Not Just Another First Person Shooter (Part 2)

This article is the continuation of Not Just Another First Person Shooter (Part 1).

It is highly recommended that you read Part 1 before this page.

Photo by Julian Choquette

Though the the mask penalty was unique, additional rules exist that are far less controversial.  A good example of this would be the “Freeze” rule. It goes like this: if you’re very close to an enemy player, you have the option of telling him to “Freeze”, instead of shooting him point-blank. Given the speed at which paintballs are fired, point blank range would likely hurt more than from a distance (lack of deceleration time). In my case, however, I don’t mind being shot up close – I seem to have a pretty good tolerance to bruising. Still, I respect the Freeze rule when it is active – it offers some strategic benefits as well. Consider the following scenario: if you run out of ammo on the battlefield, you’re normally pretty much finished. You have to leave the field, and wait for the next round. Yet, with the Freeze rule active, you can simply keep playing, and essentially bluff. With or without paintballs, a marker, when fired, will make the usual CO2 firing sound, and smoke will leave the barrel as it normally does. In the chaos of battle, this trick can be helpful in keeping enemy players hidden behind cover. While they’re too afraid to emerge from cover, all you have to do is run up to them, and scream “FREEZE!”. They’ll likely surrender, and thus, you will have managed to eliminate other players without ammunition. I’ve seen this strategy used by many players, though I’m not sure it is legal in professional leagues. I personally really enjoy it, as it represents a realistic challenge, rather than an instant forfeit on your part. It makes me feel like I’m unarmed, and with proper strategy, I can still contribute to the team beyond the usual limits.

I always like tough challenges, both physically, and mentally, and that’s another reason why I’m fond of Paintball. Unlike most first person shooters, Paintball can keep me fit physically, as well as mentally. It represents, to me, the ideal gaming experience… not to mention the best graphics I have ever seen. In the spirit of challenge, I once decided to use a handgun marker for one round. Handgun markers generally have limited ammo, and they use tiny, swappable CO2 tanks. The marker I used supported only 8 paintballs at a time, and the CO2 tank could only power roughly 20 shots. This meant that reloading had to be performed on the field, whenever necessary. Rather than worry about this, I saw my challenge – how far could I get with only 8 paintballs?

Photo by Andrés Aguiluz Rios

My handgun round turned out to be the last of the day, where my team was attacking a building that was fortified by enemy players. Since it was the last round, upon being eliminated, players from both teams could exit the battlefield, and immediately re-enter. The building was therefore a very significant threat; even if you eliminated the occupants, they’d be back in a couple minutes. Armed with a single handgun, I spent most of my time slowly approaching the building, without ever firing a shot. This required a significant amount of  time and strategy, and due to running in between cover, it was very tiring. However, I eventually reached the outer wall of the building. I placed my back to it, and slowly approached the door. I could hear the players inside communicating with each other, aware that an enemy was close. After trying to get a few shots at the occupants, I decided to do something unexpected. I slowly backed away from the building, and bolted through the front door as fast as I could. Immediately in front of me was an enemy player, who screamed at me, “FREEZE!”. Unfortunately for him, my adrenaline-enhanced reaction involved shooting him in the chest immediately, before my brain registered the “Freeze” completely. The enemy player, who was a friend of mine, was rightfully angry that he had been shot. A Freeze is a courtesy, and it essentially equates to a valid shot. Alas, he had been bluffing, and confided in me afterwards that he would have shot me point blank in revenge, but had no ammo left. I assured him that my elimination soon followed, and boy, did it ever. After my initial entrance and subsequent “kill”, I entered another room in the building, where two shocked enemy players blasted me with an excess of paintballs. Despite the fact that I ultimately was destroyed, I had more fun than I’ve had in a while. The fact that I was there in person, experiencing the situation with all my senses, made a world of difference. No longer could a video game satisfy the sensory overload that was Paintball.

Photo by Robert Allinger

Experiencing the game first-hand brings about new possibilities as well. While you could be limited by game world architecture, in Paintball, the boundaries are much more broad. This is perfectly natural, given that games aim to re-created real-world mechanics, whereas Earth already has some clearly-defined.  In both video games and the actual sport, I like that creativity goes unhindered. Here’s an example: at one point, while defending a castle-type structure, I had a significant amount of difficulty seeing through my mask, so much that I stopped caring about the round. If I couldn’t see, what was the point? So, instead of firing at the attackers, I would get them to shoot at me while running back and forth on the castle walls. I would occasionally stop to do a little dance, at which point I noticed more paintballs were being fired. I didn’t do this solely for amusement, though. I had warned nearby teammates to exploit the opportunity to take out the enemies, knowing very well that their attention would be on me.

All that said, I personally feel that Paintball is the best first person shooter… the only problem I see is the price. I usually pay around 125$ every time I go, so it’s not something I’m willing to do on a monthly basis, at least not yet. Buying my own gear could alleviate the costs by removing the rental fees, which are significant. Cost aside, in my mind, the sport simply cannot be defeated by video games. Until, of course, virtual reality is released, with neural connection a la Avatar.

Reviewed by
Jonathan Wong

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