I never realized how fun it is to shoot people…until I tried laser tag.
My sisters, cousins and I originally voted between KTV and a trip to Star City for our post-Christmas get together, but ended up tied. I chose Star City because I lost my song list and it would be useless to sing in Japanese because no one in the group would understand :p Besides, the last time I was in an amusement part was 3 years ago.
Someone suggested laser tag and since no one has tried it yet, we went for it.
We headed to Lazer Maxx in Greenhills, where a round of laser tag (15 minutes) costs P170 per person. A maximum of 4 teams can play at the same time (red, green, blue and yellow) and each team must have at least 10 players. Personally, though, I prefer only 2 teams, since it would be a little confusing shooting at all those different colours at the same time. Plus, the arena could get a little crowded, don’t you think?
Before entering the arena, we were made to watch an instructional video detailing the rules of the game, as well as safety reminders.
Basically, you get points whenever you shoot a member of the opposing team on the vest or on the gun. You get max points for your team if you were able to infiltrate enemy territory and shoot their homebase disc.
If you are shot, your vest will momentarily flash in the opposing team’s color and the light will go out for 2 seconds. Likewise, your gun will be disabled for the same amount of time, and you are unable to retaliate quickly at your shooter. Unfair? 😛
The game rules are simple: hold your gun with both hands, do not physically hurt your opponents and do not run during the game. Laser tag is not supposed to be physical and violent.
After the video, we then suited up with our vests and tested our guns. Each player wears a special lighted vest that changes colour depending on his/her team. The laser gun is also in the same colour.
Our team chose green and we were up against a group of rowdy, snotty teenagers. Luckily for me, they chose blue instead of yellow. Because I am green-yellow colour blind, I’d probably be shooting at anyone that moves — regardless of whether they are on my team or not. Pfft.
For obvious reasons, the game is played in a dark arena. The 2-storey Lazer Maxx arena has panels for hiding and ramps for going up and down — it was designed like a real battle zone. There is also piped in music and special sound effects from overhead speakers.
There is really something about that dark arena and all those colours flashing that gets your adrenaline pumping. After a few seconds, I was running all over the place, getting good angles for shooting, shouting at my teammates. It was fun! It was so exciting that my sister Aya had an attack of heartburn soon after. Erk. Haha.
It was OK, she was the highest scorer, anyway. She was able to run into the enemy homebase and shoot at their disc. Me? I think I got the 2nd to the lowest number of points, though I cannot be too sure, because I had to change my gun (low batt) and I do not remember what my new code name was.
The score? Green team wins over blue by over 20,000 points! Haha. 😀 Not bad for a team of first time shooters, eh?
Lazer Maxx in located at the rooftop of Greenlanes, Greenhills Shopping Center. For schedules and other inquiries, please contact them via the following: (+63 2) 584-5958, (+63 2) 727-9948, (+63 2) 726-6517
Next time, we will try Lazer Xtreme at Market Market. I read somewhere you can play individually. Nice 😀
Do watch out for Lazer Maxx promos via groupon sites like Ensogo and MetroDeals, as they occasionally come out with huge discounts on laser tag. 😀
*Guten Tag – a common German greeting which means “Good day”.
