Reviews// Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball

It’s always refreshing to play something that doesn’t conform, but generally those games are wacky and whimsical, promising light-hearted breaks from the established staples, and GHTP doesn’t quite succeed in doing that. All its component parts can be found in various other games, they’ve just been melted down and then spread rather thinly. So although the first couple of hours playing promise great things, it then becomes apparent that there’s not much life beyond that. You’ll soon enough go to yours sports game collection for your sporting thrills, and your FPS for your FPS.

The game may appeal to the paintball enthusiast, a niche that has been hitherto brutally ignored by computer gaming. And with the number of people who partake of a spot of weekend combat, Activision could be forgiven for thinking it was a niche worth chasing. But most players are stag parties and company outings, who's interest in the sport is belied by their affirmations to "do this more often" before a two year gap until their next game.

This fluorescent gunk fueled shot at stardom came surprisingly close, but Greg Hastings’ five minutes of fame is officially over.

SPOnG Rating: C+

This is so nearly a great game, but alas its awkward premise is inherently limited and repetitive. FPS fans looking for a subtle twist on the genre and those looking for a simulation of pitch-battle paintballing would do well to snatch this up immediately, but for the rest of us it would be better to wait for this to hit the bargain bins. And bearing in mind a PAL release date hasn’t even been mentioned yet, that could be quite a long way off.