It’s that time of the year again when Uncle John’s Cider Mill (St Johns) gets a Kombat boost. Grab your friends and family and make your way up US 127 to the best place for Fall Festivities. They have huge pumpkins, delicious pies, amazing donuts, and of course cider that’s one of a kind. We always make a point of picking up some frosted raisin bread while we’re in. For adult customers, you can visit the UJ Wine Tasting for some tasty hard-cider, peary, or other fruit wines.
For just a few tokens, kids can enjoy inflatables, the apple fling, corn maze, wagon rides, and even Monster Truck rides during Kids Fest (Sept 24). Best of all – at least we think so – is some open battlefield gaming with outdoor laser tag. The field is huge, the air is cool, and the gaming is intense. We’ll be out at Uncle John’s Sept 24, Oct 8, and Oct 22. It’s Fall…get out and play.
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Light Strike – a review of the newest home laser tag
Walking through Walmart today doing some school shopping with my kids, I came across a new laser tag set. From the company that brought us Paper Jamz last Christmas comes their home version of the ever popular battlefield game. I was immediately caught by the slick packaging with Halo-style graphics. I was also impressed by the large variety of weapons & accessories.
The Light Strike guns come in two varieties – either a Striker (basically a pistol), or an Assault Striker (effectively an assault rifle). There are also a variety of mountable accessories for the larger Assault Strikers. With a limited budget, I grabbed the Assault Striker G.A.R.-023 along with the ITS (Intelligent Targeting System) and headed home to play with my new toys.
Right out of the box, I was pretty impressed. The weapon is definitely a toy, a light-weight body that you definitely don’t want to sit on, but it has a comfortable fit and grip. The gun takes 4 AA batteries. It has a power switch on top of the case. You have to ‘activate’ the weapon with the “fingerprint scanner” which is just rather fun. On the face of the weapon you can adjust the volume and select rate of fire. To select a team, simply hold the button down and the LEDs near the barrel of the gun will change color. Then you can choose from one of 4 color teams. Now it’s time to choose your weapons firepower.
The gun has four firing modes – laser strike (standard blast), stealth strike (a “silenced” blast that does little damage, but it’s good for sneaking), pulse strike (does more damage than the laser strike, but fires slower and uses more ammo), and sonic strike (the most powerful shot; fires very slow and uses a third of your ammo). The rail strike firing mode is something between pulse and sonic. The Assault Striker can also switch between single shot and semi-auto fire modes (with the pulse strike on single shot you can fire extremely fast). Running low on ammo? Simply press the large button on the bottom of the magazine and you get a new mag.
Battling is pretty easy – each player has three red health bars on the back of the gun. The range on these weapons is about 100 feet, but if you’re out of direct sunlight or in the dark, you’ll be able to boost that more. When playing, different modes do different amount of damage, and you’re warned when you have low life. Each gun has sensors on the front, so shooting at someone will also leave you vulnerable. Shooting the sides of the guns, where the LEDs show your team color, can also do damage depending on your range. Press the shield button and you’ll reduce enemy damage by 50% for 15 seconds. After that it will take 3 minutes to recharge. When you lose all three lights, your gun flashes and you can’t fire until you hold the shield and trigger to “respawn.” Each gun also comes with separate light-up plastic sensor that detects when it’s shot and changes color depending on the team. These sensors can be purchased separately and work great for games like Capture the Flag.
The ITS (Intelligent Targeting System)
This little black orb is a real game enhancer. After loading the 4 AA batteries, I flip the power switch and find that the ITS has 3 modes – bomb, sentinel, and medic. The unit plays as a stationary unit but a simple push of the large red button on the top and the unit begins to spin on its base. This is particular helpful in the bomb and sentinel modes. As a bomb, a team nights to shoot the ITS 4 times to claim the bomb, once more to activate it, and one final time to detonate. Upon detonation, the ITS releases its barrage of blasts causing damage to any opponents within its range of fire. Too cool.
On the negative side, there is no actual score keeping with the guns. You basically have to rely on the other player being honest. There is no counter for the respawn feature. So, similar to most previous models of laser tag including the Nerf LazerTag which you can reset with a quick flick of the switch or even the original Laser Tag with its chest sensor, players must have some agreed on rules. I was also really hoping that we might be able to use at least some of the targeting units for Laser Kombat. Unfortunately, with high-tech weapons, coding is not always compatible and such is the case with our equipment.
I have not purchased any of the accessories just yet (there are other reviews on those items) and I have no real interest in the vest. Unless your 8-10 years old, it most likely will not fit anyway. As a big fan of paintball and airsoft, I’m a fan of keeping game play simple. I think using just the weapons makes for a great battle.
In summary, the Light Strike system is a fun way to play some outdoor laser tag at home and since you can pick them up for about $40 (MSRP) each…why not? The evenings are cooling off. Grab your kids, the neighborhood kids, all your buddies…get out and play.
Get more details at lightstrike.com and be sure to check out their animated “choose your own adventure” video on YouTube.
Kombat with a //spyn
Time to do some Kombat a little closer to home. We’ll be at Mt Hope Church in Lansing tonight from 7-9pm at the //spyn event center. Come hang out and enjoy some gaming. Nothing helps blow off a little steam in the midweek or beat those winter blues like the total adrenaline blitz of some outdoor laser tag…played inside.
Kombat Sponsors Ladies’ V-ball Team
For the second year, Kombat is sponsoring one of the Women’s City League volleyball teams in St Johns. We wish the team a great season.
Laser tag tournament raises 450 for troop benefit Operation Gratitude
A war was on Wednesday night, but this one was held to benefit real warriors. Finch Fieldhouse hosted a laser tag tournament put on by Clarkston junior Kaity Jerolamon and four other students from RPL 430: Planning Recreation Programs and Events class.
via Laser tag tournament raises 450 for troop benefit Operation Gratitude.
Get your New Year on!
Looking for something fun and unique to kick off the New Year with your team? Consider combat for entertainment, our group packages are our best value and have been selected by schools, churches, and businesses alike. Bring your group together like never before.
It’s Party Time!
December is a great month to plan your teen or kids event. Contact your local community center or public school if you need some indoor space to play. Or consider an outdoor Winter War. Our equipment can handle it but can you?
Kombat at the Rock
There was a full Saturday (8 hours) of live battlefield gaming this last weekend at the Rock Financial Showplace. The place is so massive that our Kombat Kommand vehicle looked like a toy truck inside. We did have a pretty massive indoor playing field. Thanks to all the great players who hung out with us.
Corporate Team Building with Laser Kombat
Challenge yourselves with a top quality Laser Kombat Corporate Team Building Event!
Book your Corporate Team Building Event with Laser Kombat and put your team’s strength, courage, and unity to the test!
See the difference in our unique brand of laser combat missions. Not painful like paintball and way beyond conventional laser tag, combat simulation entertainment will challenge and fortify your team’s communication, adaptability, problem solving, and trust through a series of engaging mission simulations.
With missions specially designed to challenge your group’s strengths and mend their weaknesses, you’ll see why Laser Kombat is quickly becoming THE choice for Team Building events!
Kombat joins forces with CMU for Operation Gratitude
We are teaming up our unique brand of tactical laser tag with Central Michigan University on Wednesday, Nov 3rd, in a fund-raiser event to support Operation Gratitude. Proceeds from this event will go to support the nonprofit organization that sends care packages to our troops who are in harms way. Be sure to enlist your battle team and join us at the Finch Field-house from 7pm to 10pm.
