Greg Hastings might not be a household name but those who have been following the masters of a little sport called paintball know that this man is the Tony Hawk of the mock battlefield.  Raising his marker (the sport’s lingo for the paintball gun), Greg and his teammates have dominated the field, splattering opponents with colorful paint pellets.  Fun as the game is to play in person; it makes me wonder if Greg Hastings’ Tournament Paintball on the Xbox translates into gaming joy.  The result, as it turns out, is actually quite surprisingly good.

Played like a first-person shooter with just a few options, Tournament Paintball puts you in the sneakers of a rookie paintball player of your choosing.  You start off with two other allies for three-on-three matches in small arenas filled with suitable spots to take cover such as carefully placed boxes, inflatable objects or even trees.  Each tournament has three stages: Preliminary, Semi Finals and Finals.  Depending on how many matches you win, you take the first, second or third place. 

The main mode of playing the game is the Single Player mode, which does not feature a story nor any cut scenes that make you believe you’re really taking your character from rookie to paintball tournament champion.  The heart and soul of the game, however, is the actual paintball tournaments which include lightning-fast shoot-um-up rounds to a great variation of Capture the Flag.  Many of the matches move from three-on-three to five-on-five matches and thus have you working alongside AI teammates that do a pretty good job of tagging out opponents.  To top things off, winning matches earns you credits towards purchasing items like better shoes, goggles, pants and even better markers (guns) and barrels that can allow you to shoot a bit farther.  You can even purchase pod harnesses to carry more paint pods and air systems to increase the velocity of your shot.

The tournament places you in some cramp outdoor arenas throughout the world (you’ll go as far as England and Germany in this game) attempting to dominate the field by taking out rival teams.  The controls, one of the game’s best features, allows you to move smoothly across the field and also allows you to crouch and drop on your stomach in Ghost Recon fashion.  You can peek around corners for quick shots and you can even rush across the field.  The game also allows you to cheat, which comes in the form of a meter that swings around in a circular motion.  If you hit the green area, the referee will count the hit as a bounce (meaning the pellet bounced off you rather than splatter you) or you were able to wipe the paint away quickly.  Beware though, hit the red and the referee might not only disqualify you but penalize up to three of your teammates as well.  If you’re hit in the head--seen as paint splatter across your goggles, you’re instantly kicked off the field and forced to play as one of your teammates.

You will be quite glad that the game’s controls are this solid because your opponents are not at all dumb.  In fact, they’re able to strategize well enough that they’ll attempt to out flank you or flush you out of your cover quite impressively.  Your computer-controlled teammates (all of which you can trade in for better rookies, novices, amateurs or professionals like Lisa Harvey) can do the same but without the ability to communicate with them they often find themselves getting tagged quite easily.  They get easily tagged out, actually.  This is especially frustrating when you’re up against some of the pros when you advance to the Finals. 

The trouble with Tournament Paintball is the fact that since you’re not personally invested in the game’s tournament some gamers might not want to see it through to the very end.  It’s understandable since the only real advancements your character makes is in the fact that you can increase his or her speed, accuracy, marker and reloading speed RPG-style in between tournaments.  This is too bad since the game is actually very addictive and fun.  What does make up for this is the ability to play the game on Xbox Live.  The online multiplayer game remedies some of the problems you have with your AI teammates because here you can strategize with other players who will do a better job of covering you and flushing out opponents.  Seven-on-seven player matches move smoothly without any stutter and that’s a good thing since the quick action rounds will hook you with its intense fast-paced action.

Graphically speaking, Tournament Paintball is not the prettiest Xbox first-person shooter but it’s decent amount of detail and character models aren’t bad at all.  The arenas look great and watching paint splatter across an opponent’s body looks even greater.  There are times when the framerate drops a little but it’s nothing that gets in the way of the action.  There are also some baffling environmental objects, particularly in the forest settings, which are quite an eyesore.

The game’s sound isn’t bad either especially since you’ll be able to tell where your opponent is shooting at you.  You’ll hear pellets zip by your head and pound the cover you’re hiding behind.  You’ll hear your opponents (as well as your own teammates) declare out loud that they’ve been hit or eliminated another player.  As for the game’s soundtrack, filled with rocking tunes from some unknown artists, it’s actually not a bad selection of songs and they do the trick nicely.

Surprisingly enough, Greg Hastings’ Tournament Paintball is a solid first-person shooter sports game that is wonderfully addictive and true to the very sport it tries to bring to virtual life.  With great AI opponents and plenty of paint splattering fun online and off, this is a game you’ll have tons of fun with when you can’t do the real thing. 

Gameplay: 8.0
A great control scheme and perfect opponent AI makes this a fast-paced first-person shooter done right despite the often crammed-in feel of some of the arenas.  It’s quite fun building up your character’s stats but no story really does not give us enough of an excuse to want to see the tournament to the very end.  The ability to cheat is a great idea.

Graphics: 7.5
Visually, Tournament Paintball is not an incredibly detailed game and there are times when the framerate drops just a little but the graphics are decent enough that you can tell your teammates apart from opposing team.  The arenas look great and splattering an opponent looks satisfyingly neat.

Sound: 7.0
Good use of directional sound will have you knowing exactly where the shots came from and you’ll even hear when your teammates get hit.  The soundtrack offers quite an assortment of tunes that are actually not bad at all but there’s always the option to customize your own soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium
The enemy AI is sharp and has enough sense to duck for cover and try to outflank you.   This adds to the challenge since there is hardly a time when your opponent foolishly exposes him or herself.  You can also cheat, although the second and third time you attempt a cheat could penalize up to three members on your team.

Concept: 7.5
Tournament Paintball does a magnificent job of recreating all the thrills associated with the sport enough that hardcore paintball fans would fall in love with it.  The single player tournament is short and sweet (albeit lacking a story or a real reason to play on) and the various goodies to unlock are great additions. 

Multiplayer: 8.0
The game supports System Link play for up to fourteen players on screen at once and there’s even Xbox Live support with the usual assortment of extras such as Scoreboards and Friend List challenges.  Online the game runs smoothly enough and the seven-on-seven team play matches are worth the price of admission.  Paintball, anyone?

Overall: 8.0
Tournament Paintball an entertaining and addictive first-person shooter sans the blood and violence seen in most FPS games.  This is a highly competitive sport and the game does a brilliant job of representing it throughout the single and multiplayer matches.  While there are things I would have liked to see remedied (no rivalries or story to speak of means no real need to see the tournament to the very end); fans of paintball new and old will surely enjoy this title.