~Please note: The reviewer is a wimp and refuses to play paintball in real life, so he is reviewing this game from a gamer?s viewpoint only.~ Paintball Carnage is an online multiplayer paintball game. [It] offers no \'offline\' mode, so game play is strictly multiplayer with other players from around the world! When you log [off] in Paintball Carnage your stats are instantly saved until the next time you log in!*
Appropriateness
Violence: Non Deadly Violence (-2.5 pts) This has been a fair debate throughout Christian rings for a while - whether paintball is good fun or it is representative of violence that shouldn?t be displayed by Christians. In my opinion, I think it?s just a fun hobby. This is where you need to decide for yourself whether it?s right to ?splat? robots and humans with little balls of paint. Blood: No Blood or Gore (-0 pts) There is no blood/gore in this game. Language: No Foul Language (-0); The game allows swearing to be disabled (+1) This game, being made by a Christian, has a language filter, which is always on. Also, the characters do not speak or have subtitles, but their players can. (Through a chat box located in the bottom of the screen) Though, when you cuss, it does something that I find humorous: It freezes your game (as of 05/26/05). So then you have to go through the hassle of restarting your game, and it?s a lesson that is probably learned quickly. Just in case that doesn?t happen, the moderators (mods) usually quickly take care of it. But just be warned that, this being an online-only game, there might be the occasional ?troll? that tries to test the limits of the mods. Sexual Dialogue/Innuendo: No sexual dialogue. (-0 pts) Again, since the characters don?t talk or have subtitles, there is no sexual dialogue or innuendo. Occult/Supernatural Elements: There is no occult or supernatural in the game. (-0 pts) No satanic mess in this game. Cultural/Moral/Ethical Elements: No authority issues involved with this game. (-0 pts); No prejudicial bias in the game. (-0 pts) Not much to say here that hasn?t been said. Gross Humor: No gross humor is in the game. (-0 pts) None in the game, but watch for the rare troll.Gameplay
The gameplay of Paintball Carnage (PBC) is an interesting one. You start out in a ?holding arena,? which is where you stay until a game starts. (When a game ends, you are placed in there as well) It has some shops where you can purchase extra ammo, guns, modifications, and things that improve your game. In the field, you use paintball guns, rocket launchers, or grenade launchers to shoot balls of paint (i.e., paintballs) at the other players. Some are more powerful than others, and every time you hit someone with a paintball (unless some armor catches it) you get a ?splat.? You get money from the splats, and you can buy more gear with that money. (It?s a big circle: You get money from ?splats,? you buy more gear to get more money from more splats?) It?s a very well thought out system that works very well, and keeps the game moving and continually satisfying. Now, this being a small game data-wise, it has its limitations, which includes the fact that the characters move in what I call ?tile-style.? Basically, there?s an invisible layout of squares, and the character moves from square to square, not going diagonally or moving freely. (This actually applies to everything in the game, including paintballs) This is, surprisingly, not too bad. It?s quite effective. Maybe not realistic, but it does add a twist to the game which I haven?t seen in other games. The difficulty of the game really depends on four factors: How tough your opponent is; how good you are; how good of a weapon you have; and much money you have. They?re all pretty much related, e.g., you can buy better weapons by how much money you have, and how good you are depends greatly on your weapon, etc. But there?s not levels of difficulty as you might think; no, you just ?fight? with what you have. As you get more ?splats,? you get closer to advancing a level. The lowest level is one (obviously), and the highest is ninety-nine (reserved for only the highest moderators). It takes a while, but you?ll get on up there. Also, you have a certain amount of games you can play, and when you play that many games, you have to wait for a moderator to come reset your games. If you go over the set amount, you charged [PBC cash] for each game. (Unless, like I said, the mods reset your games) This is a nice way to keep everyone in check without a mod. Now, I?m not sure if this totally relates to the gameplay, but let me say this: The game itself is free. You start out with a level of one. But then you can become a member by just typing ?/emailGraphics
This being a two or so megabytes game, it doesn?t have the best graphics in the world. As I?m sure you can see by the screenshot above, the detail level isn?t the highest, and everything is 2D, though some things resemble 3D things in a sense. This is a very dial-up friendly game, though, which is nice, because that?s what I have.
(Insert dumb dial-up put-down joke.)
Probably the most noticeable aspect of the graphics of PBC is the characters. They stay in one position the entire time - they are ?stuck? there. This cuts down on the frame rates and loading times, as well as the size of the game, but comes at a cost. Another thing is the repetition of the terrain. This doesn?t create any problems, it just chips away at the graphics.
Before I grade this, I must say that this has doable graphics, but does not have the best I?ve seen. But it?s probably better than I could do for two megs!
Graphics: 5/10
Sound
In the programming of the game, it has twelve sounds. This is very low for a game, but they are effective. Some are rather off the wall, while others sound like the creator must?ve gone to a paintball place and recorded them! There is no background music, so that does hurt it. When you fire your weapon, it is very realistic, as far as I can tell. At the start of every game, a gong-like noise plays. And when some robots enter the game, a futuristic sound goes on. The sounds seem to be more for reference of when things happen than for enhancement of the gameplay. Sound: 4/10Stability
This is a fairly stable game, but every once in a while I would get on and it, for some reason, wouldn?t let me connect or, when I was already on, would sometimes crash. I?m not sure if it?s my computer or the game, but I would have to reboot the computer and try again. It would run fine then, but it was annoying. Then there is the rare freeze-up, but that has stopped. Also, an error message comes up every time you exit the game, but that has been promised to stop in future, updated clients. Stability: 2/5Controls/Interface
The controls of PBC are extremely effective: left click where you want to go, and right click to shoot. This is a simple, easy-to-learn method that is as old as MS Windows. (Well, almost) For the menus, you just click the items and click ?Buy.? But, the hardest part of PBC is learning the text commands. (E.g., ?/sell shotgun? or ?/wear jacket?) But I had them down pat after just a few minutes of play. The best part, in my opinion, of the controls is the programmable commands. You can just put in your commands (as many as you want) into one button, then, when you click the button, it does all the commands at once for you. (This is especially useful for any two-handed weapons, ones that use up both your hands, so that you can just click the button and have it reloaded in about a second, versus my best time of fifteen seconds
)
Also, the interface is just a point-and-click thing; very simple.
Controls/Interface: 4/5
