Downloadable shooters are becoming quite popular nowadays, and while Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is technically a shooter, it brings an "X-factor" that sets itself apart from the rest of the market. Yes, you guessed it--Greg Hastings Paintball 2 brings paintball! However, does this PlayStation Network downloadable shooter have what it takes to warrant a purchase?
For a downloadable title, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 offers a lot of content. You get a Career mode, online and offline multiplayer, a bevy of unlocks, 62 maps, and if that weren't enough terrain to throw some paint in, you also get a solid map editor. There's no question that GHP2 brings a lot to the table, but in the end the Career and, ultimately, the multiplayer aspects get repetitive quicker than you'd think.
Career mode has you, a ragtag dude, being coached by none other than Mr. Hastings himself, who aims to take you to the top of the paintball totem pole. He leads you and your building squad of ten to various events and promotional invitations spanning three different branches--Speedball, Woodsball, Recball--across the United States and Europe, all in hopes that you'll do him proud in the long run. There is no other concrete story to speak of after that, and information is given out via briefings either pre or post each event. What the career actually boils down to is a bunch of multiplayer bot matches (comparable to Brink) fought across the game's seven different game modes. The game modes are quite fun...at the beginning, but you'll soon realize that they end quickly after marking (killing) each enemy. CTF games will more often than not end with the enemy team depleted of members rather than with an actual flag capture. This mostly occurs in Career, but multiplayer and exhibition allow you to add "reinsertion" rules.
Early in your career is where things flow nicely--you get plenty of tutorials that will help even the most novice of players, the enemy artificial intelligence is very forgiving, and you certainly gain the fundamental knowledge of what the game of paintball is really all about. Unfortunately, after the first few competitions things get frustratingly difficult. The enemy A.I. drastically increases its difficulty while your teammates are left hanging in the open waiting to be shot. Sure, you can trade your current players for the constantly growing roster of new players that have much better attributes, but even then the odds are not in your favor. You can even "train" your teammates, giving them attribute buffs that they can use on the field which range from extra speed, increased accuracy, and so on, but that still doesn't suffice. There is also a command option which doesn't really help either, and the simplistic system doesn't make your team end up doing what you want them to. The A.I. in Greg Hastings Paintball 2 often times makes the game a chore to play. Luckily, if you really need to, there is the option to dumb it down a notch from the default option.
As stated previously, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 features a slew of unlockables, whether it be new paintball guns, weapon accessories, apparel, or even video reviews and overviews of paintball equipment. There is a noticeable difference between the lower-tiered guns and their upper-tiered brethren, and other gear and armor have nice touches too, giving you that hanging carrot experience of trying to unlock the next set of equipment. Later in the Career mode you'll even be at product-sponsored events that allow you to test some new stuff!
 |
| Image from Xbox 360 version |
Unlike most shooters on the market, GHP2 plays out more tactically than your typical run-n-gun game. Cover is mandatory, because as soon as the countdown ends the barrage of pellets begins. The "cover" system is a mix between Killzone 3 and Army of Two, hence the quotations around the word "cover." As you may or may not know, Army of Two didn't have a cover system per se, but you were still able to duck and pop out behind objects to get your shots off--That's how Greg Hastings Paintball 2's cover system is, just with the added first-person view. All in all, this system works great, which is good news considering how much the game is revolved around it.
Multiplayer brings out the best of Greg Hastings Paintball 2, because where the single-player career leaves you yelling at the television, playing with a bud (up to 14 players in total, 7v7) really brings out the tactical nature of the game. You still play the same types of game modes (Capture the Flag, Point Capture, Sniper, Single Flag, Elimination, Assault, Recon), but the game becomes much more enjoyable knowing you have a more competent squad. Still, even with the entire list of customization options at your disposal, the multiplayer will eventually suffer the same fate as its single-player counterpart.
If you happen to find yourself bored of the provided lot of 62 maps, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 provides a map editor where you can let your imagination run wild on the given blank canvases. There's a hefty amount of set pieces to use, all of which you've seen throughout your tour with the game, so there should be no shortage of creativity.
The PlayStation 3 version of Greg Hastings Paintball 2 comes with both Trophy and Move support, though at the current time I was unable to test out the Move functionality.
One of the biggest things Greg Hastings Paintball 2 has going against it is its price. At $19.99, even with it's content, it's hard to recommend a purchase. With games like Section 8: Prejudice, Battlefield 1943, and even full-retail games on the PlayStation Store offering more polished experiences with prices ranging between $14.99-19.99, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 leaves something to be desired. The abundance of multiplayer maps is great, and the map editor is solid, but the frustrating AI and lackluster Career mode leave quite a sore spot. Had it been priced at around $9.99, I would definitely say go for it; multiplayer-wise, GHP2 brings a breath of fresh air into a crowded genre.
Rating: 3/5
Review based off the PlayStation 3 downloadable version of the game provided by Majesco Entertainment/Reverb Communications.
