What Happened to Twisted Metal?
What Happened To Twisted Metal?
As AAA gaming goes the way of spectacles and indie gaming continues to play the same hand of cozy games and nostalgia, one genre in particular has been noticeably missing for what feels like eons now. Where are the vehicular combat games? Well, there used to be one franchise that us PlayStation fans could reliably depend on every generation, and it was the oldest PlayStation IP we had grown to love: “Twisted Metal”. Yet that all went away some years ago. And despite our cries today for a new game, Sony doesn’t seem interested in the slightest.
Welcome to MojoPlays and today, we’re investigating the long and tumultuous struggle behind “Twisted Metal”. Does the franchise still hold weight today? Or have the nostalgia goggles warped our perception?
When it comes to humble beginnings, few PlayStation IPs get any more humble than “Twisted Metal”, and that is no overstatement. A young man named David Jaffe had already spent some time in game development working on games like “Cliffhanger”, “Skyblazer”, and “Mickey Mania” before being hired by Sony as a tester. As part of Sony’s efforts to let PlayStation kick the door down and compete with Nintendo, Jaffe was put in charge of developing one of the console’s very first games, and he would lead the charge for an external team at SingleTrac (located in Salt Lake City, Utah). The team only had a little under twelve months to get something going. Ideas came and went, but one day, as Jaffe and some of his colleagues were driving back from Salt Lake City, Utah on the notorious Interstate 405, they came up with a brilliant idea: a game where you could disrupt day-to-day life with vehicles armed to the teeth with guns, napalm, and bombs! Though it was met with a little bit of pushback from a couple of folks in the Salt Lake City team, the pitch ultimately won and would be developed with a budget of only eight-hundred fifty thousand dollars.
“Twisted Metal” was revealed to the world during the first annual E3 in 1995 held in bright and sunny Los Angeles before it finally launched on November 10, 1995. “Another showcase title for the PlayStation”, said magazine publication Next Generation. Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded it a 9.25 out of ten, an insanely high score for a launch game at the time. The only complaint was that it was a short game, and even then, that complaint was rare to hear from anyone who played it. “Twisted Metal” had contributed a massive boost in profits for Sony alongside “Warkhawk”, another PlayStation launch title; the two games generated roughly twenty-eight million dollars in revenue by the end of 1996. Development for “Twisted Metal 2” began almost immediately after.
Now, normally, this is where we could accelerate the story and say, “Sequel A led to Sequel B, which wasn’t as good, but then we got Sequel C, and that’s where everything fell apart”. However, one could see a faint sign that “Twisted Metal” was going to face a long-term struggle just from one development hurdle “Twisted Metal 2” faced: identity.
The plan for “Twisted Metal 2” was pretty cut and dry. What else do you do with a blockbuster hit like this? Scale down? No, you go big or go home! Jaffe and his team at SingleTrac wanted to get crazier with the vehicle designs. Look at concept art for “Twisted Metal” and “Twisted Metal 2”, and you’ll see that there were plans between both games for hovercrafts, bug-like vehicles, helicopters, and more that were honestly somewhat unrealistic or too wacky for the franchise’s identity at this time. And so, many of them were scrapped in favor of monster trucks, construction vehicles, hearses, and oddly enough, a vehicle where the driver is bound to two enormous wheels. Weird, yes, but still fitting for the mildly dark humor the original “Twisted Metal” had presented.
“Twisted Metal 2” launched on November 8, 1996 and was met with near-universal acclaim, though reviews weren’t as over the moon about it compared to its predecessor. Graphics were slightly better, and the controls were a bit smoother. But overall, the only key features were the more interesting vehicle designs and the litany of new levels based on real-world locations. Other than that, the only major complaint was just how much more difficult “Twisted Metal 2” was. While it did offer an Easy setting, the game would cut your campaign short and tell you to play on Medium or Hard to properly finish the rest of the game. Some folks weren’t too crazy about this demand. The few that took up the challenge have come back and reported rage-inducing fights, particularly the ones in Holland, Hong Kong, and the final fight against Dark Tooth. Cheat codes were a player’s best friend for this one, and even with this sharp spike in difficulty, the game sold gangbusters.
But what happened after all of this was where “Twisted Metal” truly began its own twisted dissent into an extensive identity crisis. After “Twisted Metal 2’s” own commercial success, SingleTrac suddenly got bought out by GT Interactive, the publishing firm of Atari that we know today as Atari Inc. Suddenly, SingleTrac was no longer allowed to work on “Twisted Metal” games. And so, Sony brought development inhouse and tasked 989 Studios to develop “Twisted Metal III”. Jaffe, on the other hand, remained at Sony and would spend the next four years learning internal development.
Now, at the time, 989 Studios wasn’t exactly known for quality games. Yes, some folks reminisce over “Jet Moto”, “Rally Cross”, “Syphon Filter”, or maybe even the often-forgotten third-person shooter “Blasto”. However, none of their games were really resounding hits, and their quality seemed to get worse and worse with every new release. From “Cardinal Syn” to the “Xtreme” series, 989 Studios got way, way more poor review scores than mildly positive ones. Why they were given the keys to the “Twisted Metal” kingdom is anyone’s guess, but most video game companies, Sony themselves included, didn’t really know this business yet either. There was a lot of spitballing and experimenting back in the 90’s.
“Twisted Metal III” was released on November 10, 1998 and was only available in North America. Reviews were not kind, to put it gently. Critics noted the drastic change in tone as drivers and vehicles were glaringly wackier than the first two games were. The only thing heavy metal about it was the soundtrack, which was loaded with Rob Zombie songs like “Superbeast” and “Dragula”. It was strange all around, and the lack of any innovation caused many to lose interest in the IP. That didn’t stop Sony from greenlighting another sequel as TM3 managed to surpass one million copies sold.
Almost exactly one year later, 989 Studios threw together “Twisted Metal 4” and released it on November 16, 1999. This time around, 989 had leaned heavily into the cartoon-y demeanor and even attempted to throw in a custom vehicle builder, though it was ultimately about as barebones as one would expect. Gone were the days of psychopaths and criminals tearing through the streets. Now, we had big headed clowns, parodies of pop culture characters, zany drivers with wild personalities, and more Rob Zombie than most had asked for. Critics were generally pleased with the improvement in visual detail and physics, but ultimately, the game was no better or worse than its predecessor. Alarms had to have been going off at Sony because phone calls started being made to familiar faces.
While 989 Studios and Sony attempted to drive “Twisted Metal” into the ground, Jaffe had left SingleTrac sometime after the acquisition. Scott Campbell, “Twisted Metal’s” other creator, had remained at SingleTrac and attempted to carry on the studio’s notoriety as a vehicular combat developer. Unfortunately, “Critical Depth” and “Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012” didn’t pan out. The former received polarizing reviews for its attempt at submarine-based combat while the latter was much more appealing due to the similarities between it and “Twisted Metal”. Regardless, neither game sold too well. Campbell and a handful of other SingleTrac staff members wound up leaving to start up Incognito Entertainment. As SingleTrac withered away with three more games before its closure in 2000, Sony quickly got Campbell on the horn and pulled Jaffe from his desk to get the ball rolling on a new “Twisted Metal”, the first one to be made by its own creators since 1996.
“Twisted Metal: Black” was the evolution the IP desperately needed. Sony wasn’t far from launching the PlayStation 2, but if they could, perhaps they could repeat the success of “Twisted Metal” and the first PlayStation. Thanks to the advancements in technology, Jaffe, Campbell, and the rest of the team sought to create the biggest game “Twisted Metal” would ever see. What other ways could “Twisted Metal” get a bigger boost in replay value? The answer was simple: larger levels, compelling stories for each character, new game modes, and even splitscreen co-op. But once again, “Twisted Metal” was taking on a new identity, and this time it was more violent, more disturbing, and much, much more visceral. You could say it was vehicular combat with more of a horror edge.
“Twisted Metal: Black” released on June 19, 2001, and it saw the best critical reception the franchise had ever seen. Some outlets even went as far as to award it perfect scores for its exceptional visuals, haunting sound design, unique blend of horror and dark humor, and thrilling challenge. Within five years, TMB managed to generate more than thirty million dollars and would be remembered as one of the best PlayStation 2 games and one of the first major glimmers of hope that online gaming could work for home consoles.
Before the series could march forward, however, the original PlayStation needed just one more “Twisted Metal” game before it was taken to pasture. “Twisted Metal: Small Brawl” was developed by an entirely different team at Incognito Entertainment and suffered a similar fate as TM3 and TM4. When it launched months after TMB, “Small Brawl” was met with scathing reviews, poor sales, and near-instant rejection from fans for its cartoon-y, kid-friendly nature.
As expected, a sequel for TMB was well underway. Ideas were in place to take the franchise into a more open setting, influenced by the worldwide phenomenon called “Grand Theft Auto III”. Levels were going to be interconnected to create something truly immersive just as Rockstar Games did with GTA. There were even talks about letting the player roam around other levels outside of the vehicle, an idea some might deem blasphemous to the “Twisted Metal” identity. Eventually, the scope creeped up, development became tumultuous, and the project lost direction. Jaffe, still a Sony employee, would go work with Sony Santa Monica on futuristic racing game “Kinetica” before they developed the legendary “God of War”. As for the folk at Incognito Entertainment, they would develop the 3D brawler “War of the Monsters” and motorbike racing game “Downhill Domination”.
Luckily, “Twisted Metal” wouldn’t spend too long collecting dust. Towards the end of “God of War’s” development, Jaffe would work with Campbell and the rest of the Incognito team for another game. “Twisted Metal” would make its PSP debut while returning to an identity more in-line with the first two games we experienced in 1995 and 1996. “Twisted Metal: Head-On” launched on March 24, 2005. Fans and critics were happy to see something more akin to the classic installments, and the return of vehicle upgrades kept matches feeling rewarding. The integration of secret minigames, though, was hit-or-miss depending on who you asked. A PlayStation 2 port of “Head-On” was released three years later, featuring a wealth of behind the scenes goodies about the canceled TMB2 and even a short documentary about the series’ history. However, a secret message was hidden inside said documentary, and it threw the community into a frenzy.
“Twisted Metal is coming on PS3.”
Sure enough, Sony made the big announcement at the end of their E3 2010 showcase with a hype trailer, a life-sized replica of Sweet Tooth, and series co-creator David Jaffe in tow. This was going to be the big return for the series we had been itching for since “Twisted Metal: Black”! Unbeknownst to us, this would be the final attempt at establishing a proper identity. By this point, “Twisted Metal” had been a grounded with some dark humor and violence, wacky and zany like some fever dream cartoon made for kids, a horrific and gritty world plagued by the most notorious inmates from Blackfield Asylum, and back to semi-realistic violence with a visual aesthetic similar to comic books. What fusion could we witness with this long-awaited PS3 rendition?
Online multiplayer.
Yes, online multiplayer was a big focus for the new game, and with that focus came some glaring sacrifices. Folks were dismayed to learn that vehicles were the main focus and that you would only be able to drive as one of four playable factions led by Sweet Tooth, Dollface, Mr. Grimm, or Preacher. The likes of Agent Stone, Krista Sparks, and Mr. Slamm had been replaced by generic characters for the sake of online multiplayer. While the new Nuke Mode looked cool, this sacrifice was not worthwhile to many fans. Rest assured a single-player campaign was still included with all the local multiplayer accouterments we had been wanting. But the worst was yet to come.
The game we commonly dub TM12 would launch on Valentine’s Day 2012, and while the reviews were mixed, the player feedback would grow more resentful. As neat as it was for “Twisted Metal” to finally include a playable helicopter, it wound up breaking the game online as it was hard for players in cars to stop, aim up, and shoot at helicopters while trying to avoid attacks from other cars. As for the controls and physics, well, there was a lot of frustration and hostility towards players using vehicles with high ramming power or magnet-based attacks like Road Boat. Between the marketing and the reviews, the community quickly abandoned TM12. DLC was planned for the game, but by that point, sales had flatlined. According to Jaffe himself, the game did make its money back, but it wasn’t enough to call it a hit.
So, we went from dark, yet humorous and familiar world with arcade-y gameplay, to zany and wacky fun for the whole family, to horror-fueled action with disturbing imagery, back to handling the IP with kid gloves (literally), back to dark yet humorous and familiar world, and straight into the dark depths of online multiplayer. And that’s what happened to “Twisted Metal” - there was never a clear direction as to what exactly this series is. Yes, we know it’s car combat, but aside from Sweet Tooth and maybe Dollface and Mr. Grimm, there wasn’t anything for players to really attach to. Now, one could argue the vehicles are really what make “Twisted Metal” “Twisted Metal”, but clearly, that wasn’t the case in TM12. Folks weren’t crazy about the idea of playing as one of four generic goons let alone the actual characters. And with the world and tones constantly changing, you have essentially created a franchise that has at least five different fanbases. You have those who loved TM1 and 2, those who champion TMB, those who adored “Head-On”, and believe it or not, those who actually did enjoy TM3, 4, and “Small Brawl”! What Sony has is the Superman ice cream of the PlayStation catalog, and it’s a flavor that only very specific people want at very specific times.
That said, how in this world of live service games can “Twisted Metal” ever make a comeback? What chance does it have when Sony flopped so hard with a completely different vehicular combat game in 2021? Granted, “Destruction AllStars” is a unique case on its own almost in a similar vein as the catastrophic “Concord”. So, is there a clear path? Maybe there is.
In his current YouTube career, series co-creator David Jaffe has said that if “Twisted Metal” were to come back, live service elements would be needed and that the IP would need something drastically different than anything on the market and something it has never done before. Although, this writer believes differently. It may not be necessary to reinvent the wheel, but the argument for live service does hold weight here. Look at the success of modern vehicular combat games like “WreckFest” or “CrossOut”. While both are vastly different in vehicular combat in general, one has a sequel incoming while the other is a free-to-play title that is still seeing updates three years after release. They may not have the massive budgets Sony loves to burn away, and they don’t make for massive money printers as “Fortnite” or “Apex Legends” does. But clearly, they are both making profit to warrant their respective efforts in post-launch support.
What Sony needs to do is get a team that understands the series and what the majority of the community likes about the series as a whole before narrowing down ways to attract every corner of the fanbase. A lot easier said than done, we know. Not only that, Sony might have to settle for maybe not spending an absurd amount of money for a game that maybe only needs fifty to a hundred million to make instead of burning up three or four hundred million. “Twisted Metal” is going to need a budget title to make a proper comeback, and if it pleases the right corners of the community, that word of mouth could slowly build the game into something massive. Think “Dead by Daylight” in how the game went from a short-term experimental asymmetrical multiplayer to horror game powerhouse loaded with licenses to some of the biggest horror icons across entertainment.
But who’s to say? Only Calypso knows whether or not there’s enough horse power left in this franchise to warrant any kind of comeback.
What do you think is the solution to resurrecting “Twisted Metal”? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!
