Reviews

Consoles are awash with first-person shooters, but instead of blasting gory red chunks out of aliens, monsters or even your fellow human beings, Championship Paintball wants you to merely get a bit of food dye on your enemies' clothes before heading home for a cold one.

Where's the fun in running around on a field, hiding behind inflatable shapes (known as bunkers) and shooting paint balls at each other? Well actually this is considered a serious sport to some - especially Americans - who undergo vigorous training and fitness regimes before matches and put more effort into diving around on the grass than most footballers do for 10 grand a day.

Don't shoot until you see the whites of their emulsion

This particular adaptation was created by Sand Grain Studios and published by Activision. They've gone for the authentic approach, so you can battle other paintballers in various National Professional Paintball League arenas (everywhere from Texas to Florida, London, Germany and France) and buy officially-licensed gear to equip your players with the right gloves, gas cannisters and tinted goggles.

Paintballing is very much a one-note sport, but there are several modes to choose from to keep things interesting. Quick Play consists of a Capture The Flag match (get to the other team's flag and take it back to your side before they do), a Centre Flag match or an Elimination round (no flags, just balls-out warfare).

I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six paintballs or only five?

Career Mode shouldn't be approached until you've completed the Dynasty Training Drills, where experts like Yosh Rau and Ryan Greenspan teach the basics: aiming, firing and diving for cover. Once you begin your career, the first match has just one round with three people per team. Eventually, this will grow to three, five or seven round matches, with up to seven players on each team.