''Gotcha! Extreme Paintball'' (also known as ''Gotcha!'' in Europe) is a first person

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy ai ...

video game developed by

Sixteen Tons Entertainment Sixteen Tons Entertainment is a German computer game developer company based in Tübingen and Berlin, which emerged from the brand label of the Tübingen game developer Promotion Software. The company was founded in 1993 by Ralph Stock. Sixteen ...

and published by

Gathering Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology *Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods *Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a st ...

. The game was produced by

Ralph Stock Ralph Stock (born 1969) is a German game designer. He is best known for his video games Mad TV (video game), ''Mad TV'' and Emergency (video game series), ''Emergency''. Life and career Early years (1977–1992) Around 1977, Ralph Stock stum ...

. It was released on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

in Germany first in 2004, and the rest of Europe in 2004 and 2005, following a release in North America in 2006, published by

Viva Media Encore Software, LLC ("Encore") is a Delaware limited liability company focused on software sales, distribution and software development. In November 2008, Encore announced an expanded license with Riverdeep. Under the terms of the agreement Encor ...

Gameplay

''Gotcha! Extreme Paintball'' is a

non-violent first-person shooter Nonviolent video games are video games characterized by little or no Violence#Media, violence. As the term is vague, game designers, developers, and marketers that describe themselves as non-violent video game makers, as well as certain reviewer ...

in which the characters play paintball. Its gameplay is inspired in particular by

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...

. The game can be played alone or with others, through a local network or direct connection. The player can choose between 18 male and female top players, 12 different high-tech-markers and also colored grenades you can use and equip your team with. The scenario is you and your team are playing Gotcha (a.k.a. Paintball). You can play in a league with 28 teams and compete in 17 different locations. Multiplayer modes include Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Flag Elimination, Team Elimination, Last Man Standing, and Kill the King. The character can crouch, lie down, or strafe. There are up to 12 fields around the earth with realistic weather effects. For online play, players can play around the Internet, LAN matches and Xbox Live tournaments with up to 12 players.

Weapons

*Markers: Markers are high-tech air pressure weapons with paintball ammunition. Pure fun is guaranteed! - From pistol to automatic gun
- Paintball pumpgun
- Sniper-marker with telescopic sight
- Paint and smoke grenades

Reception

''Gotcha! Extreme Paintball'' received mixed to average reviews. For Xbox Gamer's Etienne Froment, the game "is ultimately a pretty good surprise" on Xbox. Unlike

Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball ''Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball'' is a 2004 first-person paintball game released exclusively for the Xbox. The game gathered a cult following, consistently appearing on the Xbox Live Top 25 list posted by Major Nelson, peaking at the num ...

, which "only offers fairly 'heavy' simulation", Gotcha! offers nervous gameplay and a terribly trippy atmosphere." Cyril Dupont of

Joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

gives the Windows version a 2/10, criticizing the game for a "glaring lack of dynamism for an FPS", and assures that "it's guaranteed boredom" and that there is "nothing to save the title". Ludovic Bechtold of JeuxActu gives the score of 12/20 to the Windows version of the game, which he explains as follows: "We don't forget its shortcomings in artificial intelligence, its outdated graphics and its ridiculous animation, but I'm not ashamed to say yes, I had a great time on Gotcha! even if it only comes close to the great

. He points out as strong points the side "fun and fast to play" and the "numerous game modes". Jean-Marc Wallimann of

Jeuxvideo.com ''Jeuxvideo.com'' (from ''jeux vidéo''; ; ) is a French video gaming website founded in 1997. History The website traces its history to a video game hint collection on Minitel, a precursor to the World Wide Web, and was founded by Sébastien ...

, testing the Windows version, also gave it a score of 12/20. He finds the maps to be small but satisfying: "They are full of places to hide and to wait in deceit for the arrival of opponents. However, we would have liked more so-called secret passages, or detours to have the choice of rushing into the heap or taking the opposite team from behind." Nicolas Charciarek, for his part, gives the Xbox version a score of 9/20. He makes a similar observation about the maps, but mentions "gameplay problems absent from the PC version which pollute the game", and judges the realization of the environments and the characters rude. He adds that "the solo mode is of limited interest, the bots being of a relative intelligence." Kévin Kuipers of

Gamekult Gamekult is a French video game journalism website founded in December 2000. ''Agence Française pour le Jeu Vidéo'' (AFJV) described it as an iconic brand and the second largest French language video game website in 2018. History The website ...

gives the Windows version a score of 3/10. He says that "

is obviously sorely lacking in interest when played virtually, and Gotcha! proves it once again. According to him, the game's gameplay and artificial intelligence are bad. However, he appreciates "the technical aspect ..very correct with well-modeled sets and some nice effects". Thomas Weiss of

PC Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

gave a score of 5.2/10, stating that the game would have had a bigger appeal if it had the necessary technical requirements, such as spectacularly bursting projectiles. Graphically, the title "reminds of Counter-Strike instead: angular rooms, blurred textures, hardly any particle effects except for the pretty water". Gameplay isn't considered bad but just "ordinary". For Sébastien Delahaye of

NoFrag NoFrag is a French reviews website that focuses exclusively on First-person shooters. It's the only French web site specialized on this type of games. The name of the site is composed with the two English names "No" and Frag, which means to kill ...

, "the game is of little interest", because of the "maddeningly stupid" AI, the "failed" gameplay, the "titou technique nd thesound to match". He concludes by describing the game as "very beautiful crap".. The non-violent aspect of ''Gotcha! Extreme Paintball'' is praised by Kévin Kuipers, which makes it accessible to the little ones; for Jean-Marc Wallimann, the title is not just another version of

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

facing counter-terrorists, but it wants to be more good-natured by aligning itself with the culture of paintball.

References

External links