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David Jaffe + Sweet Tooth’s Truck + 100,000 Full Metal Jacket Bullets + You = Twisted Fun

Michael Futter — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:00:51 +0000

A few days ago, we reported that David Jaffe would be leaving Utah developer Eat Sleep Play, of which he is a co-founder.

True to form, though, the madman behind the clown with the flaming head is not going quietly into that good night. No, not at all. Instead, in celebration of the launch of Twisted Metal, he’s out in the middle of the desert with Sweet Tooth’s truck, ready to blow the crap out of that thing with a big ol’ machine gun.

The best part? You can enter for a chance to join in the fun. Jaffe and friends are hooking up the sweet piece of weaponry to a camera and remote trigger so fans can fire at the hunk of metal from the comfort of their own computers. Think it sounds cool? Just watch the video to confirm your suspicions.

All you need to do is head over to the Shoot My Truck website and sign up before the game launches. If you’re one of the lucky winners, you’ll find out on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Nothing says love like a bullet-riddled carcass of a demonic ice cream truck.

If you were considering acquiring Twisted Metal through less scrupulous means, you might want to rethink your strategy. Jaffe’s got a gun.

Twisted Metal University: Weapons Training Trailer

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:00:10 +0000

Sony and Eat Sleep Play have released a new trailer for Twisted Metal, which presents weapons training with key tactics.

I would have to say, it’s pretty badass. Check out the trailer below.

Twisted Metal races to retial for the PS3 on February 14.

Twisted News Out of Eat Sleep Play – David Jaffe Departing, Layoffs

Michael Futter — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:32 +0000

With only a week to go before the highly anticipated Twisted Metal reboot, everything was smooth sailing. David Jaffe (@davidscottjaffe on Twitter) is known for engaging his fans and critics alike with brutal honesty and humor. He’s one of those developers that isn’t afraid to speak his mind while, at the same time, seeking guidance from those who are emotionally invested in his games.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up this morning to read in the Salt Lake Tribune that Eat Sleep Play, the studio co-founded by Jaffe, is suffering a one-two punch of bad press. The developer has laid off 26 employees at its Utah headquarters, a horrible situation for those employees eagerly anticipating the return of Sweet Tooth.

Worse, Eat Sleep Play co-founder Scott Campbell confirmed that his partner, Jaffe, is departing the studio. Oh, and the developer is now moving exclusively into the casual games market. I’m just having a nightmare, right? The winner of the Twisted Metal tournament made a wish, horribly perverted by Calypso.

While Campbell claims that Jaffe will be moving to casual games also, the man behind the clown with the flaming head softened that blow on Twitter.

The rumors of me making casual games post TM- as many of you define them- are highly exaggerated.

— davidscottjaffe (@davidscottjaffe) February 7, 2012

We won’t know until next week what this means for the Twisted Metal reboot, though without Sony’s intervention, it could be one-and-done. Best case scenario for a post-Jaffe Twisted Metal? The franchise gets passed on to a studio with the same passion that its creator brought to the table. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

[Source: Twitter, Salt Lake Tribune]

Twisted Metal Proves to be Twisted Fun (Hands On)

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:00:12 +0000

Twisted Metal is the oldest Sony-exclusive franchise in all of Sony-exclusive franchise history and yet it hasn’t properly graced the cirsp Blu-ray diskiness of the PlayStation 3. Well clearly Eat Sleep Play has merely been biding its time until the climate was perfect for a new Twisted Metal because this one feels like the car combat game everyone has been waiting for. Vehicles defy reality, twisting and drifting to the player’s whim, combat is fast-paced and intense, and the destruction and mayhem is absolutely top notch. There are some minor hiccups, some of which are probably more of an issue to Twisted Metal fans than those who have never played a Twisted Metal game, but overall this is a game to keep your eye on.

Ever since humans first dreamt they could drive large blocks of metal, they wished they could smash them into other blocks of metal, or perhaps blow them up with all sorts of weaponry, but feared the social impact of having so many deaths on a daily basis. In comes video games, gateway to awesome things unattainable in real life, and with it, the car combat genre. Somehow this genre is one of the most difficult things to make work. You’d think it’d be super easy, like… cars + bombs = win, right? Not right. There’s a million ways to implement the idea of car combat, some use racing, some use deathmatch, some are top-down view, and some… are Twisted Metal. Twisted Metal has always been the epitome of a car combat game, the game other car combat games base themselves off of, and this iteration is no different.

Traditionally Twisted Metal has been an arena-style car combat game and it still is. However, in the past each car had a character attached to it (along with a car-unique special weapon) and everybody had to fight over which character they were going to play, though “everybody” only extended to four human players and bots. This time around, there’s a rather robust multiplayer mode which supports up to 16 players and the game has changed to accommodate this. Now, there are several factions to choose from, four of which are available in the demo, along with any vehicle and basic weapon combination when preparing to play a game of Twisted Metal. While each vehicle still has a unique special, multiple players can pick the same vehicle now, which is super cool. Last of the real big gameplay changes is the inclusion of the helicopter vehicle which freely flies about the sky wreaking mayhem and being generally difficult to target, but short to stay alive.

The demo itself has both a single player experience with bots and two online modes including Deathmatch, a timed kill-everybody-athon, and Nuke, a team based capture-the-flag plus sort of deal. Fearing my Twisted Metal skills were suspect after not having played since Twisted Metal: Black (like nine years ago), I opted to play some single player first. The initial controls completely eluded me, but thankfully there are plenty of control styles because just about every button on the controller is used in this game. After figuring out what button does what, I settled in and quickly started to enjoy myself.

Cars are fast, even slow cars are pretty fast, especially with turbo, and yet a sort of “break reality drift” button allows cars to take ridiculous turns and operate with the precision necessary to even dream of hitting anybody with the myriad of projectile death-causers in this game. That mechanic is really the anchor to this game that makes it playable, enjoyable and not the slightest bit frustrating or difficult to play. The gameplay strategy of weaving in and out of battles still exists, taking time to stock up on weapons and entering battles when it’s feasible. Demoltion derby or not, there’s still strategy to this game. The only time the core mechanics get in the way of themselves is targeting, without a way to manually target or switch targets (as far as I found) sometimes the game locks on to the wrong target and that Reaper (fragile motorcycle) gets away with no health while you target that Darkside (beefy semi) and she laughs at you. While that can be frustrating, those issues only exist with the homing weapons, and there are plenty of non-homing weapons to use.

On that subject, the available arsenal is pretty fantastic. The addition of passenger-used weapons like the sniper rifle and shotgun are awesome. Both are special-case weapons (polar opposites in range) but they can be very useful for securing kills both in and out of the mayhem. The traditional weapons return with the power missiles, swarmers, homing and fire missiles, and they’re all super fun to use and remain a staple in every combat situation. There are a couple items including a remote bomb and RC-C4 Car which use a pop-up cam when fired off into the distance to monitor if there are enemies in its blast radius. User interface-wise, weapons with areas of effect do different are qualified when the damage notification pops up, saying “Napalm Close: 30 Damage” versus “Napalm Far: 10 Damage”, same with shotguns etc. While not crucial to gameplay, it does help give the player an idea of how they need to lead their target and judge space within the universe.

Game mode wise, every mode was super awesome fun times, but each had a bit of a hiccup that was a tad frustrating. The single player mode in the demo is elimination style and, while totally fine in theory, can be frustrating because like most games with cars the AI makes a habit of making sure it’s around you at all times. Most every game I finished (after dying and losing) I have taken a significantly greater amount of damage than my AI opponents, having healed so much trying to evade their incredibly tenacious chases. That’s no fun. It’s no fun to be hunted down and forcibly removed from a demo experience. It’s one thing to be killed because, well, it’s a game about killing each other, but it’s annoying when consecutive matches end with receiving way too much AI attention.

The two online modes, Deathmatch and Nuke, were far less hiccupy. Deathmatch pits up to sixteen players against each other in a giant clusterfuck on a massive map (the same map available in all modes) and gives players points for kills and assists. Before hiccups, it should be noted that this game might be the only game to get freaking assists right. Why is it so hard to credit players for assists in first person shooters? No idea. But in Twisted Metal you get varying levels of points based on how much damage you contributed to the death of any player ranging from soft to hard assist. Hard assist is much like the Halo assist in that it is essentially a “kill steal”. Beyond that, gameplay is frenetic and filled with all sorts of explosions and people driving through and off of buildings, leading to immense satisfaction in victory and in loss. My only qualm is with the often-unobserved Twisted Metal powers including the mine, shield and freeze. While the first two are totally fine, freeze lasts way too long; with sixteen players blowing the shit out of each other constantly, getting frozen is pretty much guaranteed death unless you’re Darkside.

Nuke is a team mode where players alternate offensive and defensive roles, with the offense team attempting to capture faction leaders, sacrifice them to nuke firing devices, then guide a nuclear missile into the other team’s statue. Awesome in theory, awesome in practice. This take on capture the flag is really fun, and takes full advantage of the all of the game’s features, giving fast vehicles a dedicated role and tanky vehicles a dedicated role as well, allowing mid-ranged vehicles to play the field. The strategy here is really under-the-radar, but man can a good strategy just dominate. Unfortunately, the biggest strategy I’ve seen so far is to have the helicopter capture the faction leader, fly a million miles into the sky then go deliver it safely. The helicopters are far too difficult to target, but they’re not that fast or durable so it’s plenty easy to counter this strategy, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

Twisted Metal is absolutely back, though it has changed in more ways than one. Just about every change to the core mechanics of this game has been to accommodate the current generation and is ultimately welcome, this coming from a massive Twisted Metal fan. Combat was fast, frenetic, and even when hunting for weapons I couldn’t escape the violence for long. Destroying the level, finding weapon caches and entering and leaving combat at the right times remain the key to victory and fun, and no game with cars does it better. This game must be demo’d, everyone should try it, even if you’re not a racing fan because it’s more about using a car as a giant weapon than driving an actual car, and any lover of shooting things or BSU needs to play this.

Twisted Metal is out on PS3 exclusively on Valentine’s day, February 14; blow up your significant other then hand them flowers. Then blow those up.

New Twisted Metal Trailer Gets Grimm

Dave Oshry — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:00:35 +0000

Mr. Grimm. A tortured soul, a tortured past, a broken man, he’s got a plan.

Fear the reaper on February 14th, 2012.

Twisted Metal Release Date Announced With New Trailer

Chris Carlson — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 01:00:12 +0000

David Jaffe has announced that Twisted Metal will be shredding hearts this Valentine’s Day when it hits stores on February 14th, 2012. Also released was a brand new “Dollface” trailer for the game.

“Twisted Metal’s debut on the PlayStation 3 comes packed with new weapons, new environments and new vehicles, including the ability to fly with the Talon, a helicopter armed to the teeth with a minigun turret. Optimized for both offline and online play, Twisted Metal is the ultimate multiplayer experience. Grab a couple of friends for 2-4 player splitscreen mode or synch up to PSN and play against up to 16 competitors.”

David Jaffe Explains Why Twisted Metal Was Delayed til 2012

Catherine Cai — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:25:42 +0000

Just yesterday we reported that the Twisted Metal reboot would not be hitting October 4th as planned. However, that’s no reason to be mad, as this means Eat Sleep Play will have extra time to fix all the issues with the game before it ships. David Jaffe explained that quite a few things needed to be tweaked with Twisted Metal, such as boss fights, weapon balancing, level caps, regen timing, among many other issues. Fixing all of them would take longer than a month, and Jaffe believed that launching the game in November and December wasn’t a good idea. Probably a wise move, considering that Holiday 2011 is already jammed packed with popular titles.

Here’s all of the issues that Jaffe outlined below in a statement:

No real way to ship Twisted Metal sooner than the date we are currently shooting for (early 2012)…Sorry for the delay. But the extra months are really needed for polish and we feel we need more than 4-6 weeks (which would see us hitting shelves in your suggested November time frame) of polish/tuning. Also hitting smack dab in mid Nov/Mid Dec is a bad time to release this game (although that was not the reason we delayed AT ALL…we WANTED to be out in Oct)…but the extra time gives us more time to balance weapons, tune vehicle handling, tune the EXP progression for levelling up, etc…I assure you, better to be a LITTLE ANNOYED in the short term versus hate us forever for shipping a game that’s not up to your understandably high expectations. ANY money is a lot to ask from someone for entertainment. 60 bucks is a S**TE TON to ask for so if we are going to charge that, you deserve our best…even if it takes a little longer than we anticipated.

Some examples of stuff we’re not happy with yet- which should allow you and others to really peek behind the scenes at the kind of stuff this kind of extra time will allow:

Iron Maiden has a few boss attacks that don’t have strong enough telegraphs (aka- the player isn’t able to clearly, consistently tell when she is going to launch the attack)

Iron Maiden has an attack that- even if you can see it coming- the player is not really sure how to avoid it besides using a shield (and we want the player to always have another defensive ability beyond a shield)

We are not 100% happy with the XP rank up tuning….we don’t want you to be able to hit the level cap too soon but we also don’t want the level cap to be so hard to reach that only super amazing hard core can reach it

There are 1-2 online trophies that will motivate players to take actions that go against the more team oriented aspects of some of the modes and thus will piss off other players so we need to rethink and replace those

Pick up placements for split screen local gaming needs more attention

Pick up regen timing needs some tuning…

So imagine about 250 of those sorts of things. Could we ship without change a single one? Totally and it would still be a really fun game. But it would not be good enough for us. And certainly not for you.

Good call on Eat Sleep Play’s part for delaying Twisted Metal. A game with that many issues would surely tank. After all, better late than never.

[Via Examiner]

Twisted Metal Delayed Till Early 2012

Jorge Bocanegra — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:00:17 +0000

Ok, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Twisted Metal will be missing its previously-intended October 4th launch date. Fans who’ve been desperately waiting for the return of Sweet Tooth and friends will sadly have to wait longer–until early 2012– for the series’ big return on Playstation 3. David Jaffe stopped by the Official Playstation Blog to break the news, stating the following to back up this decision by Eat Sleep Play:

“Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love.”

Sounds reasonable to me! This is the series’ big comeback, so extra development time won’t hurt at all, especially when it’ll help enhance the overall game, ensuring fans get what they deserve. There’s quite a few heavy-hitters coming this year anyway–including some Playstation 3 exclusives like Uncharted 3– so releasing Twisted Metal early next year will definitely help its chances of getting more exposure. Now, onto the good news.

Gamescom and PAX Prime are both quickly approaching and Eat Sleep Play plan on making Twisted Metal have really strong showings at both events. Both events– running from August 17th-21st and August 26th-28th, respectively– will play host to a brand new level, titled “Thrills and Spills Amusement Park”. Jaffe goes on to describe it as being ” filled with the over the top destruction, strategic level choices, and twisted humor that fans of the series have come to love and expect.” A new multiplayer mode will also be available for attendees at both shows: ‘Team Hunted’. Details on that mode will be revealed at said events.

Lastly, apart from Sweet Tooth masks being given away to fans at both events, a new story trailer will be revealed, focusing on Dollface. Seems like there’s a lot in store for Twisted’ fans in this month alone! And, yeah, it does suck that we’ll have to wait till next year for the game’s release but hey, I’ll leave you all with this quote from a legend in the industry (which Jaffe also posted on the Blog):

‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’- Shigeru Miyamoto

Source: Official Playstation Blog

Twisted Metal Gets a Release Date and Brutal New Trailer

Dave Oshry — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:43:47 +0000

It’s about damn time. It’s been too long since we’ve seen some new Twisted gameplay. Better yet, we now know when Sweet Tooth is coming out to play.

Yessir, TM is looking to be one hell of a ride.

Buckle up on October 4th.

via [HBG]

E310 Hands-On Preview: Twisted Metal

Rangebar Merani — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:56:36 +0000

At the E3 2010 Sony Keynote, David Jaffe and Scott Campbell arrived on stage in Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck to announce the new Twisted Metal for the PS3. As a huge fan of the series (TW2 was my favorite), I was shocked and thrilled to hear the great news.

Jaffe and Campbell, co-founders of Eat Sleep Play and original creators of the Twisted Metal series, have been secretly hard at work for years now developing a new Twisted Metal exclusively for the PS3 at Eat Sleep Play. E3 2010 was the perfect stage to finally showcase the new title and come clean to fans of the series that they have indeed been working on the game.

Twisted Metal will offer a full single-player campaign, but the developers took their time at E3 2010 to show off the 16-player online multiplayer feature. The carnage takes place in different cities around the US, as players will be fighting in different factions, instead of using specific characters like Twisted Metal games of the past. It’s a great new feature that allows for more game modes and is basically like being part of gang, but you still get to chose what vehicle you want to use.

The Clowns and the Dolls were the only two factions that were revealed in the demo. The Dolls take refuge under their leader, Dollface (from Twisted Metal Black) and the Clowns, not surprisingly, follow the lead of Sweet Tooth. Each faction has their own crew attack (read: special move) in which a second member of your faction will lean out the passenger side window and fire a missile, throw a bomb or even snipe enemies.

Another new feature and a great new addition to Twisted Metal is the ability to use flying vehicles. The demo only showed a helicopter to use, but I’m sure there will be other vehicles to fly. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use the helicopter with my time playing the game, but it did sure look fun to play with and was a struggle to take down.

The controls in Twisted Metal seem to be the same as they always have been. A very classic control setup with the Square button used to accelerate, the Circle button to brake and the shoulder buttons to use weapons and toggle between them. Although it was a tech demo and not a complete game, it felt very smooth and quite normal to someone like me who has played much of the series, which is a great thing. The gameplay seems very promising, full of fast-paced action and will only get better once you get more familiar with the weapon and figure out more creative ways to destroy your enemies.

I was thrilled to try out the new Twisted Metal for the PS3, as I haven’t played a game from the series in years, and I was excited to see what Eat Sleep Play had done differently this time around. I wasn’t disappointed and you shouldn’t be either. Look out for Twisted Metal exclusively for the PS3 sometime in 2011.

Jaffe Tweets Wishes For New Twisted Metal, Reveals Disappointing E3 Update

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:59:16 +0000

What does a 36 year old successful video game designer wish for when he blows out the candles on his birthday cake? Well, in a series of recent Tweets, God of War and Twisted Metal mastermind, David Jaffe, gives us some possible insight.

Jaffe let his followers know that the Twisted Metal franchise is still on his mind when he made the following comments via his Twitter account a few hours ago.

“By the way, I WISH we were making a new Twisted Metal. Making game you’ve already worked on is tons easier cuz your core blueprint is already there. This new game design stuff tho? Man, that is hard…reason I’m so stressed these days!”

An immediate follow up by the designer made it clear that he also sees the value in taking a risk with new IPs.

“ALtho I gotta admit, doing new design/IP stuff IS fun. But days like today you just WISH you already knew the formula that worked!”

Sadly, whatever DJ is working on likely won’t be making an appearance at this coming E3 conference. One of his followers asked about a possible E3 announcement for his new title, to which Jaffe responded:

“Sony has not asked us and given it’s 3 weeks away, my guess is u r correct: no Eat Sleep Play game at E3.”

Some of you may remember a certain promise made by Jaffe regarding a hidden message in the 2008 release of Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted Edition that would offer clues towards the studios next big project. The message was deciphered quickly thanks to the legwork of Finman on the GameFaqs forum. It read ”METAL IS COMING ON PSTHREE.” Kotaku attempted to seek out information on how the game would be distributed and received a big fat “no comment” from Jaffe himself.

Is Jaffe’s Twisted Metal wish secretly coming true behind closed doors, or did that project get scrapped long ago without any notice given to loyal fans of the franchise. Looks like we’ll just have to wait and see for now.

David Jaffe’s Game Not at Leipzig

Patrick Steen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:54:24 +0000

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that Eat Sleep Play’s new PlayStation 3 game won’t be at the Leipzig Games Convention, despite our hoping and praying. The good news is that I’ve coaxed David Jaffe into detailing when we might be lucky enough to see the new project.

In a previous post I explored David Jaffe’s words for the possibility of Leipzig Games Convention reveal, where Sony will have a considerable selection of titles on show. However, previous fears were correct. Eat Sleep Play’s “dog and pony” is in reference to an internal showing of their new game. David Jaffe clarifies his words in a Ripten thread on the Neogaf Forums:

Hey ya’ll- as for our new game, no, we re not showing it next week. Or next month. Or the month after that.

We’re prob. a good 6-10 months away from letting anyone outside of Sony see it. And at that point, I have no clue if they will give it its own showing to the press or make it’s unveiling a part of something like GDC or E3.

Will let ya’ll know- hope you like what we are doing!”

While you lament over that news, there’s even worse to come. The game won’t even be announced at Leipzig. No name, no CGI trailer, no anything.

You mean OUR game? Not sure if you are talking about what we are working on. But if you are, hells no. We are just too early. This stuff takes time, man. But trust me, I’m dying to show it and talk about it and show off some of the amazing stuff the team has been up to.

At least David Jaffe let us know before we got too excited. Nevertheless, we have much more Leipzig content to be excited over.

Sony’s Leipzig Lineup Detailed

Patrick Steen — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:54:52 +0000

Sony are the only console giant to have an official showing at this years Leipzig Games Convention and with promises of blockbuster announcements and possible new game revelations, what games do we actually know will be on show from the 20th-24th of this month?

The good news first. Heavy Rain will be on show with no curtains to hide the presentation from public eyes, so we’ll get to see much more than the already revealed screenshots and behind the scenes footage.

It’s looking less likely that Eat Sleep Play will reveal their new PS3 game at the convention, since previous evidence looks to suggest an internal development showing. However, there should be a healthy list of titles on show, including the following:

- MotorStorm Pacific Rift
- LittleBigPlanet
- Resistance 2
- Free Realms
- The Agency
- DC Universe Online (announced at E3)
- Infamous
- PlayStation Home
- Killzone 2 (single player and multiplayer hands-on)
- Heavy Rain

Not too shabby, but we certainly hope for more new exclusive game announcements.