On Target Action Park — Local services in Pemberton Township

BY A BEGINNER FOR A BEGINNER REVIEW:

OTP proved to be a great group of people! From the owner to the refs, equipment manager, and front desk employees- everyone demonstrates positive attitude and kindness. They definitely foster a family-feel and certainly create a family-friendly environment. The paintball courses offer a variety of options and entertainment with so much potential for loads of fun. That potential however may be contingent upon the customer base and this is where things take a turn.

My only criticism- and it's not completely OTP's fault- is that there was only a very high level of (paintball) skill available to play with which made for a somewhat frustrating day for beginners. I have played at other locations in the past (eg the now-closed Top Gun in Jackson) which had a higher percentage of "rental" level play which made for a much more entertaining experience. Those places separated out those with a high level of experience and/or gear for their own matches so as to allow for entertaining games for beginners who would want to come back for more. OTP seemed to be geared towards the "hardcore" player at least on the day we visited.

The day my son and I went, there was a group of what I'm guessing were team players of semi-pro level. They refused to separate their "team" and the result was them pretty much destroying the rookies (including shooting my 12-year old son at point blank range with a high-powered "First Strike" pistol in the leg leaving a huge bruise- despite him surrendering when he saw how close the individual was). These are grown man-children who should play their own game with other higher level players. That said, my naivety in this sport allowed us to fall into this environ, so I'll take some blame there.

I digress. The refs could have done a better job dividing the teams by skill level and equipment (however again some of the man-children refused to yield when refs attempted to level out the playing field, so I cannot fully blame the refs). If possible, they could create separate groups according to skill level so that beginner "rental" players can gain some experience and have fun playing. It's simply not fun playing otherwise. (Disclaimer: I have only played twice over a 15+ years period, always with those at my level, and I had an absolute blast. The day I described here was simply not fun minus one or two matches where more "rental" players were involved).

So, I would advise any beginner one of 3 options: 1. consider gathering enough people to create your own party to make reservations (strongly recommended because the courses and staff are awesome) 2. take your chances and simply hope there are enough beginners there to request a separate group be made to avoid playing with folks who will overpower you with their thousands of dollars of equipment and skill. 3. If you're a beginner and do not have enough players for your own party and do not want to roll the dice (especially folks like me who drove over an hour), then consider waiting to make the trip to OTP until you have enough to ensure a private experience. Otherwise, you may not want to play again.

Again, I must say that OTP runs a great business with a positive culture. It's not fair to allow their score to take a hit because of their customer base however it's difficult to separate the two sometimes. Hopefully they can keep those dudes in check and look out for folks new to the game. OTP, please help identify beginners and try to tailor a positive experience according to their skill level. This will keep people coming back.

TL;DR Overall, OTP is worth the trip but take the time to plan well in advance to reserve your own personal party. Otherwise, you will be stuck with semi-pro level players where you will likely be overpowered by skill and equipment which can make for a frustrating beginner's...

Fields 10/10 : With over 13 fields, OTP has the largest paintball spot in NJ. Fields change and evolve over time from the amazing dedication of the staff which progress is also shown on social media (Which I must say is going great). They have an airball/xball/speedball turf field which is maintained well and set up nice. Plenty of different types of fields ranging from a strictly spools, a urban town for some CQC action. A large field with fences and dirt piles to make for fun pushes up the field, a field with school busses, large tires, and lots of other large items for cover with a tight length for an action packed game, a hyperball field, and many others. I don't think I have to go any further to say how awesome their fields are.

Staff 20/10: Last visit I arrived late and came during the lunch break which I must say, their fresh off the grill hot dogs are amazing. Anyways me and my first time friend were chilling waiting for it to be over and Tyler came over, introduced my friend to the basics of paintball, and then offered us to play 1v1 or if he could gather a group that was skipping the break. Anyways we got a game and were super grateful for his help. Not to mention earlier I was going to chrono but realized I lost an alan key, at other places (none specific) they may say you have to purchase an alan set but the woman at the front desk gladly got me the right alan key to chrono to the right speed. Fast forward the game starts and (my personal marker, not rental) had an o-ring pop out after a few shots during the first game which caused an air leak. I asked if I could switch for a rental and pay the extra $5 not only did they offer it or free, but instead they took the time out to help fix my air leak which made me super happy as it was my first marker after renting a lot and I didn't know what to do at all. After that it was smooth sailing. The ref in the black and white social pb jersey was helping players telling them to move up the field if a side was weak. The other refs did a great job making sure no one was cheating and everyone was playing safe (no one was overshooting) , making sure that peoples goggles & barrel bags were always on at the appropriate times. I can't stress the point more that everyone on the staff team were awesome people and really made my day (and everyone else') enjoyable

Environment for first timer/beginner 10/10: To start off, the staff did an excellent job explaining the foundation of safety rules were, as many other places don't stress too much over safety. They clearly explained any game mode we played and made sure any questions were answered. The rental equipment was actually pretty nice as it was accurate, and used HPA as opposed to c02 which is much safer and lighter. The community of guys from regulars to beginners are all really friendly and a nice group of people.

Prices 10/10: Good price for the quality of the valken field paint and fair admission & rental prices

It's also good to note that they have a nice pro-shop inside which contains multiple begginer-intermediate markers and all other accessories that you will need to get started with your own setup.

Summary : As you can tell from how much effort I put into this review, I didn't do it for no reason. This place really is the #1 spot to go to, even though I have places 20 minutes away from me, OTP is always gonna...

It was my first visit here on Friday the 25th of November 2016. While everyone was killing themselves over black Friday deals I had a bug to play some paintball. I have my own gear and aways go to fields as a walk-on. Staff is older, mature and showed no favoritism to Walk-ons/regulars vs renters. The players were extremely friendly. We rotated refs a few times during the day and each one had a safety first attitude. As our group increased throughout the day and we went to bigger fields we also got more refs. The refs were constantly balancing the teams each time we went out also. What amazed me is how I overheard the refs talking about ways to improve the one field we were playing on amongst themselves. They really cared what our experience was like. The paint they offer here is excellent compared to every place I've been to in the area. Very brittle paint and they offer 2 grades of Valken. The walk-on player base was great at least the ones in my group were. The majority of the walk-on player base is electro/Speed baller type of player. However they showed restraint most of the time at towards the rental players. I play pump and I don't care what type of player or gun I'm up against I just wana play me some paintball :D. They have a grill and cook hotdogs during the half hour lunch break. The best part is how coordinated they are with getting players out to play as often as possible. Players don't move their stuff from dead zone to dead zone. Instead all equipment stays in the main area, over the PA system your told how long is left till your group heads out. When time is up your group meets up with your ref and you head out to the field and play 2 rounds back to back. After that you head back for air/paint refill and your ref will holler over the PA when your heading out again which is usually 10min. It's very organized and you get your money's worth when playing a full day. Nearly everything I mentioned is what paintball fields in this area DONT do. The refs don't care, put safety to the way side, are slow to get everyone moving, don't have food, have crappy paint that doesn't break and costs alot, don't balance out teams, play favorites with certain players, I could go on. The fields had excellent well spaced cover. It's very easy to move up and keeps games from stalling because the next cover spot for you to move up to is 30ft away. My favorite field is Auto zone, lol. It's a crazy, close quarters, clusterf**k but I love it. The two players I talked with most of the day told me Saturdays and Sundays are have good turn outs for Walk-ons. It's FPO now but the paint they carry is good. Brittle and we'll priced for FPO. Give this place a try if you haven't yet, I'm kicking myself in the butt for not coming here sooner! Thanks guys! Customer Appreciation Day was a blast. I'll...