Shot in the Neck

Those of us who were in college during the heyday of Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 know that it will go down in history as one of the funnest multi-player games of all time. We also know that it has been copied over and over, but nothing will be as great as the original. And we all have secretly wished there was a building designed just like the Bunker level, complete with regenerating body armor and random weapons stashed around, where we could battle our buddies in real life.

Well, there's nothing like that. Grow up.

Fortunately, there's something close: Paintball. I had never been paintballing before my buddy's Bachelor Party back in Boston last month. Being January, we went to an indoor course at Boston Paintball in Somerville. The place is spread out in a 31,000 square-foot gymnasium with large blow-up padded obstacles peppered throughout. The ground is coated with a thin layer of paint, and it's damn slippery. Two teams of equal numbers square off at opposite sides of the field and slowly move toward the center, knocking out opposing members by shooting them with the paint, within the three-minute time limit. Most games don't last that long, though.

If you've never been paintballing, you gotta try it. I can't believe how much fun it was to run around, dive behind obstacles, and use cover techniques with your teammates. I imagine anyone with a military background would kick ass at paintball, but for unathletic civilians like yours truly, it's still a blast. We played about six or seven games, and no one was really keeping score. In fact, after you were knocked out, you stopped caring about who won. The last game came down to my now-married buddy and me squaring off behind an obstacle. As we shot towards each other, my gun jammed and his didn't - he got me in the neck, right under the helmet. Good stuff. Paintball is a great idea for a bachelor party. And a whole lot of fun.