After zooming past my mid-20s and after giving birth, caring for and pursuing multiple children, I tend to gravitate toward activities that keep me feeling young and active. It provides a good break from a life filled with seemingly endless diapers, dirty dishes and mountains of laundry. I found my husband and Lazer Tag among the crowd of restaurants lined up along McPherson Church Road in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I played a few games laser-tag during my high school years and vividly remembered how much fun it was.
For those of you who are familiar with the concept of laser tag. A fighting-type game where players are divided into two opposing teams. Each player fires a shirt that has a gun attached to it. The vest is equipped with laser sensors mainly located on the shoulders, chest and back. Colored lights flashing indicate where your opponent is shooting and each gun scores depending on how many shots connect. The vests deactivate after a few seconds of impact, rendering the helpless “wounded” by blocking their guns along with the chest. Most laser tag locations are spacious, dark and hidden behind walls. The main “mission” is to hit as many opponents as you can, weaken their base and accumulate the maximum amount of points.
We stopped at Lazer Tag one evening to get some information and returned the following weekend dressed in the darkest clothes we could find. Blacklights are usually the source of illumination in the game area, the darker your outfit, the harder it is to spot you. When we entered Lazer Tag, we immediately noticed a group of people coming out of the mission area sweating profusely and laughing heartily. It was an excellent sign, and the sensibility of the passers-by was astonished at the sight of the place. Old arcade games dot the main area with a few coin-operated pool tables. Most of the games are out of order and the area looks unwelcoming and dirty. A few of the runners were equipped with oars, and were quite polite, but in a spirited and hurrying manner. A 15-20 mission cost $8, while a 3-mission-pack could be purchased for $20. We stuck to trying one mission, still very believable of what was in store for us.
After a short delay, which we felt was quite out of place, among the crowd of teenagers waiting to start the same mission, we were taken back to the brief room. This teacher game reviews the rules and object of the game for newbies and assigns the group into two groups. My husband and I decided to join the same team. The rules were pretty simple. No course. No physical contact. It assigns colors to each team, which eliminates any confusion as to who your opponent is. One hand must be on the sensor located under the muzzle of the gun. Extra points are promised to strongmen who can make it to the other team and send out a sensor that moves their base.
So there we were, guns in tow and less to go. My husband, ohn, when he was in the military, had a mischievous light in his eye, bitter towards teenage competitors. garage door openers with a dramatic appearance of sirens and flashing lights. We are given less than a moment to hide before all our work is reduced. It was also time for the developer. We hit and miss and hide behind the walls. John sucked and sniped and used every stealth trick he had learned as he crashed into walls, giggled a lot, crashed into people and giggled some more. It was a blast. Adrenaline rush at its best. The fear of “shooting” seems real at that moment of confusion and chaos, while the nature of each person’s confrontation in is played because of the game’s scoring system. We left hot and panting, hearts racing and fingers jingling as hormones rushed through our bodies.
A brief glance at the scorpio’s screen reveals how much it affects the shooter’s ability to shoot effectively, and how military training really helps in such an action. We had fun. A lot of fun. I recommend this place to those looking for an adrenaline boost or even just a camp good old time. They target kids 4 and older so it’s a good remedy even in the bed-obsessed generation of children we have today. It puts them into video games rather than being numb and shocked at the controller all day. It is also a great way to burn calories. Although the project is not running, we still walked a good distance and the mission area is large enough to find good work. In addition to the dirty interior, you can find fierce teenagers inside Lazer Tag, both of Fayetteville. The young and the young at heart alike can really enjoy it.
