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An Electrifying Experience: Laser Tag comes to TianjinGraeme Mackay
How did it come to this? My team had been decimated by snipers. Only I survived. Looking through my sight I saw the enemy was poised to charge. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain. While the others had drawn my attention, someone had snuck around and shot me in the back. Game over.
I spent my adolescence playing Doom, so when I discovered that Laser Tag had opened in Tianjin, I persuaded my friends to go. Laser Tag is like paintball, except that you use a laser gun to zap your opponents to get points.
Mr. Han, the boss at Fire at Night Exercise Camp is a Tianjiner who played the game in Beijing, liked it and decided to set up his own company. “Young people like this kind of game,” he said, “as they enjoy computer games like Counter Strike.” However, he was quick to mention that the ages of his clientele range from fifteen to fifty.
Our group was a mixed bag of students, teachers, office workers and one ex-soldier (whose team I decided to join). Half our group was Chinese: this helped, especially during the introduction when I expanded my Chinese vocabulary to include words like “reload” and “head-shot.” Having just opened, Fire at Night doesn’t yet have instructions for non-Chinese speakers. There were also a few teething problems, but Mr. Han was confident that they would be fixed soon.
In order to stop arguments over who shot who, the equipment deactivates your gun after being shot and gives the victim a small electric shock to the forearm. Detectors were worn on the front, back, and head. Allegations were made about whether or not the detectors were working effectively, which led to much testing of the equipment and sore forearms.
Overall we enjoyed the experience immensely. Certain aspects of Fire at Night Exercise Camp need to be improved, though, such as the floor, which was a little slippery when we visited. Mr. Han seems to be aware of what improvements need to be made. He also talked of introducing new missions.
At the end, after tallying up the “kills,” I realized that coming from Britain, with no right to bear arms, was a disadvantage. Our team lost massively, despite having some real military experience. The opposition attributed their success to superior tactics, communication, aiming, stamina, and good looks. We attributed our loss to faulty equipment. However, one thing is sure, we will go back.
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