The broken-down van is steps ahead, the same shade as the broken buildings surrounding it. The door is open, and you rush towards it, hoping to take refuge in the barren insides of the vehicle. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupts to your left. Somebody was hiding behind some sandbags and picked you off while you were distracted by the car. You try to fire back, but it’s too late: you’re already dead.
While this sounds like a story out of an urban war zone, it’s actually a game. It’s called Battlefield Live, and is in its essence, a mix between laser-tag and paintball.
The gaming facility is played in over 35 countries around the world, and opened its east-end Ottawa location on July 21. Facility owners hosted a VIP event on Aug. 4.
Players walk around a constructed urban or outdoor environment holding metal guns that shoot invisible bullets. Aiming is done using the scopes on the guns, which come in different styles, ranging from sub-machine guns to huge sniper rifles.
The game is loosely tied with the video-game series Battlefield, but beyond sharing a name, has no obvious connection. Alex Rauscher, the owner of Battlefield Live Ottawa said the game was designed with gamers in mind.
“The people that designed these guns in Australia, they were gamers, and they designed video games before they started this, but they wanted something that got people off the couch, and into the action,” he said.
The game style is reminiscent of both paintball and laser-tag, but Rauscher said there are key differences that distinguish his game. For one, getting hit means you have to walk back to a home base to get reactivated, as opposed to waiting a few seconds. Players that are “dead” are not allowed to communicate with other players, in order to keep the tactics realistic.
“Real life tactics actually work with this system, where you can clear rooms, you can push the enemy back and hold a position,” Rauscher said.
However, unlike paintball, there is no paint, and no bruising. The guns work on an infrared system, which means players can shoot each other from up to 1400 feet away. While the lack of real projectiles might turn off the more hardcore players, Rauscher said there is still excitement to be had.
“It’s a high-tech version of those games. You have red-dot scopes that light up,[…] and with the realistic sounds and feel, it’s very easy to immerse yourself in the game,” he said.
What it translates to is a more team-based effort on part of the players. During a game, people will signal, duck behind cover, and curse when hit as if a bullet had actually hit them.
And while there may not be any real bullets flying, when your gun emits a sound of a bullet whizzing by your head, you do the same thing as anybody else: duck, and hope you survive longer than your clip does.
