Hitman Paintball ChallengeBy: Staff
Photography: Gary Baum - paintballphotography.com
Monday May 19, 2008
In one of the cooler cross-promotional paintball events in recent memory, the NPPL and 20th Century Fox came together to produce the Hitman Paintball Challenge, a series of scenario games themed after the new "Hitman" movie. A few dozen fields all threw single Hitman events within the span of a few months, with special prizes going to the fields with the largest participating attendance, special role-playing/costumes, etc.
Jungle Island in Lake Elsinore, California, which has played host to a number of SPLAT magazine photo shoots in the past, was one of three California fields to participate in the challenge (the others being Camp Pendleton and Velocity Paintball Park), so some SPLAT magazine staffers, including our very own Paintballer-in-Chief Chris "IQ" Iaquinta, went down to take part in the festivities. Joining our boys for the special game were a handful of other paintball celebrities, including legendary players Matty Marshall, Chuck Hendsch and Shane Harrison, as well as former Dynasty player Sonny Lopez with his full LA Hitmen paintball team backing him up.
Representing the scenario side of things were some of the top scenario squads in paintball, including the Psycho Clown Posse and 5150.
Teams were split into two groups: the Agents and the Russians. The LA Hitmen, with guest players Chris "IQ", Matt Marshall, Shane Harrison, and Chuck Hendsch, along with a handful of walk-ons, were put on the side of the Agents, and would have to compete against the "Russians," comprised of the Psycho Clown Posse, 5150 and the majority of the walk-on players. To help even out the teams even more, many of the LA Hitmen players brought out their pump guns, so their ramped-up tournament markers wouldn't result in the destruction of newcomer scenario players.
The missions were designed with a focus on fun instead of hard-core scenario questing. "Hitman"-themed missions included "Capture the briefcase," "Protect Nika from the Russians" and finally the old standard "Shoot everyone on the other team," our favorite.
Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the "Agents," led by the LA Hitmen and friends, powered through each mission, winning each objective throughout the day and earning a clear victory over the "Russians."
Yvonne Truong, who played Nika, ended up winning an Xbox 360 for her efforts. Velocity Paintball Park in Bonita, California, and Fox 4 Paintball in Upton, Massachusetts, ended up getting the Grand Prize reward of a private advance screening of "Hitman."
Overall, the cross-promotional effort between the NPPL and 20th Century Fox turned out to be a huge success, and we look forward to any other ideas that come outta the NPPL to further the paintball name. For more NPPL info, visit www.nppl.tv
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