Paintball Depot - just as safe, more fun
Ruckus - smaller, I like it better
ABC - not bad, not great
On Target - much better in every aspect
Top Gun - nicer, just as big
Fireball Mountain (Old Bridge) - much much worse
Fireball Mountain (North Hanover) - pretty good
Review:
Let’s see, where to start? I’ve only played here once, and I guess it’s worth mentioning that I don’t intend to play here again. That being said, it isn’t all bad.
Safety first. Two words: top notch. This field is on top of safety. They give a detailed safety orientation before you play, there are at least two refs with every group (mine had three, the number is based on group size), and they have zero tolerance for unsafe behavior. The refs are extremely careful, constantly reminding people about masks, barrel plugs/condoms, and safeties. And this is without anyone having violated any of the rules. They take a very proactive approach to preventing accidents, and this is very good.
There is a downside to all of this attention to safety. It is that the quality of play is actually hindered by some of the more extraneous regulations. For example, each field has a dead zone, or maybe 2 dead zones (one for each team) nearby. However, these are not sealed against paintballs, its orange construction fence rather than the usual safety netting. This means masks must remain on at all times. Ok, that’s perfectly reasonable. Also, markers, even when plugged, are not allowed in the dead zones. Now this doesn’t make much sense, as masks are on and the zones aren’t sealed anyway. When the game ends, everyone has to rack their markers outside the dead zone, and only when all markers are racked, plugged, and safetied can masks be removed. Ok, but this creates about 20 minute of waiting between games. Not cool. My group only played 9 games all day long. It would be much easier if they just sealed the dead zones like every other field and let players take their masks off while inside. Sure, make players leave their markers outside if they think people will accidentally shoot.
On to the fields themselves. My group only played on three over the course of the day, but they were nice fields. Varied and interesting terrain, seemed to be well maintained, a bit muddy after a few days or rain, but that’s understandable, happens everywhere. Dead zones at each end of most fields is good, but the fact that they aren’t exactly “dead” kind of defeats the purpose.
Price can be described as pretty expensive. Entry all day with your own equipment is $20, an all-day air pass for one tank, CO2 or HPA, is $10. Paint is $103 per case, $90 if ordered in advance. Ouch. And it’s not good paint either, it’s cheap stuff.
I feel like I have to comment on the overall running of the field. For the most part their staff in friendly, but it just isn’t an inviting place to play. Walk-ons aren’t allowed. They open at 8 am. Not 7:50. Get there early and they turn you away. And they take a long, long time to get reading in the morning. We didn’t get on the fields until almost 10:45. By the time everyone in my group arrived, about 30 people, it was about 8:30. That’s 2 hours of just waiting around and finally checking in around 10. They don’t like for people to bring their own markers, either. They take in from you when you get out of your car and you can’t touch it until you chrono. So even though the safety is good and the fields are nice, I didn’t have as much fun as I could have, mostly because this field just isn’t as customer-friendly as it ought to be. 6/10.
