Twisted Metal and Interstate ‘76 Devs Kickstart Motorgun

New studio Pixilbionic has started a Kickstarter to fund their new car combat game, Motorgun (formerly Autoduel). But Pixilbionic isn't just some new studio created out of thin air. Far from it. Rather, the studio comprises people like David Jaffe (Twisted Metal), Zack Norman (Interstate '76) and Scot Kramarich (Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath) leading the fray. Quite the matchup.

In a post-apocalyptic future, warriors drive to survive in their tricked out, heavily armed vehicles scavenged from the blistered landscape and equipped with a deadly array of lethal weaponry.

Read's the initial description of Motorgun's world, but story can be fairly throwaway in car combat games since it's the mechanics that really matter, and Pixilbionics approach seems to be a mix of real world physics and gamey stype skill trees. The multiplayer will feature three factions, the Ratters, the Scavengers and the Techies, fighting in a myriad of different game types like capture the flag, convoy (protection perhaps?) and something called Salvage.

Motorgun will also feature deep customization which will allow you to do things like strip armor from your vehicle, and add a larger engine, to create a faster more maneuverable car. As can be expected, the customization also encompasses things like paint jobs, weapon types, decals and the like. Something that Twisted Metal was lacking, though you can argue that vehicle customization in TM was done on the fly through powerups littered throughout the maps.

So a new car combat game? I'm in. After a long dry spell it seems developers have finally realized that car combat can be a viable genera...or at least try to be. But with Motorgun and Mad Max no on people's radar, maybe we can bring it to the forefront once again.