When a video game ships it’s pretty much a one and done sort of thing. This generation has given us the added bonus of post-release DLC which in some cases can expand the general experience, but once a game hits retail we pretty much never learn nothing about it such as what was once originally meant to be. In some cases certain details about what was left on the cutting room floor are leaked perhaps years after the fact, but it’s rare for a developer to openly share something about a project that was cut for one reason or another. Far from being like everyone else, Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe has taken to his blog to share two alternate endings for Twisted Metal.
By now most of those in the PlayStation nation have experienced Twisted Metal and know what the core endings are. But as David Jaffe has now revealed to us, there were some alternate endings as well and in a way akin to a cool bonus feature on a Blu-ray David has opted to share the bonus alt endings for Sweet Tooth.
The iconic Sweet Tooth had a solid ending in the game already, but based on what David has revealed it seems like things were originally planned to be a bit creepier and slightly gorier for the homicidal ice cream selling clown. Unlike other games which may only have alt endings created in simple animatics or as a storyboard, the alternate endings for Sweet Tooth were actually filmed, sans finished effects work, and David was nice enough to share them with all of us.
Going with some of the unexpected things that occurred in Twisted Metal, the first alt ending for Sweet Tooth involved a different kind of twist pertaining to Sophie. Instead of ending up to be his daughter, this version of the ending had Sophie as a love interest for Sweet Tooth, basically being the Mallory to his Mickey. But as it turns out the relationship between Sophie and Sweet Tooth takes a turn for the worst which ultimately ends up in Sweet Tooth losing his head. Yup, Sophia goes all chop happy on Sweet Tooth and extinguishes his flame for good.
If that ending wasn’t grim enough for you, then perhaps the other ending will satisfy your need for dark drama with a slight macabre edge. As revealed by David, the second ending for Sweet Tooth still retained the element of Sophie being his daughter but things were conceived differently. It was still planned for Sweet Tooth to encounter Sophie at the hospital she was residing at, but there was going to be a more family friendly twist. Instead of killing Sophie, Sweet Tooth was finally going to find an ounce of humanity by defeating the monster that resides within him to spare his daughter. This may sound a bit lame, but initially the game was aiming for a general Teen rating before being given the Mature rating greenlight from Sony.
Liking to push the thematic envelope of things, David went on to devise a new ending for Sweet Tooth in response to the M rating the project was given. The encounter between Sweet Tooth and Sophie would play out the same, but the difference was that Sweet Tooth would dispose of Sophie by kicking her out of the window, leaving her to fall Hans Gruber style out the hospital. Isn’t Sweet Tooth father of the year material?
The reveal of these alt endings for Twisted Metal are somewhat bittersweet as David has once again reiterated that he's likely done with the Twisted Metal franchise. David’s departure from Eat Sleep Play and the new focus of that studio pointed to such a thing, but once again for certain we know that David has bid the Twisted Metal franchise adieu for good. It’s not clear if Sony will continue with Twisted Metal without David Jaffe as they did in the past, but perhaps we can expect to see Sweet Tooth in a game down the road which isn’t PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
