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Twisted Metal rumors seem to never die, and if the series is to make a comeback, Finnish developer Bugbear is the best choice for the job.
As the PlayStation 5 approaches its first anniversary, naturally rumors are circulating regarding what dormant Sony franchises could return on the new hardware. One of the most sought after is the delightfully dark world of Twisted Metal. While Sony Interactive Entertainment remained silent on the long-dormant series, fans can only speculate about what a new entry could look like and who would be the perfect developer to make a new iteration.
The answer to the later question seems clear. Twisted Metal deserves to be placed in capable hands, and Finnish developer Bugbear Entertainment would be the perfect choice. Bugbear has proven throughout its history that it knows how to make a car combat game, developing both the FlatOut series and the ultimate modern car combat game Wreckfest. The studio’s work on the latter makes clear that it is the best choice to bring Twisted Metal‘s vehicular mayhem back in a big way.
Perhaps the most important things a modern Twisted Metal game needs are the right physics engine and damage models. The series has always been about pure vehicular carnage at the hands of various maniacs and antiheroes behind the wheels of cobbled-together war machines. A reboot has a great opportunity to wow fans by providing a great damage system that lets players shred the opposition in a fantastic fashion. A new game needs to be a showcase of destruction and what modern gaming physics engines are capable of.
Bugbear’s physics engine and damage models as see in Wreckfest are some of the best in the industry. Cars crumple, explode, crunch and flip into the air, with many a race or demolition derby devolving into a graveyard of burning metal husks. The studio understands the importance of satisfying destruction and built Wreckfest, a game that literally encourages wrecking opponents with its title, to showcase how fun this can be in a guilt-free virtual capacity.
However impressive this destruction might be, none of it would be worth players’ time if the game didn’t play well — and Wreckfest absolutely nails its gameplay. It brilliantly straddles the line between arcade and simulation racing, giving players a distinct feel of control over each car, which is needed to effectively smash rivals in races and derbies.
Few car games have nailed the satisfaction of hitting the throttle and obliterating an opponent into a concrete wall as their car explodes into metal parts, or losing a front-wheel halfway through the last lap and limping to the finish in a barely-held-together wad of bent metal. Wreckfest already feels like a Twisted Metal game without weapons, delivering some of the most satisfying car combat available.
Furthermore, Wreckfest‘s aesthetic is reminiscent of Twisted Metal‘s grimy setting. The game features a plethora of vehicles, from a souped-up lawnmower and blisteringly fast hot rods to a semi-truck, hearse and battle-painted combine harvester. The cars are also modeled beautifully, with each being a beat-up, dinged and dented heap that is ready to hit the track and crumple its bodywork taking out rivals in highspeed strategic crashes. IT imagine that the Wreckfest hearse is actually Twisted Metal‘s Shadow character, or that its plow-equipped Doom Rig is the game’s version of the intimidating Darkside big-rig, complete with red-eyed chrome skulls adorning it.
Wreckfest even allows players to customize cars for destruction, adding menacing ramming grills and barbed wire-covered steel bars to reinforce the sides of each machine. These modifications not only add strength to the rides, but make them look even more similar to the iconic four-wheeled death-dealers of Twisted Metal. All these cars would need are a couple of high-caliber machine guns and some missile launchers to complete the look.
With a Twisted Metal television show on the way, fans will also want to return to the franchise in gaming form. A reboot launching alongside the series would be the perfect way to appeal old fans while creating new ones. Whether Sony decides to do something new with the series or deliver a traditional sequel, it would be a brilliant idea to consider Bugbear as a development partner to bring a modern Twisted Metal game to life.
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