Contrary to what its title would suggest, High Impact Paintball had all the impact of a thrown soggy tissue, particularly when it came to review scores and sales. Of course, it's likely that the game title was referring more to just how much those damned paintballs hurt when they hit in real life than anything else. Coincidentally, not having to suffer every time you get shot by a paintball is just about the only upside to this game, but instead of suffering paint ball bruises, playing this game will instead make you suffer from boredom.

The game was pitched as an “extreme sports” title, the assumption probably being that it would sell just as well as all those games that simulate snowboarding, downhill cycling and skateboarding amongst other things. However, somewhere along the line someone forgot to mention that firing dots of paint at people in a game isn't half as “extreme” as firing a mini thermonuclear missile at them and laughing as the resulting chunks fly in all directions, as you can in Unreal Tournament. I don't have anything against non-violent games in the slightest, but as a game in any category High Impact Paintball just didn't cut it. The graphics were so plain and uninspiring, the levels flat and dull and the gameplay got repetitive faster than a stuck record in spite of the weapon upgrades that were revealed to you as you progressed. No doubt the game was designed with real paintball fans or younger gamers in mind, but real paintball fans will enjoy real paintballing a lot more than this, and younger gamers would be better off with Nerf Arena Blast, which is actually surprisingly playable and entertaining. In a market currently loaded with games that offer deathmatch play, High Impact Paintball sunk into the mud of its own playing fields and was hardly noticed by the gaming community at large. If you happen to spot it at your local games store, do yourself a favour and don't notice it either.