Preview: Twisted Metal

It has been awhile since we seen a Twisted Metal game, but last year, David Jaffe and Scott Campbell, from Eat Sleep Play, ended the drought when they announced at E3 that Twisted Metal was making its return. Now after a little under year, more information is coming out from the anticipated title, and last night at a Los Angeles event, I got my hands on the next Twisted Metal installment. Twisted Metal is definitely coming back with a huge bang.

When I walked into the event, the first thing that caught my eye was the Sweet Tooth vehicle used last year to announce the new title in the series. With the combination of 14 stations already setup ready to play even before the event started, it hit me that Twisted Metal was really coming. David Jaffe kicked off the event by going through the history of Twisted Metal. He told us that this upcoming title represents the fantasy they had envisioned when they conceived the first game.

Before we went on to the first section of the event, Jaffe showed off a brand new vehicle known as Juggernaut. It’s a semi-truck with a full sized trailer. It has a side door that opens and releases giant mines that can be placed on the road. The driver can open up the back door of trailer to allow two teammates to drive in and can control the two turrets on the truck. One teammate can control a turret on top of the trailer, controlling two guns that pull from the same pool of ammunition, and the other teammate controls a turret on top of the cab, which deals out the most damage. To sum all that up, all you really need to know is that this thing is badass. Jaffe explained that they wanted this vehicle since the first Twisted Metal, and that they finally could create it in the series.

When I finally got my chance to blow everyone up, I found that this game is a little more chaotic that I had originally thought. Level destruction was the first thing I noticed, and for everyone who complained about it last year when the early build of the game did not show off destruction, you can relax now, there is a lot of destruction.

Like many of the journalists at the event, I did not exactly know what to do, and this is coming from someone who has played many of the Twisted Metal games in the past. Put nonetheless, this game is has fun as ever. Team Deathmatch works very well in the Twisted Metal series, and hopefully with the addition of someone who actually knows how to use the Juggernaut, matches could be even more chaotic than from what I witnessed.

The second game mode we played was a team Last Man Standing. The teams shared lives so for all those who died a lot in the first segment, like myself, stayed clear of the action and tried to take shots from afar. We played this new game mode on a map known as Black Rock Arena, which some fans may recognize from one of the early Twisted Metal games. The level showed off environmental dangers like a lava pit that many players fell into, and electrical panels that give you a good shock whenever you drive over them. It is evident that in certain levels, players will have more to worry about than a missile coming at them.

Lastly we played the offensive/defensive mode, Nuke. This mode was extra appealing to me, because there was lot more to do for those who do not fair well in a regular straight up firefight with other vehicles. The goal is to fire a nuke at the enemies statue. In order to do that, players must capture a faction leader who is standing next to a turret, whom will be dragged behind the players car as they make their way to one of the launchers. Once at the launcher, the faction leader is thrown into the launcher, which powers it up and releases the missile. Whoever launched the faction leader into the launcher is the one who controls the missile and flies it into the enemy statue. There are two types of launchers, a stationary launcher, and a mobile launcher. Mobile launcher can be tricky to launch a faction into, as players must drive right behind the launcher for several seconds which makes them a huge target for the defensive team. But the advantage to a mobile launcher is that it can set players up right next to the enemy launcher, allowing for a quick strike.

There are several things that stood out to me as being consistent through out the night, but the most important of all them is how balanced this game is, which has always been a staple in the series. For every attack, there is a counter attack, which meant no vehicle has a distinct advantage over the other. The Talon, the helicopter in the game, is fine a addition to the roster of vehicles. It can rain down damage on to those fighting below, but it also one of the biggest targets on the battlefield, next to the Juggernaut.

After last night, I am ever more excited for the return of Twisted Metal. Armed with new vehicles, new maps, new game modes, and well balanced game play, Twisted Metal is on its way to a solid release that will welcome fans, and new comers alike. You can check out this title for yourself when it releases October 4, on the PlayStation 3.