Nuke Mode is a multiplayer game mode in Twisted Metal (2012). The main focus of the game is teamwork within one's own Faction: Clowns, Dolls, Skulls or the Holy Men. The ultimate goal is to destroy a massive statue of the opposing faction's leader via nuclear missiles, and score points.
The premise of the game is to capture the enemy faction leader, who is manning a turret gun (the gun is important). Once the leader has been captured, one must drag their twitching body to the launch site and hold them in a yellow or green perimeter (depending on the missile launcher) for an allotted time before 'sacrificing' them to the Launcher. This awards the team with a remote missile that must be guided to the statue to cause damage. The player guiding the missile is protected by a force field. The missile can be targeted by the defending team in an attempt to destroy it before it causes any damage.
Scoring comes from either hitting the enemy statue with a nuke, or defending your statue for the entire inning.
Game Process[]
There are 3 primary components essential to understanding the game:
Nuclear Missile Launcher - This is the site where the captured leader is sacrificed. The player preparing the sacrifice cannot fire missiles or machine guns, but may activate shield. Games will vary on the type(s) of nuclear missile launcher(s) selected for the game. The selections include:
- Stationary Launcher - There is only one parked nuclear missile launcher, usually towards the center of the map.
- Mobile Launcher - There is only one nuclear missile launcher vehicle, which is constantly driving around the map.
- 2 Mobile Launchers - There are two nuclear missile launchers driving around the map
- Stationary + 2 (or 1) Mobile - There is one parked nuclear missile launcher and up to two nuclear missile launchers driving around the map.
Innings - Nuke Mode is played in any number of innings between 1-7, although typically played in 3. In one inning there are 2 rounds, with each faction taking turns being offense and defense. The offense (attacking) faction must capture the leader, sacrifice the leader, and then guide missile into statue, while the defense (defending) faction must prevent this. A point is awarded to the defense faction if they don't allow any damage to befall their statue.
The duration of each inning is variable, ranging from 2 to 7 minutes. If a missile is fired and the time expires, the round will continue in overtime untill the missile lands or is destroyed.
The number of successful nuke hits per inning necessary to destroy the rival faction's statue is variable, ranging from 1-7. One hit is equal to one point. Destroying the statue grants you an additional point, along with the hit point (2 points total).
Faction Leaders - The quantity and location of the faction leaders varies. There can be 1 to 3 faction leaders who are vulnerable to enemy capture. Their locations can be random, spread about the map, or fixed in the same location --unique to each faction-- for the entire duration of the game. To capture a faction leader, the player must simply drive over them.
Victory - If the time expires, then the team with the most points after the last inning wins. It is possible to end the game prematurely with the Mercy Rule, which results from an early shutout that yields the oppsosing team's chance of catching up impossible.
Miscellaneous[]
- The nuclear missile has enough fuel for about 2 minutes and 15 seconds of flight without impact, regardless of how fast it goes. However, activating the missile's shield will deplete the missile's fuel by 1/3.
- The faction leaders cause no damage while they are manning their gatling gun and firing.
- Vehicles with lower HP (armor) demand less amount of time to sacrifice enemy leaders to the nuclear launch vehicle.
- Kill to Death ratio does not matter in this game mode, what is most important is capturing, sacrificing, and scoring.