Twisted Metal First Impressions

For over a decade, owners of any PlayStation system have been able to ram, shoot, and otherwise blow each other up in the vicious car combat offered by the Twisted Metal series. Next year, PlayStation 3 players will get their opportunity for mayhem when Twisted Metal crashes into their living rooms. This year at Sony's E3 press conference, series cocreator David Jaffe gave a demo of the game's team deathmatch mode as well as an expansive new mode called Nuke. Explosions and flying shrapnel filled the screen, and we were able to glean some solid information about this new entry in the long-running series.

The demo kicked off with team deathmatch and an immediate surprise: the first vehicle onscreen was a helicopter. The pilot flew between bombed-out buildings as a second player fired a powerful chaingun from the passenger side of the vehicle, showing off the robust destructibility at work (see trailer above). The air superiority advantage was clear, but then the pilot pulled another new trick. He stopped above a friendly car, lowered a large magnet, picked up the car, and flew off. While many of the vehicles can no doubt cruise around at respectable speeds, nothing beats the convenience of an airlift. But before you go thinking that this new ride is too overpowered, rest assured that we saw visual evidence that the helicopter can go boom just like every other vehicle in the game.

And speaking of other vehicles, it wasn't long before the action hopped over to a motorcycle tearing around the city streets. We had just enough time to see the driver whip out a large chainsaw before the action switched again, this time showing off a muscle car armed to the gills with a chaingun and a missile launcher. The driver used his destructive power to knock out a few small buildings, then appeared to lean out the window and pull out something unexpected: a sniper rifle. There seemed to be a bit of aim assist at work here, a much-needed aid for such a hyper-accurate weapon. The player moved a small circle around onscreen until he had locked on to a target, and then he zoomed in a few levels and blasted the unlucky victim. The zooming took place in the small circle in the area of the screen where the enemy was located--a clever design trick that seemed to work quite well.

Next up was Nuke mode, which sounds like an open world where a lot of online players can engage in all sorts of simultaneous mayhem. The map was clearly structured for creative driving, as evidenced by the abundance of clearly drivable rooftops. There was also a freeway system in place, including an incomplete on-ramp that led into a hanging commercial airplane chassis. Nuke supports faction-versus-faction play, and from the looks of things, there were 30 or more players in there at one time.

The factions we saw clash were the clowns (led by Sweet Tooth, naturally) and the dolls (creepy in their own special way). The end goal of the match was to destroy a massive statue representing the opposing faction that was being airlifted around the map. In order to do so, a faction must activate its missile launcher. Naturally, missile launchers require the sacrifice of a kidnapped faction leader, so the first goal in the match is to get past your enemies and grab yourself a hostage. This proved to be no easy task. Not only must you deal with the trigger-happy defenders, but the target himself is planted in a powerful stationary turret.

A lot of fiery explosions later, the clowns had made off with their hostage and were dragging him behind the car as they sped toward the missile launcher. Once there, the launcher took a few moments to gear up, meaning another frantic standoff as the dolls desperately tried to get their leader back. The clowns held them off, though, and soon the gaping, grinding maw of the twisted launcher had opened, welcoming the sacrifice into its flaming jaws. This triggered the launch of the missile, which the player then had to guide around the city, dodging buildings and seeking out its target. The clowns claimed victory as the missile smashed into the dolls' statue, blowing it to pieces.

With the focus squarely on mayhem and destruction, Twisted Metal certainly knows its audience. Deathmatch looked as explosive as ever, and Nuke is poised to take online car combat to a whole new level. Be sure to check out the gameplay in the latter half of the trailer for a visual taste of what's to come.