We’re pleased to confirm that Axel will be available to all Twisted Metal players with the upcoming free patch on April 18th. If you missed him through early pre-order access, this will be your chance to deal some serious destruction in new ways. Bothered by some unrelenting enemies? Blow them away with Axel’s signature Crowd Control attack, or run them right over with his ruthless War Wheel alternate special attack. You can learn more about Axel gameplay strategies (along with strategies for all vehicles) in the Twisted Metal University series at twistedmetal.com.

After studying up on your vehicle of choice, take it for a spin in online multiplayer where we’ve tirelessly been working on updates driven by user feedback. Give it a try and keep the feedback coming!

Finally, you’ve seen pictures from our initial January announcement that Sweet Tooth would be making an appearance in Starhawk, but you’ve never seen him in action…until today. Check out Sweet Tooth’s Outcast form in this new video:

Every copy of Twisted Metal includes a voucher for this exclusive Starhawk multiplayer skin. Don’t forget to enter your code once Starhawk launches on May 8th!

To make Twisted Metal’s release day even more exciting than it already is, Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck is now on a turntable in the middle of the desert, waiting for you to shred it to pieces with bullet-fire. Go to shootmytruck.com right now for a chance to fire a fully automatic weapon live from your own computer and make real things explode. In the history of gaming, guns, and the world wide web, nothing like this has ever been done, and this is your opportunity to be a part of it. Seriously, stop reading this right now and go to shootmytruck.com. And don’t forget to pick up Twisted Metal and let us know what you think!

Today is judgment day! Twisted Metal is on store shelves and Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck is resting on a giant turntable in the middle of the desert, a perfect target for your computer-controlled, fully automatic M249-SAW machinegun. Go to shootmytruck.com right now for a chance to fire this massive assault weapon live from your own computer and make real things explode.

In the history of gaming, guns, and the world wide web, nothing this bold has ever been attempted — this is your opportunity to be a part of history! Seriously. Stop reading this right now and go to shootmytruck.com. And don’t forget to buy Twisted Metal!

As you know, the epic return of Twisted Metal is less than a week away and we’re going launch it with a bang … literally. Ever since the announcement at E3 2010, we’ve been fighting over who gets to keep the real Sweet Tooth truck, and we had an idea … let’s shoot at it till it blows up! So that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.

We happened to get our hands on a couple M249-SAWs (for the layman: fully automatic machine guns) and enough ammo and explosives to wipe out a small nation. Put those things together and we’re gonna make the truck go boom (for the layman: we’re blowing Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck off the face off the earth). But here’s the kicker: it’s not gonna be us who are shooting it. It’s gonna be you!

That’s right, we’ve hooked these guns up to a satellite so you can control them remotely from your computer. Yes, you read that correctly. You can shoot a real gun with real bullets at a real truck from your computer, in a crazy, two-day, shoot-till-the-truck-goes-up-in-a-gigantic-ball-of-flames-style internet spectacular. It’s all happening at shootmytruck.com via live stream.

So go to shootmytruck.com right now to sign up for a chance to shoot. I can’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day than shooting up a truck from your computer and then going out and buying Twisted Metal. Get your trigger fingers ready, America. It’s shooting time.

Today’s lesson focuses on risk vs. reward in the high-stakes world of vehicular combat. Experienced Twisted Metal players have long known that the highest-damage attacks require quite a bit of risk, and this 2012 revival is no exception. Whether you’re swooping in close to deliver a point-blank Shotgun blast or charging up the devastating Swarmer missile, Twisted Metal’s sprawling arsenal requires a firm, steady hand.

Watch today’s new video to learn how to best manage high-risk special attacks such as Roadkill’s devastating Blood Missile Barrage and Reaper’s Flamesaw — two of the most lethal weapons in the game. Then use this knowledge to give you a headstart on multiplayer combat this February 14th when Twisted Metal finally lands on PS3!

With a little luck, and a lot of pluck, you’ll catapult yourself to the top of the multiplayer leaderboards this February 14th. Check back soon to learn more killer tricks and tactics for this long-awaited revival.

UPDATE: The NOS redemption website is now fully functional and consumers can redeem their codes at this time. Thank you for your patience.

Valentine’s Day is coming, and with it, all of the gory goodness you can expect from Twisted Metal. You may be asking yourself, what’s missing from my Twisted Metal experience? A vehicle with gore dripping out of infected wounds? An ice-cream truck that showcases Sweet Tooth’s sensitive side? You’re in luck.

Specially marked NOS Energy Drinks will have a special code under the cap redeemable for exclusive vehicle skins from the twisted mind of game creator David Jaffe. Just enter the code under the tab at drinknos.com, and you’ll be playing through the night with badass new versions of your favorite Twisted rides.

As you play as Dollface and gun down all those who oppose you in your machine gun-equipped mac truck, spare a moment for those you love. Pre-order your copy from GameStop and 1800Flowers.com will hook you up with $10 off of any purchase of $39.99 and up. If you pre-order at GameStop.com, they will email the code; in person, it will print on your receipt. As much carnage as Twisted Metal’s launch day is sure to serve up, remember: it *is* still Valentine’s Day.

We know your appetite for destruction is growing as we draw closer to Twisted Metal‘s Valentine’s Day release (2/14), so we’re pleased to announce that the Twisted Metal Multiplayer Demo goes live on the PlayStation Store this afternoon!

Once the demo hits the Store, you’ll get a taste of Twisted Metal’s online play with:

• Eight vehicles to choose from, each with their own unique special weapons
• Two multiplayer modes: Classic free-for-all Death Match, and team-based Nuke mode—a Twisted take on Capture the Flag that’s brand new to the series
• Challenge mode, where you can practice with each vehicle to hone your destructive skills

Be sure to try out all the vehicles and modes available in the multiplayer demo and let us know your favorites. Servers will be up today through February 7th, so you’ve got a week to practice before the full game comes out on February 14th. Get killin’!

To celebrate today’s release, Game Director David Jaffe chimed in with answers to some popular user questions. This Q&A relates to the final retail game, not today’s multiplayer demo, but it will give you a closer look at what to expect this February 14th.

Will Twisted Metal feature a Party System for easy play with friends?
100%! The new Twisted Metal supports Party and Clan systems allowing players to easily jump into ranked and unranked matches together. The party system was key, not just because it’s a staple for online games, but because we heard from so many players who came up playing this game with friends (be it as little kids, or college students) and now their crew have scattered across the globe and they were asking us for a fast, easy way to jump into games with friends so they could relive some of those fun memories (and ideally make a lot more new ones)!

Will Twisted Metal have splitscreen coop missions?
Split screen local co-op has been a staple of the series since TM2 and it’s back and better than ever. The campaign that you and a buddy can go through together is more varied than any other TM campaign we’ve done. And the other split screen modes- for 2 to 4 players on the same tv- allow for free for all and team games with lots of host options for players so they can tweak and adjust the game so it always says fresh. In 2 player split the players have 30+ levels to choose from. In 3 and 4 player split, players can choose from 10 battlegrounds.

Is there any gameplay relevance related to the pedestrians in the environments, mechanics and trophies?
Yes to all three questions :). A good example: in the level called BLACK ROCK STADIUM- which is this ‘hi tech meat grinder-meets-Roman Gladiator Colosseum’ players can park their vehicles on pressure plates. Sitting on these plates long enough causes audience members to get ejected from the stands. Each audience member that is ejected is wearing one of two kinds of vests: a vest with a cross on it and a vest with a question mark. Hitting cross vested peds yields health. Hitting mystery peds yields a random weapon pick up.

If you kill an enemy, the drive and gunner eject from the explosion and their burning bodies go running around in terror. After a few seconds they die, but if you can hit the gunner before he dies, you get a random weapon. If you hit the driver before he dies, you get a little extra health.

Which characters are some of the Twisted Metal team’s other favorites?
All of the human characters in the new Twisted made it in mainly because they represent the team’s favorite from a 50+ roster of characters that live in the Twisted Metal universe. So besides Tooth, we’re all big fans of Calypso, Mr. Grimm, Dollface, and Preacher. We also tend to dig No Face and Minion. As for vehicles, we love the cast of vehicles in the new Twisted and that’s a big reason they made the cut. We do miss some of our old friends however, such as Thumper, Pit Viper, Yellow Jacket, Twisted, and Mr. Slam.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who: You! This event is open to the PlayStation community, but you must be 21+ to attend. Bring ID!
What: Twisted Metal Multiplayer Tournament and Community Meetup
When: Thursday, February 2nd from 6:00pm to 9:00pm (Protip: Come early!)
Where: Mezzanine, located at 444 Jessie St. in San Francisco)
Why: Multiplayer competition and gameplay, plus sweet rare prizes
How: Participants can RSVP here or sign-up at on-site check-in.

I advise that you bring your A-game: The multiplayer tournament champion will win a very swanky and very rare Twisted Metal laser-etched PS3. But if you’re self-conscious about your skill level, never fear. Attendees will also be getting special Twisted Metal items (exclusive to this event!) all night long. You’ll need to be present to score them, though.

Oh, and a special treat for the Twisted faithful: Game Director David Jaffe will be in attendance, so bring those dusty old copies of Twisted Metal: Black and Twisted Metal 2…

To make things easy, why not RSVP? See you next Thursday!

But the good news doesn’t stop there. Our friends over at LightBox Interactive have been cooking up something really amazing, and I’m excited to show it to you all today—the Sweet Tooth Outcast Multiplayer skin for Starhawk, coming May 8th! Every copy of Twisted Metal will include a voucher for this awesome skin. On top of that, if you pre-order Twisted Metal you’ll get early access to Axel and a free upgrade to the Limited Edition that comes with a code to download Twisted Metal: Black.

We’ll be sharing even more news up through Twisted Metal’s February 14th launch, so be on the lookout! Until then, let us know—what about Twisted Metal are you most excited for?