Greg Hastings Paintball 2 gana un premio al juego mas malo del ano

he pure idea of a paintball game is an easy one to question. Why make a game based on a sport which is already a simulation of battlefield tactics? Don’t we already have Call of Duty to replicate the literal war zones of today? There may be a sound reason for the existence of paintball video games, but Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is not it.

Paintball 2 uses the standard FPS layout, although it isn’t merely a shooter with paintballs replacing bullets. New players will have to come to grips with the reality of their masks fogging up from sprinting for too long or instantly getting hit when stopping for a breather. Gravity also has to be accounted for, as the weight of paintballs gradually causes them to sink in the air.

The dishonesty that occurs in the sport is also included. After being hit, there’s a quick minigame where gamers can wipe the paint off themselves before being detected by a referee. Yes, this stuff does happen in paintball, as many unhappy players can attest.



So, having to play a more delicate and tactical game is fine. The problem is that Paintball 2 is so cumbersome it’s hard to be methodical. Taking cover is a manoeuvre most FPS titles have mastered, except for this one. Peeking out from cover is extremely awkward and there’s no way to stick to it. In a game where “death” comes swiftly, a stick-to- cover mechanic would have been welcomed. Seeing other players try to pull off those moves looks just as awkward. Character models hardly have any animation at all, with stiff backs and legs sorely in need of chiropractic aid.

Paintball 2 aims for hyper realism, and is so off the mark it’s embarrassing. Weather effects are a touted addition to this latest iteration, however strong winds and rain were found to have no impact on accuracy.

A career mode lets users manage a team of competitors by supplying them with training, gear and a tour around the world to partake in different tournaments. Having the option to upgrade gear with cash earned from wins is a nice addition. Unfortunately, the campaign mode itself is another boring chapter in this title. There’s no option hop into a different tournament to play some deathmatch if the capture-the-flag game is proving too much trouble. It’s a by-the-numbers trek up the ladders that makes professional paintball look like hell.



Before jumping into multiplayer there’s the matter of slogging through Paintball 2’s horribly archaic and confusing menu system. It almost looks like a rotted wooden billboard on an abandoned field which used to hang scores, rather than the user interface for a video game.

Multiplayer’s biggest divergence from the campaign mode is the option to enable respawns. Not only does it spoil the idea behind the sport, it also makes for some rude spawn camping. Many of the tight speedball fields - the professional courts of the paintball world - are very cramped.

This makes sneaking over to the team’s spawn zone, which never changes, a reoccurring nightmare scenario. Unlike other contemporary multiplayer shooters there’s no progression system in Paintball 2. Gear earned in the campaign can be carried over, but it has to be sorted and equipped there as well.

A map editor is also included, although fans spoiled by Halo’s Forge mode will be shocked by its simplicity. Laying bunkers and rocks out onto the range is simple. More extravagant fields not practical in real life can be crafted and shared with others in online or local matches. It’s still a quite primitive tool, and the list of possible objects to place is thin.

Paintball 2 rarely lagged, even during 20 player matches, and the ten maps it comes with are a reasonable offering. Too bad no one will discover a way to enjoy them thanks to a laundry list of gameplay issues.

As said earlier, player models can barely manage to run, and the same can be said for this entire game. Framerate speeds drastically plunge at first sign of conflict and sometimes even when the coast is clear. Crashing only occurred on one occasion during our review time, but the persistent glitches ranging from clipping to horribly low-rez textures was a constant annoyance.



AI teammates are able to speak, uttering repetitive lines of dialogue only a veteran of the sport will likely comprehend. “Do you have a squeegee?” one comrade asked us at the beginning of a round. One can only fathom what that jargon translates to.

Conclusion

During load times, pictures of old heroes of the sport caught in their glory days are put on display. Strangely, none of these photos date past the mid 90’s. Perhaps it’s appropriate, because this game could very well have come from the same time period. Back then it still may have been surpassed.

Paintball 2 is nothing more than a scam. It claims to give consumers a way to live out their paintball fantasies off the field, and that promise is an outright lie. Not only is the design lacking in its representation of the sport, but the entire product can barely stand on its own two feet. Even at $40 Paintball 2 is an unacceptable proposition for any gamer. Sadly, that includes the niche market it was made for.


le dan un 3.1 de 10



Pros
+ Extensive roster of real-world players to recruit
+ Good variety of maps and game modes in multiplayer

Cons
- Awkward and dated controls
- Broken and horribly low-rez visuals
- Generic campaign mode