[video]
My second, and favorite, tattoo. It was my 18th birthday present to myself and i couldn’t be happier with it. The Nightmare Before Christmas has been my favorite movie for as long as i can remember and Tim Burton is one of my idols. Overall it took about 16 hours. 4 sessions at 4 hours each, and it hurt like hell. Done by Justin Foss at Sacred Gypsy Tattoo in Bakersfield, CA.
If you feel like you had a sweet tooth craving you haven’t been able to satisfy for the past few years, you’ll have your chance this Valentine’s day as Twisted Metal returns for the Playstation after a five year long hiatus. Twisted Metal has come a long way since it’s inception in 1993, and it’s appearance on the original Playstation in 1995. The latest installment promises a large online multiplayer experience, and unique take on the story system this time around. While the car combat king waits to reclaim his throne next week, car carnage fans got their hands on the multiplayer aspect of the demo this past Tuesday on the Playstation store. Does Jaffe and the Eat, Sleep, Play team live up to the hype, and can car combat compete against the saturated market of multiplayer fps that dominate the market?
Fans of the original Twisted Metal up through newer fans who experienced Twisted Metal Black will find a lot to like about Twisted Metal. For the longtime fan, the controls feel familiar and responsive and easy to command, and for those new to the carnage, a training mode allows you to quickly cover the basics and be ready for combat within minutes of picking up the controller. This time around Jaffe and his team have focused on the online multiplayer, striving to make a fair, balanced, strategic and fun experience that speaks to all level of players. Jaffe wanted to ensure that regardless of how long you’ve been playing Twisted Metal, the player stands a chance without fighting against the often-dangerous level up experience so familiar in so many other online multiplayer games. Of course, Twisted Metal rewards you for the carnage, and allows you to collect XP, but does not use it against you to boost your character, or obtain the one hit weapon kill so prevalent in most online shooters.
Instead Twisted Metal, even as a demo, demonstrates the importance of strategy, knowing your map, knowing your vehicles strengths and weaknesses, and recognizing what other players are doing in the arena. If you are playing Nuke Mode, you’ll want a helicopter on defense as a last resort should a missile be launched to bring down your statue, if you’re on offense, you’ll need Darkside to help protect your sacrifice as it’s prepared to become a missile. If you enter into death match mode, strategy becomes vital to outmaneuver and outflank your opponent, by carefully picking your battles. That being said, where Twisted Metal also works is in the combat. Strategy isn’t the only thing that matters in Twisted Metal, as the game welcomes frantic combat, fast paced driving, and sometimes the necessary all out brawl of weapons, guns, and vehicles to secure the win and climb to the top of the leaderboard.
As a shooter, Twisted Metal’s strength is that it is responsive, fast, and enjoyable. Nothing feels better than watching a car explode and burn into pieces, and then piling on insult to injury as you run over the fleeing driver for a health or weapon bonus. The vehicles all have distinct playing styles, and players can use these to compliment their combat strategies. Each drives differently, demonstrating the way speed, strength, and size can play out. No weapon choice, vehicle, or playing strategy feels wrong, as Grimm can take down Darkside as easily as Darkside blasts his way through two or three opponents at a time.
So what to make of the return of car combat as an online experience? Well, up to this point in my play I have only experienced one lag issue during online play, but it seemed to quickly correct itself after a few seconds and car combat continued on without sacrificing too much game play. However, these are the type of issues that need to iron themselves out before Twisted Metal appears on shelves next week, when their will be more players, more arenas, and more options for players to cycle through as they build up XP to unlock vehicles and more. If the Twisted Metal servers hold up, then it will indeed be Sweet Tooth’s Day once again as car combat king.
Watch the dollface trailer here:
Stand Up Existentialist
This was my first proffesional tattoo. The girl is based on an Audrey Kawasaki piece and it reads “blind faith” which addresses people’s beliefs and their failure to see the whole picture. Ignoring anything that opposes your veiws without the proper research. it was done at coolum tattoo by ben laukis. I think it turned out amazing… this photo was taken shortly after it was finished.
(via libraryland)
seriously.
(via bradofarrell)
(via veryoddthings)
Paul Marino
Raw Power Tattoo in Feasterville, PA
facebook.com/paulmarinotattoo