New Twisted Metal game?

The Twisted Metal series has an interesting history. A demolition derby of a game essentially, it also threw in as many weapons as it could, all in the name of car-based violence. With seven games, all eligible for Sony’s Platinum range, it was a huge success with sales in North America alone reaching over 5 million copies. And yet it’s a franchise that has yet to appear on this generation’s systems. That is until now, should media reports are true.

David Jaffe, co-founder of the Twisted Metal developer Eat Sleep Play, has never been one to keep quiet about the chances of a new Twisted Metal game. Back in 2008, he was hinting to GamePro that a Twisted Metal game was in development for the PS3. There was even a documentary included with the last Twisted Metal game, Head-On, which held a secret message, which once deciphered revealed that Twisted Metal was coming to the PS3. However nothing ever came to light. Then there was the uncovering of a "covert" piece of information via an email that Jaffe had published on his blog last year, cunningly blurring certain words out. Predictably an enterprising photoshopper unblurred the words and so the Twisted Metal rumors started up again.

Finally we come to the latest rumor, again from David Jaffe himself. He stated on his blog recently, "Just to be clear, I’ve never said we were or were NOT making a new Twisted Metal. Ever." He then went on to state that that if a new Twisted was on the way, he would "consider it a reboot", which surely states that he’s considering developing a new title. Or does it?

To me, David Jaffe feels increasingly like the boy who cried wolf. Past interviews shows that he loves to mention Twisted Metal and cause a bit of a fuss over it, but nothing ever seems to be announced officially. Sony’s consistently stated that there is no sign of a new Twisted Metal game, and surely they should know as much as Jaffe. Although the demand for a Twisted Metal game was there a few years ago when the series was fresh in gamers’ memories, we’re quite far into the latest generation of consoles and I can see interest waning fast. Perhaps a new IP would be a better direction for Jaffe; vehicular destruction is of course still going to be popular, but sticking to the Twisted Metal motif could be a bad move when it won’t be so engrained in the memories of this generation of gamers.

As it currently stands, the rumors are all simply supposition and as such I can’t see a new Twisted Metal title coming soon. David Jaffe hasn’t been reliable in the past with his hints over the years - at all. A much more likely prognosis for the year is that we see yet another rumor being spread by Jaffe at some point. It’s a shame as Twisted Metal was an enjoyable franchise when I last played it, quite a few years ago. It lacked finesse but it made for some great multiplayer battles. For now though, don’t expect a Twisted Metal game any time soon.

Jen’s Verdict: False