Originally I thought I would take some time here to
explore an ongoing discussion I've been having with a few people about what
constitutes a laser tag arena or, more specifically, how much change is
necessary to consider a site a "new arena". However, the more I
thought about it the more I realized that this discussion is better saved for
another day (in the near future) and I'd rather talk about what a laser tag
experience can be like when there's actually no arena at all. No, I'm not
talking about outdoor or mobile laser tag. What I'm referring to is a truly
unique experience I had using laser tag equipment in a completely different
environment when I visited Zombie Outbreak in Orlando.
Zombie Outbreak is NOT what I would call a laser tag
arena...well, not in any traditional sense anyhow. It's more like a haunted
house, but it does incorporate laser tag equipment into its attraction and it
IS a game with a score at the end. The premise of the interactive experience is
that "the zombies have escaped" and groups can go through the "apocalyptic
military base" hunting the zombies.
Here's how it works. They set you up with an iCOMBAT irM4
CQB laser tag "gun" attached to a sling with the sensors embedded in
it. The live actor zombies have a sensor headband, but no other
"weapon". There is no physical contact between zombies and
participants, BUT they do pop out of all sorts of unexpected places and chase
the hunters quite menacingly. On an intellectual level I know that it's all
just theatrical entertainment, but on a primal level it is an intense
adrenaline rush to have someone (zombie or not) charge towards you. However,
the hunter has laser tag gear and can "shoot" the zombie to stop them
by tagging the sensor on the headband. The game gets interesting if you fail to
tag the zombie and they get too close to you for too long then your sensor
sling will register a "bite", which is basically the equivalent of
them tagging you.
I went through the attraction solo, although I was
accompanied throughout the course by my guide. The experience began with
the guide whipping open a curtain and shouting "6:15 group, this
way!" to deliberately startle me even while I was still waiting in the
lobby. After that I was shown a video. This was NOT a briefing video. It was a
little drama with exposition, setting up the storyline for how the zombies had
come to be on the loose. To be honest I was only half listening to the video
because I was keeping my eyes and ears attentive, just guessing that something
might be about to jump out at me while I was still in this briefing room...that
never actually happened. Then they took a picture of me against a green screen
standing next to a gory looking zombie mannequin holding my tag weapon. The
guide went over how to use the equipment and then began leading me through the
Zombie Outbreak.
I was led through multiple rooms and corridors with eerie
lighting and lots of theatrics. There were zombie bodies laying on tables and lots
of creatures, some real and some fake, around every corner. In some parts of
the maze the zombies were just dummy mannequins wearing the sensor headbands,
but no sooner did you pass a fake zombie than a real one would jump out of the
shadows and "attack". Again, there was no physical contact involved,
but it definitely got my adrenaline pumping! There were plenty of interactive
targets throughout the whole place.
This was unlike any laser tag experience I had ever had
before and yet it was interesting to see how my tag skills came into play. For
example, as a traditional tag girl I am quick on my trigger. I also know that
"friendly fire" is my Achilles heel, so it's probably no surprise
that I shot at anything that moved...including my guide! Of course there was no
harm done, but after the third time he jumped out at me and I mistook him for a
zombie he went off script a little bit! :)
At the end of the experience I returned to the lobby and
checked the scoreboard. Now, I had gone through the attraction alone (I arrived
in between groups and they gave me the choice to "play solo" or wait
for other participants to show up) so you only see one score on the board, but
this gives some interesting information.
It shows I got a score of 927 (I have no idea how that
compares with others) with 44 zombie kills. Although my accuracy was lower than
normal at 34.92% I was proud to have gotten through the course with no bites. I
am pretty sure I tagged every zombie that came at me and I didn't let any of
them get close enough to bite, so I believe the mission was a success! And the
fact that there was a score at the end reinforces that this IS a game, even
though there was no arena per se and only one "team" was really
equipped for tagging. If there had been others going through the experience
with me we could have compared scores at the end like normal.
I'm not sure if I can count this as "tag swag",
but I did purchase a t-shirt before I left.
And remember the photo they took at the beginning with me
in front of the green screen? Well they added a frame and some background
imagery and the photo was printed and given to me at the end.
This pic is a little on the gory side so I cropped it to let you use your imagination about the zombie I'm standing next to. In my opinion this is a teen-adult kind of
attraction and I personally would not suggest it for children. However, if you
can appreciate the theatrical nature of a good haunt and like a few scares and
startles along with your tag then this is definitely a unique experience and
one that I really enjoyed!
As I said before, I would not classify this as a laser
tag arena (although I will add it to my list with a star instead of a number)
and it does help gel some thoughts in my mind about what does and does not
constitute a laser tag arena. There will be some future discussion posted here
in the coming weeks on that topic. But let there be no doubt, this was a really
immersive and heart-pumping laser tag experience! It's theme park quality and I
am glad I had the chance to experience an entirely different approach to laser
tag here. Big thanks to the team at Zombie Outbreak for what turned out to be another
really memorable laser tag experience from start to finish.
Comments or Questions?
Contact: tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and
www.photonforever.com
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