Retrospective - Twisted Metal (1995-2012)

      Hey guys, Chuck here. And, with the second season of Twisted Metal on the horizon, it's time to talk about the game series that the streaming series is based on. Created by Scott Campbell and David Jaffe, the Twisted Metal game series has been through its share of ups and downs, having spanned multiple console generations with games on the original PlayStation, the PlayStation 2, the PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation 3. 

      So, the concept of the Twisted Metal games is pretty straightforward. Once a year, an underground figure named Calypso holds a demolition derby style tournament. The prize? The winning driver gets their greatest wish granted. The goal? They must drive and eliminate the competition through use of missiles, machine guns, and all manner of weapons. The cost of losing? Death. 

       The series is pretty well known for its colorful roster of drivers, with such vehicles as Roadkill, Sweet Tooth, Thumper, Spectre, Hammerhead, Pit Viper, Yellow Jacket, Darkside, Warthog, Outlaw, Crimson Fury, Mr. Slam, Mr. Grimm, Grasshopper, Shadow, Axel, Twister, etc. And, that's just the names of the cars. The drivers are guys like Simon Whittlebone (Mr. Slam), Needles Kane (Sweet Tooth), sisters Amanda and Miranda Watts (Twister), siblings Carl and Jamie Roberts (Outlaw), Krista Sparks (Grasshopper), and so many more. 

      The original Twisted Metal, developed by Utah-based SingleTrac, was the most straightforward of the series, as the player chooses one of the roster of drivers, goes through several levels all around the city of Los Angeles, and ends up in a one-on-one match against defending champion Minion on the rooftops of L.A. Twisted Metal 2, also by SingleTrac, sees Calypso take the Twisted Metal competition around the world, with locations like Paris, Holland, New York, and so forth. 

      Unfortunately, the crew at SingleTrac went on to focus on other titles as an independent developer, while David Jaffe went off to develop games internally. Needing more games in the Twisted Metal series, the in-house development crew at 989 Studios in San Diego, to produce both Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4. And, while I, personally, have a soft spot for Twisted Metal 4, as it was the first game in the series I played, I do see where some have their grievances. And, while Twisted Metal III had a number of returning vehicles from the first two games, it also had a few new ones that were fairly forgettable, and the game story is on par with earlier games. Twisted Metal 4, on the other hand, goes a new route, setting up Sweet Tooth as the new head of the Twisted Metal tournament, overthrowing Calypso, who is now among a roster of new drivers, which includes the likes of Orbital, Pizza Boy, Meter Maid, Trash Man, Goggle Eyes, Microblast, a pirate-themed version of Mr. Grimm called "Captain Grimm," and Rob Zombie. Yep, this was the time that saw the Twisted Metal series feature a number of Rob Zombie songs, including remixes of both Dragula and Superbeast, and they had Rob Zombie as a playable character in Twisted Metal 4. 

       Luckily, at the turn of the millennium, Scott Campbell and a number of the old SingleTrac crew formed a new studio, Incognito, and re-teamed with David Jaffe to produce a new game on PlayStation 2: Twisted Metal: Black. A darker, more unrelenting entry in the series that saw a roster of drivers, all inmates at Blackfield Asylum, be approached by Calypso to participate in the Twisted Metal tournament, with an offer of their greatest wish granted. This era saw the introduction of Dollface as the signature driver of Darkside, and also introduced characters like Raven (driver of Shadow), Bloody Mary (driver of Spectre), John Doe (driver of Roadkill), and made Agent Stone the driver of Outlaw as opposed to driver of Crimson Fury. Also, this game saw the introduction of Sweet Tooth's signature design. Other newcomers included Preacher, Junkyard Dog, and No-Face. 

     At the same time as the development of Twisted Metal: Black, another game was developed called Twisted Metal: Small Brawl. It follows the base formula of the series, except the characters are kids, Calypso is the playground bully, and the cars are RC cars. It's nothing to write home about, and wasn't particularly memorable. However, the next game of the series would not have any involvement from David Jaffe, as he went on to work on the creation of the game God of War. Instead, Scott Campbell took the lead on the game Twisted Metal: Head-On for PlayStation Portable, and it was seen by many as "the TRUE Twisted Metal III," as the events of Head-On would serve as a direct follow-up, for the most part, of the events of Twisted Metal 2. Simon Whittlebone and Krista Sparks return as ghosts, Jamie and Carl Roberts return to end the Twisted Metal tournament for good, Miranda Watts seeks to know what became of her sister Amanda.

      Now, some time in the late 2000's, Scott Campbell and a few others from both SingleTrac and Incognito would break away from the latter, and form yet another game studio with David Jaffe: Eat Sleep Play. And, this company would release the "Extra Twisted Edition" of Twisted Metal Head-On for PlayStation 2, which would feature an upscaled version of Head-On , four completed levels for a cancelled sequel to Twisted Metal: Black, a documentary called Twisted Metal: The Dark Past, a mini game called "Sweet Tour," and the deleted end movies from the original Twisted Metal. 

      But, the next main game of the series would be the only title of the series of PlayStation 3, and would simply be titled Twisted Metal. This game was predominantly focused on online multiplayer, and not so much on single player story mode. But, for the single player story, the developers created something that, while certainly weaker than past entries in the series, was pretty neat. For instance, Sweet Tooth is a former ice cream man and family man who snapped, and went on a murder spree. However, on the night he went after his own family, his daughter Sophie fought back and stabbed his eye out. Now, Sweet Tooth want to find her. Dollface is a struggling model named Krista Sparks, who is a total psycho, and her desire is freedom from her doll mask, which she wore to cover a scar that she saw as disfiguring. Mr. Grimm has a more noble wish, but it goes awry. 

       There's also a side plot about Preacher, who is attempting to expose Calypso for being a demon, but it doesn't go well. There's also some post-story scenes, which sees Sweet Tooth's son dig up where Sweet Tooth is buried, takes the mask, and finishes what his father started, followed by a scene where Calypso resurrects Sophie as a new masked clown figure dubbed by David Jaffe as "Sweet Chick," But, overall, story and plot weren't the priority in making the PS3 Twisted Metal, as the aim was online multiplayer combat. Which, based on what I saw through YouTube, was pretty awesome. 

       So, needless to say that the Twisted Metal franchise has been on quite a fascinating road. Now, I have to admit that I haven't played every game in the series, but a decent number of games in the series. I have played the original Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Twisted Metal 4, Twisted Metal: Black and Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition. But, the few games I have played have given me hours and hours of entertainment. Driving around in a section of a major city like New York, Tokyo, Paris, and such, and blasting at other cars, is a ton of fun, and the wide array of cars to drive as makes it all the more fun. 

      The music in the Twisted Metal series is, for the most part, '90s and early 2000's rock and nu-metal. The exception, however, was Twisted Metal: Black, which went for a more foreboding and dark orchestral score to be more in line with the darker atmosphere of the game. Now, while the first two games, as well as Twisted Metal: Head-On and Twisted Metal PS3 weren't necessarily particular with the music selection, aside from the hard rock aesthetic, both Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4 were more particular with the game soundtracks, with Rob Zombie being most heavily featured on the soundtrack for Twisted Metal 4 with the songs Dragula and Superbeast. Also, one of the levels in Twisted Metal 4 had the song Lightning Strikes by Cypress Hill. Aside from the orchestral score, Twisted Metal: Black also famously includes the song Paint It, Black by Rolling Stones in the game's closing credits. 

      Now, what's interesting is that there has been plans for a big screen movie adaptation of the Twisted Metal franchise. Unfortunately, Sony Pictures opted against making the movie, as they felt the fan base wasn't large enough to warrant the massive budget required to make a Twisted Metal movie. But, luckily, thanks to PlayStation Productions and creatives like Michael Jonathan Smith, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick, we were able to get a live-action adaptation of Twisted Metal in the form of a streaming series that respects the game franchise that inspired it. 

       All in all, I love Twisted Metal, and am grateful for the games in the series I did get to play. And, while I love the streaming series, I do hope that someone at Sony gets the drive to actually make a new Twisted Metal game. Whether Scott Campbell and David Jaffe are involved or not is anyone's guess, but hopefully whoever does make the game is someone with a love and passion for the series. 

       Okay guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys in the next review.