Fans of some of the less popular games on PlayStation 3 are probably going to be saddened to hear that they are going to be taken offline in less than a month. Sony today confirmed that that PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, the crossover fighting game that the company released with Superbot in an attempt to emulate Super Smash Bros., will be going offline on October 25.

Sadly, it’s not the only PS3 game going offline on that day— David Jaffe’s failed attempt at a Twisted Metal reboot on the PS3 is also having its servers taken down on that day, as will Warhawk, which saw its significantly less popular spiritual successor Starhawk go offline recently as well.

It is important to note that you can still buy and play these games, even after October 25– all this means is that you won’t be able to play them online. Now, for a game like Warhawk, that is admittedly an issue, but for something like PlayStation All Stars, it should be fine, since there’s a substantial single and local multiplayer component to it.

May Sony’s multiplayer servers for their PS4 games last longer.

Sweet Tooth is back… and he wants revenge

Those of a more nervous disposition should beware then, as arguably the most evil clown in modern gaming has returned. Sweet Tooth – the flaming-haired cover star of the Twisted Metal series – once again takes centre stage in this addition to the PS3 catalogue.

The latest offering from Sony and developer Eat Sleep Play is a game full of car-nage; a combat game that’s all kinds of sinister, using various weapon-laden vehicles to kill rivals and wreak havoc.

There’s plenty to keep you busy too; there’s a campaign and online mode, with split screen options and the capacity for up to 16 players to thrash it out online.

Once again, creators David Jaffe and Scott Campbell take us to a world of the Twisted Metal tournament. It’s a welcome return for the PlayStation’s longest-running series; it’s been around even longer than Gran Turismo, and dates back to 1995!

The much-loved series makes a bloody return

Oh, and it’s thoroughly insane, much like the oxymoron that is Sweet Tooth – the killer clown with an affable name – who once again takes the controls of his souped-up ice cream truck as he looks for revenge. He’s one of the three playable characters in the main campaign who take part in a contest run by kingpin Calypso. Whoever wins gets whatever prize they desire… but first they each have to conquer various challenges and bosses.

None of the characters are remotely likeable but each is desperate to win the contest. Sweet Tooth wants to kill the only person to ever escape his clutches, ex-stuntman Mr Grimm yearns to save his father, and tempera-MENTAL model Krista Sparks – aka Dollface – wants to model again after she’s disfigured. Calypso can grant them their wishes if they emerge victorious.

There have been plenty of car-based combat games over the years such as Carmageddon, Roadkill and Blood Drive – but in my view, Twisted Metal takes pole position as the darkest and most enjoyable of the lot. It’s a perfect blend of humour and gruesomeness. It’s fun but disturbing in equal measure.

Besides the solo player campaign – which, to be fair is tough as nails and has a storyline that’s largely unfathomable, there are also various multiplayer game modes on offer. Whether you’re chasing the highest score in Death Match or trying not to lose all your lives in Last Man Standing there is plenty of replayability and it’s great fun. Hunted mode is absolutely manic – with one player (the prey) chased by everyone else until the bitter end. Finally, Nuke is a take on the traditional Capture the Flag games but with a sublimely evil slant, as you’d expect. Chase down a member of the opposing team, attach them to a missile and fire them into your enemy’s statue to win! Gaining XP unlocks new cars and weapons.

Kill or be killed

The latest edition boasts 30 arenas spread across eight maps. Pretty much everything can be driven through and destroyed, run over and wrecked. There are loads of cars on offer, new weapons and the varied maps that don’t feel remotely crammed even when loads of players are battling it out.

Besides the three key characters, the stars of the show are the vehicles, including the Reaper motorbike, Darkside truck, Warthog station wagon cum tank and Talon – a helicopter that was once used to report the news rather than make it. Throw some flaming chainsaws, missiles, mines, miniguns and magnets into the mix and carnage ensues. Sweet Tooth’s iconic ice cream truck even transforms into a giant robot – it’s completely manic!

Bored of road rage, then take to the skies!

Now it’s a great game but by far my biggest gripe was the controls, which certainly affected my enjoyment from the start. You’ll initially think it’s just a simple case of holding an accelerate and brake button, firing your arsenal of weapons and steering clear of obstacles and incoming bullets… however, you quickly realise that to fully appreciate the various abilities, boosts and intricacies of the cars, you need to have incredibly dexterous fingers. It didn’t take too long to become second nature but it’s certainly not a case of being able to dive in and compete straight away, which is a real shame.

Overall, however, it looks great, sounds great and there’s plenty of macabre fun to be had!

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

David Jaffe isn’t interested in next gen consoles, and for him, the reason is simple; it causes the game development budgets to increase. He revealed this in an interview with Edge and said that he “couldn’t care less about it.”

I think Jaffe is overreacting a little here. The next gen consoles will definitely be made with developers’ feedback in mind, and we probably won’t see anything like the PS3 ever again.

Of course, this is all just speculation and anything can happen – but I do sympathize with developers.

“I’m no longer that excited about next-gen technology; it means budgets go up,” he explained.

“It sucks. The biggest thing I want is what you get from the PSP and the 3DS – it’s always on, there’s a sleep mode and I can just hit a button and I’m right back where I was and I don’t have to go through all the boot-up shit.”

 “I started at Sony Imagesoft doing Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games, and I went through that to PS1, then PS2, PS3, Vita… You go through the cycle enough”.

“Ultimately, this is all going to be yesterday’s news and it’s about the experience, the game. Unless we’re talking about holodecks, or AI that’s so amazing it can actually write a compelling story around you procedurally based on your choices, I’m not interested.”

Maybe he has seen the specs already and is horrified, but that’s unlikely. He recently left Eat Sleep Play and mentioned that he wanted to create casual games.

Twisted Metal sold a very impressive 221k last month in the US, and the EU release will happen this friday. It was delayed in the EU due to censorship reasons. Stay tuned for our review soon.

Do you agree with Jaffe? Let us know in the comments section below.

David Jaffe has said that gamers should find value in the games they want. He wants the industry to price the games accordingly to the content offered. Pricing complaints shouldn’t be taken lightly he said.

Considering how much Call of Duty sells, I’m not really sure if a vocal minority of gamers are an accurate representation of what the majority of them want.

“Consumers feel games are too expensive and they shouldn’t have to care about the machine behind the scenes of how they get their games,” he said to Gamesindustry.biz.

“They should feel that they’re getting great value for what they spend. They should feel that they’re being respected by the people who make the games and that they’re being entertained well beyond what they paid for their entertainment.”

“I think it’s going to be a lot of pushing and pulling and changing to find something that feels fair and respectful. But I think the big thing that we have to listen to – it doesn’t matter how this gets solved or what Sony does or Microsoft does – what does matter is that we need to listen to what the customer is saying,” he said.

“The customer is basically saying they’re cynical, they think we’re greedy, and they think they’re not getting value for their dollar.”

I agree with some of his points, but Jaffe usually tends to overreact in most situations.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Thanks, VG247.

The video above details this new campaign as David Jaffe explains what exactly this is all about. Oh, and, since this is Jaffe we’re talking about, he swears plenty.

You can sign up for the campaign here.

Twisted Metal releases for the PS3 on February 14 in North America and march 7 in Europe.

Twisted Metal’s much anticipated release is just around the corner, and with that in mind, developers Eat Sleep Play have revealed the Trophies list for the game.

The entire list is given below:

TMA – Complete story mode without dying or switching cars in the garage.

Point, Shoot, Kill – Kill 100 enemies with every missle.

Any Car Will Do – 50 kills with every car in online ranked games.

Tantric Twised – 50 cars killed by yourself in endurance mode.

Twisted Gold – Earn gold medal in every campaign event and boss fight on twisted difficulty.

Racing? In a Twisted Metal game? – Don’t miss any gates and wind the battle in Race #2, one player only

Truly Twisted – Complete story mode on twisted difficultly.

Remote Nuke – Kill 3 players with a single remote bomb.

Another Level – Win 10 ranked games in each map. Map size does not matter.

A la Mode – Win 10 ranked games in each game type.

We buy gold! – Earn a gold medal on every campaign event in any difficulty mode including co op.

…and I thank you for playing Twisted Metal. – Complete story mode on any difficulty.

Make up you mind. – Use the garage 25 times.

The One That Got Away – Complete the Sweet Tooth story on any difficulty.

Watch me Shine! – Complete the Doll Face Story on any difficulty.

Grimm’s Dark Trip Back. – Complete Grimm story on any difficulty.

The most dangerous game. – Be the hunted/stay the hunted in ranked, unranked, or split screen local HUNTED GAME MODE for at least 4 minutes.

Cookie Party – Kill 3 enemies in a single game using drop mines.

Old School – Play a 2,3 or 4 player split screen game.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Gimme the Trophy – Play and finish the “Live Training” tutorial mode.

Twofer – Kill two enemies with a single rat rocket.

60 to 0 – Kill a player with full heath in one shot.

He’s not heavy – As Talon, pick up a teammate (Ranked, unranked, split screen, campaign co-op)

Because I care – Complete a campaign without hitting a single pedestrian.

Birth Control – Defeat the semi before a single enemy is spawned in Juggernaut DM – Watkyn’s Harbor.

Tradin’ Paint – Ram 5 players to death in a single online game.

Am I not merciful? – Kill 100 flaming gunners and/or drivers in campaign mode.

Fire in the sky – Shoot down an enemy missile 1 time in a ranked game of NUKE.

That. Just. Happened. – Kill yourself with a freeze cheat shot in ranked SM or LMS, or in any unranked or offline play.

Calypso – Achieve the highest online rank.

You think this game made itself? – Watch the credits, start to finish.

I h8 poachers. – Finish a ranked game with the most damage done and fewest kills overall.

Medic! – Heal a teammate.

Grace under fire – Beat Metro Square Electric Cage on HARD MODE with 5 SECONDS LEFT in your GRACE PERIOD meter, Cooperative Story is allowed.

All Sales are final – Win at least 1 ranked online game per day for 30 days straight.

Right place, right time – Kill a player less than 5 seconds after you respawn, in an online game.

Up, up and away – Launch a nuke.

In your face – Hit statue with a nuke.

David Jaffe, the man behind the upcoming Twisted Metal will leave Eat Sleep Play, the studio that developed the game – according to a report on SLT.

It was mentioned there that – he was leaving ESP to concentrate on developing casual games, which of course, he has denied on Twitter.

“He’s excited to go into the casual space as well,” said Scott Campbell on SLT. “He’s got some projects that he’s excited about. So we’re kind of going down two separate paths.”

Jaffe rebutted this with via a tweet.

“The rumors of me making casual games post TM – as many of you define them – are highly exaggerated,” he clarified.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Twisted Metal was supposed to release in Europe on February 17, just two days after its February 15 US release date. However, David Jaffe confirms that the game has been delayed to March in Europe now.

David Jaffe and some other devs at Eat Sleep Play are saying that the game will be released on March 1 in Europe due to localization issues. The European copies of the game will also be seeing cuts, contrary to the wishes of the devs. Some of the content is too “graphical.”

This was confirmed via a live chat with the developers at Sonyrumors.

[MP1st]

We recently got an official e-mail that revealed that Twisted Metal, the upcoming PS3 car combat game, will be priced at Rs.2199 in India, which is lower than new PS3 games are usually priced at.

Here’s some info on the game as given by the devs:

High up in his penthouse office, a mysterious lunatic holds the infamous Twisted Metal tournament every year. Who is he? Calypso. And his thirst for chaos and destruction can only be quenched with death.

Twisted Metal releases early next month for PS3. Stay tuned for more coverage.

Jaffe has gone into hype mode as the game is nearing its release date. He recently tweeted that, he thinks Twisted Metal (PS3) is 1000 times better than Twisted Metal Black.

Now unfortunately I haven’t played Twisted Metal Black, but our readers can shed some light into that in our comments section.

Twisted Metal Black was released in 2001, and is widely regarded as one of the fun car combat games ever. I’ve heard that they are planning to bundle in TMB with the limited edition of Twisted Metal, so finally I can give it a shot.

“I liked TMB a lot and I think this game- in campaign and MP- is about 1000 times better than TMB. But I am biased, of course:)!” said Jaffe.

The game will be released on February 14th exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.