Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal is an upcoming 2011 vehicle combat video game developed by Eat Sleep Play for the PlayStation 3 games console. It is the eighth installment in the series of the same name and is due for release in 2011.

Gameplay
The game focuses heavily on multiplayer combat, including various online game modes with up to 4 player split-screen, and 16-players online. For example, The Nuke Mode, is a new online game mode where you choose a faction to play against an opposing faction. In this mode, each faction has a giant metal statue, which the opposing team must try to destroy. In order to destroy these statues, the player must abduct the enemy team's leader, then sacrifice said leader to a missile launcher that will, in turn, launch a nuclear missile at their opponent's statue. Four factions have been revealed so far, the Dolls, the Clowns, the Skulls, and the Preachers. The former having been announced as being inspired by Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal Series) and Dollface (Twisted Metal: Black). The latter are assumably lead by Mr. Grimm (Twisted Metal Series) and The Preacher (Twisted Metal: Black).

Background and Vehicles
It has yet to be revealed if the game is set in the same universe as any previous Twisted Metal installment, or is a new universe altogether.

New selectable vehicles in the game include Reaper (a motorcycle, likely Mr. Grimm's), Roadboat (a car that looks similar to a Mitsubishi Eclipse), Death Warrant (a 2005-2009 Ford Mustang), Vermin (a rodent catcher van), an 80's Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Meat Wagon (a medical 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Combination Car, which closely resembles Ghostbusters' Ecto-1) and Talon (a helicopter). Sweet Tooth and Junkyard Dog also return. Drivers and cars seem to be interchangeable in this game. The existence of Reaper hints at the likelihood of customizable cars/drivers. This is further hinted at in another interview with David Jaffe. New weapons include Sniper Rifle and Shot Gun. Each car now has two Specials (as opposed to other TM games, which have only 1 for per vehicle).

Possible Additional Information
Eat Sleep Play may have provided more information about what is to be implemented into the new installment of the franchise during the Sweet Tooth Tour in Twisted Metal: Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition, when unlocking certain information about the history and developments of previous TM games. On feature 18/29 the developers state that the touring mode was to have been incorporated in Twisted Metal: Harbor City, a.k.a. Twisted Metal: Black II, which was to have both Sweet Tooth and Preacher playable and have a full interactive game mode. Of course, this was scrapped as TM:HC was never finished. But in an interesting note, in feature 18/29 they explain how the mode was to work and going on into the traps and end the paragraph with "Enjoy! We won't go so easy on you next time!". Thus, giving a possible hint that this mode could very well be implemented in the next Twisted Metal game for the PlayStation 3.

Development
The game was first unofficially announced to be developed by Jaffe and his new company, Eat Sleep Play, will be developing a new title in the Twisted Metal franchise, for the PlayStation 3. The announcement, not officially confirmed by Sony, came from a hidden message that was decoded in the Twisted Metal: Head-On "Dark Past" documentary where groups of numbers appeared on screen at points during the video which corresponded to letters of the alphabet. When deciphered, the message reads "Twisted Metal is coming on PS3". The title of the game is believed to have been displayed various times throughout the documentary which is the original Twisted Metal logo but in colors of rustic browns and yellows.

For two years, Sony would not officially confirm the existence of the game, and upon further questioning on multiple occasions Jaffe would insistently decline to comment further, and in general refused to officially announce the title of Eat Sleep Play's first major game until Sony was ready for him to do so. Despite this, rumors persisted heavily that Eat Sleep Play was indeed developing another Twisted Metal. In the months leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo of 2010, rumors surfaced that a new Twisted Metal would be announced under the names of either Twisted Metal X or Twisted Metal: Harbor City, the same name as the cancelled sequel to Twisted Metal: Black. In response to this, Jaffe posted on his Twitter, which he later confirmed in an email to the games site Joystiq, that Eat Sleep Play was not working on a new Twisted Metal game.

However, at the very end of Sony's E3 2010 press conference, a surprise live-action teaser trailer was shown, with no previous indication as to what it was, that revealed a new Twisted Metal game. The trailer was followed up by a real-life replica of the character Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck driving onto the stage, driven by a man in a Sweet Tooth costume. David Jaffe and Scott Campbell appeared out of the back, revealed that Eat Sleep Play was in fact developing a new Twisted Metal game, simply entitled Twisted Metal, and then proceeded to give a gameplay demonstration. After the press conference, a blog post went up on the official Playstation web site by Jaffe explaining why he had outright lied about the existence of Twisted Metal for PS3 and Eat Sleep Play's involvement. He explained that he felt E3 was a show all about joyful surprises, and that because of the internet, those were becoming increasingly rare. In light of this, Sony approached him to make a surprise E3 announcement, and he decided to do whatever it took to keep it a surprise in hopes that the fans of the series would experience such a reaction of joy and wonder. At E3, Jaffe and Campbell further detailed the new online multiplayer mode, and gave the official tentative 2011 release date.

In early stages of the game, Jaffe reveals that the background setting for Twisted Metal was in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The name of the project was tentatively titled, Twisted Metal: Apocalypse. This idea was later dropped, due to co-director, Scott Campbell, not being in favor for this post-apocalyptic version of the franchise.thumb|300px|right