Not So Innocent

The other week when viewing the latest video released for Twisted Metal I admit I shed a tear. The game was so dark, and so twisted, that it perfectly captured the vibe of the long-neglected series. With all that gore however, I didn't think it stood a snowball's chance in hell of making it past the classification board. Certainly I'm not alone in my thinking. The European version of the game has been delayed in order to tone down the violent content. With that said, you wouldn't expect it to make it Down Under unscathed, and yet it has...

At least it seems that way.. On January 18, the board awarded the game an MA 15+ rating in its "original" state. Whether this means will be receiving the same version as the US remains unclear. The "original" moniker may simply mean that the version submitted to the board was edited in the first place.

Explaining the changes on NeoGAF, series creator David Jaffe posted that "to be fair, there have not been that many cuts."

"For example, in the scene we've released on the net from the intro- where the girl stabs Tooth in the eye- the SCEE version has this but we cut away right before the scissors make contact with Tooth's face. It's CLEAR what she's doing and I think we even keep the sound effects in and such- but the last few frames are gone. The story itself tho totally works and- for some folks even who tend to think this kinda stuff plays better left to your imagination anyway- perhaps it even works better.

Only a few content cuts for the game- for example, I think the guy on the gurney from Meat Wagon is dead so you are exploding a corpse covered with TNT vs. a screaming man trapped to the gurney. Sucks on my end but at the same time, I get it and the game play isn't different and the intent is still there, as is the humor. In some ways, it's actually much more macabre when you think about it. Shooting a dude screaming out the back of an ambulance is pretty stupid and fun and cartoony in a dark, twisted way. Turning a stolen from the morgue CORPSE a missile? A bit more disturbing in some ways...not trying to sell you on it, just thinking outloud."

That said, Jaffe clarified that a major reason for censoring the SCEE version of the game was to keep the number of different version of the game to a minimum. Whether this includes Australia remains to be seen, although it seems likely. While the US will be receiving the game on February 14, the European version has been delayed until March. This is when the game will be releasing in Australia and so it is likely they are one and the same.