made money hand-over-fist for publishers. It's quite possible the profits of COD alone dictate to the publishers that an online pass is not needed because sales do not seem to be taking a hit in any way whatsoever. I would like to think that if any online game can make it's publisher even 1/10th of what MW3 has made, an online pass would not be needed. The day a publisher makes as much money as a COD game does and then STILL insists an online pass is necessary will be a very dark day for gamers and their pockets.
But you're right, too few gamers speak out with their wallets. How many people were disappointed/upset about the Catwoman code for Arkham City? But holy crap, I believe that game sold well enough that all it did was show the publishers that if you make a quality enough game, gamers will accept a lot of greedy bullshit because they don't care. So sad!
I guess what I really wanted to point out is that publishers can bring in a "fresh" IP like Twisted Metal with an online component and still make enough profits without an online pass if the game itself is fun and well made. Left 4 Dead comes to mind, many copies of that game found it's way to used shelves and it seemed to do well enough for Valve without them needing a bigger piece of the pie.
As it has been said time and again, a used game still made a profit for the publisher when it was new. And imo that profit should secure a spot online for whoever currently owns the game. NOT the first owner, the current owner.
Anyways, Happy Holidays to all!
And JimmyX, nice try but I've seen this game with my own two eyes and it looks awesome. No outdated graphics, no slow framerates that I could notice. You're just mad because you know you want to try it but your fanboyism won't let you.
Either way I really don't have a major issue with used games (times are tough), or the Online Pass (I know why publishers do it, it just makes sense to me).
I can always respect voting with your wallet as well. That's why I will be buying this game day one. In my opinion, supporting a game like Twisted Metal for it's unique multiplayer and fresh ideas will do far more good for the industry than boycotting a business practice that's already here to stay.
*gets down from soapbox*
This game does look completely rad though. My one worry is that the multiplayer may be too confusing and require too much communication via headsets, something PS3 users rarely do, myself incuded. Maybe this will be the game that makes me dust off my blutooth. Very excited.
It's been since TM 2 that I've spent some time with Twisted Metal. It's going to be nice to get reacquainted.