I played there this past weekend (5-8-04), and had a great time. I only place a few times a year nowadays, and am disappointed when a few people with expensive, tricked out guns ruins the day for those with rentals or low end guns. For the most part that didn't happen.
Pros:
- (Mostly) friendly, helpful, and professional staff. They were very courteous and tried to move things along as fast as possible. They were very accommodating - when my wife got a headache from using a mask that was too tight, they gave her a better mask and some aspirin. When the 5 of us wanted to separate from the main group to go play on their speedball course, they gladly hooked us up with a ref. Considering how many little kids were trying their patience, they were very good at their job.
- Pricing. While Badlandz would have allowed us to bring our own field paint, the walk on fee was $25, with rental being $10 more. I was bringing a few friend who had never played before, and SI's pricing was $5 to get on the field, and $5 more to rent - although they let one guy in my group rent free since it was his first time ever playing paintball. With my wife coming along, I more than welcomed the $40 difference in cost to play here.
- The fields. While not elaborate, they are pretty good fields. Living close to Level-X paintball, I've had a good chance to see their fields, and they don't compare to Sudden Impact's fields. I like having a good woods with large trees and some underbrush to play in. The two fields we played on this weekend were in good condition, and fun. The speedball course they have set up is also nicely configured.
Cons:
As with any experience, there are some disadvantages. These were minor enough to warrant a rating of 9/10, however:
- Poor website. I tried finding good information before the event on the Internet, and unfortunately their website is at least 3 years out of date. It wasn't until I scanned reviews here that I was able to determine accurate pricing. The map on their site is accurate, but blurry. The phone number on their site does still work, and I did mention the website issue to the owner - he said they have something in the works - we'll see.
- Large breaks between games. This was more the fault of the people attending than anything else. The refs were trying to get as many games in as possible, but several people took a long time getting ready. In addition, there were a couple of times when people shot so much paint in the first round that the second wasn't played. This is something that will be dependent on the crowd present on a given day. Fortunately, we were able to go play own our own, and only having 5 people in the group, we were able to get about 10 rounds of speedball in in the time it took the large group to finish a round.
- No credit cards accepted. This is a matter of getting power and a phone line to their fieldhouse, and unfortunately they haven't done it yet. If you plan on going to Sudden Impact, remember to bring cash.
