Even in the wet and windy UK, there is no shortage of paintball venues to choose from, each promising an experience unlike any other. You can quickly become overwhelmed! Worse yet, sometimes that “totally unique experience” turns out be anything but – the same rehashed layouts and obstacles making for an entirely forgettable day of paintballing. But, don’t despair: for the paintball fanatic, there are plenty of venues across the globe worthy of special attention. While a fair few are based in the good ol’ US of A, there are also a handful of quality stops much closer to home.
Hollywood Sports: Bellflower, California
This sprawling outdoor facility is a paintballer’s mecca – one that must be seen to be believed. A number of its many fields have been built using props from real-life movie sets, including favourites like Starship Troopers, Saving Private Ryan and Godzilla. The props are used to create imaginative and unique scenario fields, like the futuristic “Lunar Wars”, the ancient “Forbidden City”, the dystopian “Mad Max” and the militaristic “Black Ops Canyon”. Immensely popular (and not without good reason), it’s perfect for anyone who wants a truly immersive paintball experience.
Mayhem Paintball: Essex/London, UK
With an impressive array of genuine battle tanks, aeroplanes, helicopters and other military hardware, Mayhem is on the front lines of exhilarating paintball action in the UK. Set in a picturesque woodland, they offer an array of scenarios to try, centring on urban warfare, the Wild West, a tank convoy and their very own Call of Duty arena that replicates the game to a thrillingly-accurate level of detail.
The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton: San Diego, California
Another paintballing gem situated in the state of California can be found at the bona fide military base, Camp Pendleton. Here, there is once again a wide range of fields to choose from, including “Convoy”, which is chock full of serious military hardware, ”King’s Castle”, which is, as you might have guessed, dominated by an enormous cement castle at its centre, and the bunker filled chaos that is “Kong Island”. Epic fun on a grand scale.
CPX Paintball: Chicago, Illinois
Far from America’s West Coast, in the state of Illinois, lies the expansive fun of CPX Paintball. Here, once more, there are a range of fields to enjoy, including the aptly titled “Jungle of Doom” and the fiendish defensive site that is “Fort Courage”. However, the park’s best-loved field is the charming town of “Bedlam”. This little slice of Americana may look like an idyllic 1950s all-American town, but as befits its name, all hell breaks loose as soon as the game begins.
Asylum Paintball: Auckland, New Zealand
For a truly unique location, look no further than this unnerving setting in Auckland. The creators of Asylum Paintball took over an abandoned psychiatric hospital, still known as one of New Zealand’s most haunted buildings, and turned it into a paintballing experience to remember. Special areas include the obstacle-heavy “Tyre Mania” and the apocalypse-themed “Lockdown Ward”. The site takes full advantage of its location in the former high-security ward of the decommissioned hospital.
Bawtry Paintball and Laser Fields: Doncaster, UK
Here in the UK, one of the country’s finest venues, offering a genuinely immersive paintballing experience, is the wonderful Bawtry Forest near Doncaster, South Yorkshire. It prides itself on its myriad game zones, which include a Black Hawk Down simulation, the towering “Castle Assault” and even a brilliant Star Wars themed zone called “Ewok Invasion – Treetop Fortress”. They also have a rather unique weapon in their arsenal: a crazed “Predator”, in full costume, who stalks his prey at all times, picking off unsuspecting targets one-by-one.
