It's not the best FPS out there, but it's the best Paintball FPS, and it's great fun on its own merits.
User Rating: 8.6 | Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball XBOX
We all know Paintball FPS games are terrible. Bad graphics - worse AI. Why even make them? Well, for someone with young kids around, it's nice to have a shooter that doesn't show pints of blood. As a paintball fan, it's nice to have a game that properly simulates the sport. Greg Hastings fills both those needs very nicely. If you have no interest in the sport, you probably won't like this game, and nothing I say is going to convince you. So... off to your Halo 2 then. However, if you like the sport, or are willing to keep an open mind, the game might surprise you. Graphically it's nice, but not gorgeous. The single-player campaign is great fun, but lacks a cohesive story or theme to tie it all together. So where's the surprise I was talking about? The gameplay, where it counts! Here's where Greg Hastings has more muscle than many FPS you are likely to play. Let's look at why... The enemy AI is excellent. Better than Rainbow Six. Better than Halo 2. Not falling back on the whole "superior numbers" challenge, Greg Hastings places you in 3 vs 3, 5 vs 5, and 7 vs 7 matches with opponents as every bit aggressive, accurate, tactical, and tenacious as you. They know how to flank you. They are great at suppression fire (and moving when you're hunkered down and blind). They use cover effectively. In short... they play like the talented paintball players they are supposed to be. Your team does the same. Despite not being able to communicate with them (which is a real shame), they hold their own and make smart tactical moves based on the changing flow of the game. Learn their individual strengths and playing styles, and you'll find yourself working with them very well. The guns and gear are the second best reason to get this game. All are accurate to their real-world counterparts. They fire very much the same, and the physics of the paintballs themselves are excellent. You need to account for the weight of the ball, the bouncing off of barricades, and the feed rate of your hopper (where the balls are stored). Best of all, as you win tournaments, you can upgrade your marker (gun), its barrels, hopper, air supply... as well as the clothing and other gear you'll need on the field. Each new upgrade opens up new possibilities and cranks the game up another notch. Matches themselve are quick, often lasting only a few minutes. This forces you to play and react quickly, and also makes it possible to play the game for short stretches and still get a good deal of fun in. Controls are great. You are able to sprint, dive, switch hands, lean, crouch, and so on. After a few games, the buttons no longer require thought and you can concentrate on the match. You will not find yourself cursing the controls or thinking that you could have won the game if only the controls let you lie prone... or sprint... or.... The game also supports XBox Live, and is good fun there... depending on who you're playing with. This is pretty much a standard comment for all XBox Live games, but in the hours spent online, I've come across an unusually high ratio of complete jerks to decent players. If you have a good friends list with people who own the game, you'll have a lot more fun. At least, find some good players online, and try to stick with them. When everyone is playing like you'd like them to... it's a blast! Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball isn't going to knock Halo 2 off it's throne, but for anyone looking for a fast, bloodless alternative, this game fits the bill wonderfully.
