Apr 04, 4:03 pm
It was 4.30am on a cold Saturday morning when I got out of bed and pulled on my Frag Doll T-shirt. I’d been up early for Frag Doll events in the past, but today was special. I was going to the land of leprechauns, Guiness and Westlife – yes, I was going to Ireland!
Now before you Irish readers beat me with a stick, in my defence it was my first ever visit to the Emerald Isle, and I get over-excited when I go somewhere new. Not only that, but I was all too aware of Ireland’s outstanding contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest (more wins than any other competing nation!) so I was understandably in awe and rather nervous.
The reason for travelling to Ireland was that Ubisoft had invited Sarin and I for some GRAW2 paintballing action in a beautiful little place called Wicklow. We were also there to compete on GRAW2 at World Gamer Live, a console-based LAN tournament.
As I stepped off the plane in Dublin and onto a bus to the paintballing event, I looked out of the window to see a massive mountain (as opposed to one of those tiny mountains you get.) “That’s Sugarloaf mountain,” Sarin informed me. Irish people name their landmarks after confectionary? Now that’s my kind of nation!
The paintballing event was attended by members of the Irish gaming press, and our very own Ben Talbot from Official Xbox Magazine. It took me half an hour to shake off the idea that my newfound Irish chums weren’t “putting it on” with regards to their accents, but by then I’d reached the paintballing zone.
We were divided into two teams, with three paintball games in total. Poor Sarin got a hefty smack in the head by a naughty paintball, whilst I huffed and puffed like the unhealthy, exercised-deprived gamer I am. But all in all it was bloody good fun, and the Irish press were very friendly (even if they did have a tendency for headshots.)
Once we’d clambered back to base, we tucked into some hearty Mexican grub (just like the Ghosts do! Probably) and had a mini GRAW2 tournament. But there was no time to waste – for moments later we were off again, this time to the beautiful 18th century hotel that housed World Gamer Live.
I was tired by this time, but nothing gets your blood pumping like some crazy FPS action. Sarin and I teamed up with two guys from WGL. Team sharpshooter, no holding back! I always really enjoy playing GRAW2 in tournaments like these, because your team is physically there, sitting right next to you. It really increases the sense of suspense and the importance of good teamwork. We battled bravely through, but were knocked out in the semi-finals. Happily though, all the competitors were extremely good sports, and the tournament couldn’t have been won by a better team. Photos were taken, tears were shed, and I managed to badger a poor young man into saying “top of the mornin’”. Result!
I went to bed very sleepy and dreamt of leprechauns running around drinking tequila and shooting Westlife with paintball guns. I wish I could have stayed in Ireland longer to take in more of the sights (and the pubs – the Irish really DO love Guinness - who knew?!) Still, hopefully World Gamer Live will be back again later in the year.
Until then, check out our gallery section for all the all latest Frag Doll pics from the events.
