Apr 16, 1:40 pm
As the Easter holidays draw to an end I look back and realise I have played a lot of Ghost Recon. However not much of this has been at home, with paintballing and World Gamer Live in Ireland (read Jam’s blog about it here), followed by a day at Warfighters back in England. I really seem to be getting into the outdoor military spirit.
I was rather wary of signing up for Warfighters, a “real life” simulation of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It was for a community day, with Kitt and loads of people from the Frag Dolls UK forum attending. I booked my place hesitantly. I have seen the video of Kitt being kicked and shouted at. I have also been regaled with stories of how fit you need to be and how much you will ache the next day. The final straw was Kitt sending me a pre-game e-mail reminding me that you only forget to bring gloves to Warfighters once - because all the nettles you have to lie in make sure you never forget again. She also told me not to wear boots I had any strong attachment to. Now, for a lady who likes to wear dresses and lipstick this really didn’t sound all that appealing.
Having played paintballing twice now I am accustomed to donning the camo boiler suit, moist and greasy face mask, and boots that I never want to attempt to clean. I am also accustomed to being shot, not only anywhere on the body but also in the head, courtesy of the over zealous Irish press at my recent paintballing outing! I know what it feels like to run with a gun, to lie in mud, and to hide in a shack that many people seem to have peed in.
But being told that Warfighters was going to be worse than this really made my skin crawl. I love paintballing. I like the games and the team spirit. I also quite like the fear and adrenaline that comes with knowing I could be shot at any time. But I do hate the greasy sticky paint, the lack of vision through that nasty face mask, and the few people who think it is okay to shoot you at close range. However, to my pleasant surprise Warfighters is nothing like this.
At Warfighters I was given clean camo, there was no face mask at all, and no paint (except the optional face paint of course). The LED guns have a huge range on them so to my surprise you could get a really good game going across an agricultural field. The team tactics were really rather important and spraying your gun madly got you nowhere.
As I lay in the grass I looked to my left and saw my team highlighted in the field. They looked just like a GRAW screenshot. Having never been to war myself this was my first experience of just how realistic the game looks. Paintballing definitely has its place, but for a true Ghost Recon experience it has to be Warfighters - and for a cleaner, less painful, more tactical experience it has to be Warfighters as well. I already have my next session booked, and I hope to see some of you there too.
