SPLAT Magazine Renegade Paintball

Why oh why do certain games even come out?  Wait a second, I know the answer to that question.  Money.  But with Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball the question has to be asked again.  Did I miss the trend where paintball has become the newest sensation in video games?  The redneck roots in me want to run around a wooded area with a gun shooting at people with paint pellets.  Simulating the same experience on my PC isn’t at the top of priority list.  In fact when compared to other First Person Shooters (FPS) games on the market Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball is shooting with an empty loader. 

At first appearance the game looks similar to other FPS games.  You have several different stages to play on (thirteen total), online multiplayer options (via the internet or LAN) and a single player career mode that offers 28 different challenges.  Several real life paintball players are included in the game for you to choose.  The game even throws in the ability to switch between a first person and third person perspective.  You can change the view on the fly at anytime during gameplay.   Just to make sure you’re never bored with the maps you can even create your own levels with the included level editor.  All of these pieces sum up to be the necessary requirements for a modern FPS game. 

The gameplay is the classic FPS style where you run around and shoot (paintballs not bullets) people.  The game even includes classic modes gamers have played before in other FPS games: Capture the Flag, Deathmatch and King of the Hill.  Other modes in the game include Center Flag, Arcade and Elimination.  Center Flag is where the flag is located in the middle of the stage and in order to score you must bring the flag to your base (or the enemy’s base).  Team Elimination places you on a team of three players and when you’re eliminated you teleport to the next available person on your team.  Once all of the players on your team have been eliminated the round is over.  You can think of it as a 1 vs. 3 deathmatch where you have three chances to take out the three enemy characters. The Arcade mode is deathmatch but with bonus items scattered throughout the stages to supercharge your renegade paintball experience.

Regrettably the gameplay doesn’t equal or surpass all of the necessary requirements.  The biggest issue I noticed with the game had to be the AI of the computer characters.  It seems that pinpoint accuracy is something that the computer was able to pull off at a moment’s notice regardless of location on the stage.  Even with the difficulty set to the easiest setting the computer was still hitting me like I was standing in the middle of the stage with a big red bullseye on my chest.  Mind you I wasn’t standing still, I was running, jumping and ducking as much as possible but out of nowhere I was getting hit. 

Sometimes the computer-controlled characters must have forgotten their programming because I would run right up to them, stand there for a few seconds and then hit them with a paintball.   I guess my monkey dance moves trying to avoid the bullseye hits blinded them long enough for them to want to admire me for a few moments.   These AI issues just help in creating an unbalanced gaming experience where you never know how the computer will react (either cheating or acting dumb).   Playing games can help create skills that can be used in the “real world”, which as a reminder is away from the keyboard or controller.  I'm confident my real life paintball skills didn’t increase because I played Renegade Paintball.  Oh, you should know that I’ve never played paintball either. 

The graphics in the game were acceptable and get the job done.  This isn’t a technical showcase game such as Doom III or Half-Life 2 and most of the stages are lacking any significant detail in the gaming areas.  The backgrounds on a few of the stages actually surpass the detail found in the gaming arena.  The framerate was steady and consistent throughout the majority of the game.   The characters all looked similar to each other since they were dressed in the same attire (helmets and paintball pants/chest gear).  One problem I did notice with the graphics even effected the gameplay.   The characters would sometimes float through walls and other objects during the game.  I ran into several occurrences of this problem where I could see an enemy behind a wall but then he would pop out on the other side of the wall. 

To sum it up for this review Splat Renegade Paintball isn’t the game that will keep you coming back for more.  I would guess to say that even if you’re a paintball fan that this game probably isn’t for you.  The AI problems almost made the game completely unplayable.  I should mention that I did run into a problem with the game crashing.  I had this problem happen every time I played.  I was only able to play for maybe ten minutes before the game would shut down and I was back in Windows.  The best part of the game for me was the level editor.  The editor isn’t even covered in the manual but it was a solid editor that allowed you to create new levels from scratch or update existing levels. 
 

Gameplay 5.0 

Completely unbalanced because of the AI problems.  One minute the computer is a super solider the next minute a complete idiot.

Graphics 6.0 

Besides some collision problems the graphics worked well in the game.  Several of the arenas were very plain in looks while others were more extravagant in detail (such as the bunker and castle stages). 

Sound 5.2 

The same guitar heavy tracks played constantly throughout the game.  I love heavy guitars but the same tracks were looped repeatedly.  Periodically you would hear the characters talking but nothing spectacular or too repetitive.  The sound of hearing a paintball gun firing just doesn’t compare to oh let’s say a chaingun. 

Difficulty Easy/Medium 

Even with the crazy AI you shouldn’t have much of problem completing the levels in the game.  Some of the single player levels can be a tiny bit difficult but nothing too bad.

Concept 5.0 

It seems I’ve missed the boat on the paintball trend.  Playing this game doesn’t give me any ideas of jumping on the bandwagon.  This is just a plain FPS game that you’ve played already.

Multiplayer N/A 

The game offers multiplayer via internet or LAN but I was unable to test this feature of the game.  There was no one online when I would login to the game. 

Overall 5.3 

I understand the motivation to capitalize on a growing market.  I’ve mentioned it in other game reviews that if one game does well expect to see clones of that game released by other companies.  It’s the nature of the business and it’s a common practice for all businesses.  For Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball imitation isn’t enough to make the game a “great” game.