Twisted Metal (2012), Mixed Feelings Options

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

As a long-time fan of the Twisted Metal series, I was really looking forward to the new one, but there is a thing or two that makes me think I'll get it as a rental. Mainly, it's that you can only play with three characters: Sweet Tooth, Dollface and Grimm. While they can use different cars of their choice and three endings for each as well as a fourth group in the many online modes, it feels very weak. Part of the fun of TM is the variety of characters with their own stories and endings. I understand the game will focus a lot more on online play and not all the character would have their own gangs, but still...

I'm not much of an online player, but the modes look interesting and I like the idea of a helicopter as one of the vehicles. Yeah, I'll get it as a rental.

[Caim]

Mainly, it's that you can only play with three characters:

waitwhat

I just-

What?!

A series known for it's huge selection of varied vehicles and characters to blow shit up with, and they chop it down to three?!

[Screaming_Soulcatcher]

Whelp, there goes my interest in this game. And I had such hopes for it too.

Looks like my money is going towards Street Fighter x Tekken...

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

A series known for it's huge selection of varied vehicles and characters to blow shit up with, and they chop it down to three?!

The online modes will have a fourth group and you get a variety of vehicles, but no new drivers. So you can use Axel's machine, but not Axel (the character). It seems like they're a lot more focused on making TM more like an online game and not really appealing to the people who like the single mode and the story.

EDIT: Here's an explanation for it.

Tooth IS the first character in chapter I, so no need to unlock him. No spoiler, we’ve let it be know Tooth was in the game for over a year .
Yeah, only 3 characters for story mode. We debated it for a while and there were lots of reasons we did it, the main one being we felt we could not ship a campaign using the older TM structure…it’s just too dated. Plus we wanted to really flesh out the universe and world and characters and for us, diving deep into and spending our production money and time on Tooth, Grimm, and Dollface (not to mention learning about Calypso and Preacher, who are intertwined in the stories) allowed us to really expand the TM world vs. having 8-12 little short joke endings that- while fun- felt too insignificant for a campaign game story in 2012.

This post has been edited by Yaoi Huntress Earth: Jan 22 2012, 07:03 PM

[Caim]

Plus we wanted to really flesh out the universe and world and characters and for us, diving deep into and spending our production money and time on Tooth, Grimm, and Dollface (not to mention learning about Calypso and Preacher, who are intertwined in the stories) allowed us to really expand the TM world vs. having 8-12 little short joke endings that- while fun- felt too insignificant for a campaign game story in 2012.[/i]

May God... They're treating Twisted Metal as some deep story that actually needs to be delved into, and NOT just a half ass excuse to have cool cars blow each other up...

It's like they entirely missed the point...

[Screaming_Soulcatcher]

So they couldn't flesh things out AND give us more than three characters?

Half the fun of the twisted metal series WAS those 8-12 endings. Hell, thats what carried Twisted Metal Black, which was not only fun, but provided us with excellently disturbed characters and endings that actually creep people out.

Besides, didn't they flash out the character's backstories in previous Twisted Metals? Or better yet, isn't Twisted Metal just some fucking dream someone is having?!

Christ Almighty

[Viashino_wizard]

Okay, so Sweet Tooth is the mascot, obviously, and everybody loves Mr. Grimm. But... Dollface? What?

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

Okay, so Sweet Tooth is the mascot, obviously, and everybody loves Mr. Grimm. But... Dollface? What?

I guess the original Dollface had a popular fanbase to get her in the game. Her origin had a good sense tragedy as well as her odd kind of innocence. The new one is a supermodel who got unto a car accident, the surgery left her with a faint scar (but she sees it more as a maggot-ridden mess) and went crazy.

Caim: I agree, they definitely missed the point. The game always gave out hints of what was going on while still giving the player a chance to fill in some stuff on their own (I picture Calypso as a Freddy Krueger-like entity who can pull people into his world to compete.) And who doesn't like blowing shit up while driving a bad ass car?

Screaming Soulcatcher: I love those endings (though there's some I would've done differently) and I wouldn't mind seeing alternate ones. The makers were also able to successfully change the tone to ultra dark (TM Black) or more light-hearted (TM: Small Brawl). (Don't worry, Calypso is still a delightful jerk in the later.)

[T_K_17]

May God... They're treating Twisted Metal as some deep story that actually needs to be delved into, and NOT just a half ass excuse to have cool cars blow each other up...

It's like they entirely missed the point...

When this game started development, it wasn't going to have any story at all. It was just going to be a multiplayer game. They through in a story mode later when they figured people wanted one, so it makes sense to me that they'd limit the focus of the story rather than take the scattergun approach.

To me, the wide cast of characters in Twisted Metal wasn't as interesting to me as shooting shit with cars, which this game has plenty of.

[Shmeckie]

Why would they cut the character count to 3?! Aren't the characters part of the draw for these games?!

[Lizard-Man]

I guess the point of different characters is rather moot now. What with multiplayer switching the focus to faction based combat it seems. Still, I think they should add at least one more faction to give the game a three act structure for whatever side you choose. Unless of course you can only be Sweet Tooth.

I'm kinda thinking who would be the best choice for that. I always liked Warthog, but I don't think he's that popular. Which character was a hit for a lot of folks? Outlaw? Roadkill? Thumper? Minion? I'm not as big a fan of the frnachise, I don't know.

[T_K_17]

I guess the point of different characters is rather moot now. What with multiplayer switching the focus to faction based combat it seems. Still, I think they should add at least one more faction to give the game a three act structure for whatever side you choose. Unless of course you can only be Sweet Tooth.

I'm kinda thinking who would be the best choice for that. I always liked Warthog, but I don't think he's that popular. Which character was a hit for a lot of folks? Outlaw? Roadkill? Thumper? Minion? I'm not as big a fan of the frnachise, I don't know.

My guess is they could have given Preacher, who is the fourth faction in multiplayer, his own storyline; but I'm not sure how his character will play into the actual story, so maybe his role is one we're not supposed to know about from the beginning.

[Screaming_Soulcatcher]

I thought Preacher only existed in Black (the one that was in Sweet Tooth's head). And didn't they say Preacher was involved in the story?

But yeah, so many characters aren't in the game. Hell, grasshopper isn't even the game, even though that car's driver is Calypso's daughter

Is Mr. Grimm just some random biker dude now?

This post has been edited by Screaming_Soulcatcher: Jan 23 2012, 02:23 PM

[Lizard-Man]

Well then that doesn't make sense. If Preacher is a fourth faction why not have him in the game? I mean you could make a story about that. Hell it's just one extra character, it's not that hard. Hell I can do it right now.

Preacher, from what I've seen of him in TM Black, was an anguished soul who wanted to redeem himself of his sins. And when given a way out he took it, only to find out he was just clearly insane.

Well, how about we take him all the way? He hates the Twisted Metal tournament, sees it as an abomination to God and decides he and his followers will cleanse the earth of it's foul influence in order to save the souls of man! He's still obviously crazy, but that puts him in contrast to psychopaths like Sweet Tooth and Dollface. And he can even feel a sense of rivally/hatred for Mr. Grimm as a representation of the evil he thinks he's fighting.

I mean they already have his faction, you might as well just put him in the story.

[T_K_17]

He is in the story, just not playable. Why? Fuck if I know. It's not like they're handing out a full synopsis of the whole story before release.

I know you guys are disappointed in the lack of characters, but can we at least wait until the game is out and played before we determine if it's actually a bad thing?

[Lizard-Man]

I'm not making a judgement, I'm just confused even more now that he's IN the story but not playable. So, like you, I'm scratching my head here as to "what the fuck?"

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

I'll still give the game a chance, but I'm not sure why Preacher doesn't get his own story. It would've been interesting if they brought back Marcus Kane (AKA Roadkill) given his complex relationship with the world of Twisted Metal, Calypso and Sweet Tooth.

One thing I do like is how great the cinematic scenes look for the game to the point of looking quite real which I found on the main site.

[Screaming_Soulcatcher]

They look real because they actually ARE real. They were shot in live action

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

They look real because they actually ARE real. They were shot in live action

Oppps. I wonder if all the cinematics will be this way. Reminds me of the original TM and how they used real actors for the character pics and were going to make the endings live-action, but switched to text.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

I just found out that they originally were going to make the PS3 version into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but stopped part way through production because they "just weren't feeling it." I know it would've been a risk (given the number of post-apocalptic stuff out there), but the fact that it is due to a Sweet Tooth's wish for "paradise" got my interest.