If the New Mexico leg of my trip sounded crazy, just
wait. I left Albuquerque and got on an early evening flight to Phoenix, but the
catch was that to make my connections home again I would have to fly back to
Albuquerque that night, getting in at 2:00 AM. So I actually had an even
shorter window of time for this trip. Believe me, one day I will get back there
and play properly for the entire night, but at this moment I just wanted to
check both Arizona and Stratum off my list. I called ahead to make sure they
could accommodate getting me into a game right away and then I was on my
adventure, landing in Phoenix around 8:00. Off to Stratum in Mesa!
Upon arrival I had just missed the start of one game, so
I used that time to say “been there, got the t-shirt…
…and to ask questions of the manager Sean who told me
that they were told by the ILTA at some point that they were the world’s
largest laser tag arena.
Although he couldn’t give me any more info about it (he
said there was paperwork about that designation somewhere) I was particularly
curious because I know there are other arenas which make that claim and I don’t
honestly know how it is determined. I did want to shirt though to go side by
side with this other shirt that I bought at the EDGE 618 in Belleville, IL.
I’m not trying to dispute anyone’s marketing claim
because I truly have no idea which is larger and I genuinely just think it’s
cool to play in an arena as big as Stratum. Unfortunately though, you’ll just
have to take my word for it that the place is big because I was not permitted
to take any photos of the arena. :(
I was however allowed to have a staff member take a pic
of me in the briefing room with one of their vests.
Now, this raises more questions for me than it answers.
Although this looks like (and I’m told it was) Infusion, it seemed ever so
slightly different. Notice the black markings? I didn’t until after the fact
because everything moved so quickly. When I look back on it I wonder what that
is. I’ve never seen this on an Infusion pack before. Is it tape or a decal and
if so, for what purpose? If anyone can shed light on this please drop me an
email. Another thing is the base. Now, in the briefing room I was actually
standing right underneath what they pointed to and identified as the base,
although it looks nothing like any base I have experienced when playing
Infusion in the past. I don’t think it was intentional, but the staffer who
took the pic cut the base out of the photo, so I will just describe it as
several rectangles of clear lit panels.
There were six bases inside the arena. Two for each of
the three colors, so you could potentially get four of them for a total of
12,004 extra points (which the game master emphasized a couple of times to a
group of people who didn’t really seem to be listening to him…even I found myself
particularly antsy for the game to start because of my schedule). I could not
actually see the base component itself. What I saw was where to shoot indicated
by the structure of lit crystal panels that built a shape of either a circle or
a rectangle around it (presumably to differentiate the bases of the same
color).
These were all to be found on the ground level of the
arena and the experienced players made a beeline to them. For me it took a bit
longer because this was my first time in this massive arena and I was exploring
as much as I was playing. There were ramps and raised levels everywhere.
According to their website it’s “over 13,000 square feet of pure adrenaline,
including 90 towers, bridges & ramps with over 15 different levels”. It’s
incredibly big, but I can’t say that I actually counted! :)
I do know it was really like playing in a labyrinth and
when the game was over I had to use some instinct to find the ramps that would
get me back down to the lower level. I wondered if I shouted “Marco” would
anyone reply with “Polo”? The game was a lot of fun, but something about it did
not feel like Infusion to me. Granted, it’s been awhile since I’ve played this
one, but it just felt different somehow. I know that sounds weird to say (if it
looks like a duck and sounds like a duck…actually this game didn’t “sound” like
Infusion either if you know what I mean), but regardless it was a totally
enjoyable tag experience in a very impressive and immersive arena.
I look forward to returning to Arizona when I have more
time to enjoy a full evening at this site. This trip was way too short to try
to pack in all the things I wanted to and yet I couldn’t be happier that it all
worked out so well and that a little creative planning and timing allowed me to
tag in three sites in two states all because I ended up with an unexpected
weekend off from work!
Comments or Questions?
Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
and www.photonforever.com
No comments:
Post a Comment