‘TMNT: Mutants In Manhattan’ Art Leaks, Shows Unique IDW Style

A new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is in development for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC at Platinum Games, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. Now, the first artwork has leaked out, and it shows the turtles in a completely different style that only fans of the IDW comics might recognize.

The artwork was leaked out by a Twitter account named lifelower (h/t: NeoGAF) who describes themselves as an “XBLA Watchdog.” The leaked art comes with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan logo, but with a noticeably different style from what most have seen in the cartoons and movies.

Mutants in Manhattan pic.twitter.com/HrbQqsPQAq

— lifelower (@lifelower) December 30, 2015

The TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan art shown above is noticeably similar to that of the IDW comics from Mateus Santolouco. You can also notice Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, Kang, and Splinter in the red background. The looks of these characters also match Santolouco’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleswork for IDW Publishing.

The videogame history of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is fairly spotty, with just as many outright failures as successes, and plenty of space in between. However, Platinum Games showed it can make a fun, fast-paced action title using an established property with Transformers: Devastation. That is in large part due to the “Platinum taste,” along with the studio’s desire to still create something unique, as seen in this GameSpot interview with Director Kenji Saito.

“From the start, I had my doubts [about Transformers] because when I looked at past games I thought, this is a series that has an established look and feel at this point,” Saito said. “I was trying to do a different style that I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t know if that will work exactly, but I still had what I wanted to do, so I had to try… It was like taking Transformers and taking my own desire for the game and trying to see how they could fit together.”

“I like the result, obviously,” he added. “But I was, am, very particular, about the art style itself. I drew a lot of inspiration from the classic Transformers series. I was particular in deciding the look and the feel of the game, and I hope it shows.”

“One thing that we feel defines Platinum Games is we want to push the envelope, do things in a dynamic way that they haven’t been done before,” Saito continued. “We like to stretch new ideas. But when you’re working with a previously established IP, it’s like, no, the characters in that world would not do that, and no, you can’t do that either. It’s like, okay, I want to do this but how can I make it possible within the confines of this world construct?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan was outed by an Australian Classification Board rating. The Activision-published game is coming to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and last-gen consoles, according to the listing.

This will mark Platinum Games’ third licensed title with Activision. 2014’s The Legend of Korra was Platinum’s first effort under the publisher’s umbrella, and the small-ish digital-only title worked in terms of combat, but its lack of depth, story, and replayability gave it mixed to negative marks in the Metacritic review round-up.

Platinum followed up with Transformers: Devastation at the start of October, 2015. The title turned into a bit of a sleeper hit, as it pushed all the right nostalgia buttons by bringing back the character models and art style from the original 1980s cartoon, along with the original voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron, while mixing in a wide range of combo attacks from different combos.

The previous two titles do show a trend of what should be expected from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Gamers should look forward to a fast-paced, melee-combat heavy, third-person action title that will have some story and depth limitations. This in part appears to be due to the tight timelines that Platinum Games is working under.

Presumably, TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan will be a co-op title, since that is the style that has always worked best in TMNT games, and single-player titles have always been met with trepidation and mixed reviews. However, there’s been no official word from Platinum Games or Activision on the game at all this point.

What do you think of the art style used for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via Twitter]