Tag: holiday gift

Recoil: The World is Now Game – For the holidays!

This blog post is sponsored by Skyrocket. Thank you!



Hot Buy for the Holiday – Recoil: The World is Now Game by Skyrocket!

Laser Tag, AR airstrikes, power ups, minimal cleanup. Indoor play during the winter months? Definitely!

First: Outdoor play as shown by Sam and Niko on YouTube, also Node, Corridor Digital, etc.

And a poignant video by Nerdist here

The game clearly excels outdoors. There’s more room to move, you have AR tags that you can scan, the GPS tracking is enabled (a big selling point to the toy and the enhancing the video game feel), teammates carry ammo and can share it with you, and if you don’t have ammo there’s an element of realism in making you run back to your base to reload. Respawn points are on the field and you have to report back there as opposed to respawning where you stand.

Indoors, the game is a little different. No GPS tracking, unlimited respawns and reloads. The grenade device still works inside though, and indoors it was a really entertaining element to have. But more on that later. That being said, the reload is NOT instantaneous. The minute you hit reload there’s a time delay before you can fire again. It was just my friend and I against each other but I had to make sure that if I hit reload that I was well hidden or had a grenade…. just in case.

I opted out of using headphones for indoor play (in the basement we used it wasn’t like we couldn’t hear each other) but I could still hear my friend taunting me through the Recoil blasters when I was on the hunt. Indoors the speakers worked pretty well, and over the din of the muzzle flash and noise from the Spitfire and Rogue units we used there wasn’t a lot of need to pay attention to what was being said. However, grenades, coming under attack, all those warnings still happened and when I did hear them they were much appreciated. The readout of health, ammo, and who killed me with what item (grenade or weapon.)

Some shots of the action:

One item I still used (in spite of my initial misgivings) was the hit sensor that clips to your back pocket/back collar. It did not interfere with my using the blaster as much as I thought, nor did I trip on it or get tangled up. To be fair I wasn’t doing parkour while using the blasters but for the most basic of motions (with the build of an adult) the wire stayed out of my way. Would it be great to have a future patch that allowed multiple bluetooth hookups, allowing for bluetooth headphones, the blaster unit, AND the grenade? Definitely.

Recoil Rogue

The mount and my phone didn’t feel weird really either, at least to me. Maybe that’s a product of being used to looking at my phone for information, but seeing a heads up display with my hit points and ammo was refreshing. I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND HAVING A PROTECTIVE CASE ON YOUR PHONE. Definitely for everyday living, and absolutely if you use Recoil. Accidents happen, that’s just how things go. But the mount was incredibly secure (make sure to read the instructions appropriately and use as directed) holding both a small phone and my large ZTE ZMax phone.

Hits seemed to register without issues, though I don’t have a total gauge on distance as we were indoors. The Spitfire and Rogue are both full auto (just hold the trigger) but the Rogue (pictured above) has a higher ammo capacity than the Spitfire. Couldn’t tell if the reload speed was different or not, but either way it’s delayed and means the difference between getting hit and keeping score 🙂 Seeing your life bar and having scorekeeping automated just made focusing on the game a lot easier and just having fun with the blasters for a few rounds. Once we were done with a round, back into the lobby and restart another game. The setup (loading the app, bluetooth matching, setting up) takes a bit in the beginning to get started but once you get going having a great play session is a breeze. And the flexibility of the system to go either in or outdoors is great. I don’t believe you can transition seamlessly indoor to outdoor and vice versa, but it’s hopefully nothing a patch can’t fix in the future.

Air strikes weren’t possible inside, but the grenades definitely added a nice dimension to the game. It’s one thing when you have a camped position but it’s another when you see the grenade roll in to where you’re hiding (and vice versa if you’re trying to hide in a room). It was an extra tactic that added some depth even for two people. What I will emphasize here is the grenades are hard rubber around a hard plastic case. Do NOT THROW INDOORS. Underhanded rolling (lightly!) is encouraged, or the grenades can be placed and set as mines with a time delay only.

Recoil Grenade unit

Definitely don’t sleep on this as an outdoor or indoor activity! It’s available now, the starter kit (with the required Wi-Fi hub) is currently $116.99 at Target.com. Be active indoors as the weather gets colder (where applicable) or just open yourself up to a whole new way to play laser tag as the world is now game!

Not gonna lie either, when my friend and I were cleaning up, it was nice not having to clean up darts too. Easy to pack, easy to clean, easy to set up, and even easier to have a good time. Make sure to add this to your list of holiday pickups as a gift! The starter kit is a great value for multiple people to play, and that’s one way to start your gift opening day!

And you can find my initial overview of Recoil here.

The Walking Dead Abraham’s M16 Zombie Blaster

The Walking Dead Abraham’s M16 Zombie Blaster Clip-fed dart blaster

Basics:
  • Includes: Blaster x 1, 12 Long Distance darts, 8 round magazine
  • Blasts Darts up to 72′
  • Carrying handle and extended stock
  • MSRP: $32.00 – Ages 6+ 

Abraham! A character from “The Walking Dead” but not quite the character you might be thinking of. There’s the Survivor played by Michael Cudlitz on the hugely popular TV show, and then the character on the hugely popular longrunning “The Walking Dead” comic. This blaster references the latter. Here’s a look at them both (images used from The Walking Dead wiki:    

As played by Michael Cudlitz

The Buzz Bee blasters in general really stepped up in the last year. Revealed at New York Toy Fair last year, the new “The Walking Dead” was a real surprise to me in terms of licensed blasters to any degree. Up to this point, the only licensed weaponry was from Thinkgeek (non-projectile, non-foam) or a pretty poor performing Daryl crossbow that shot large foam darts.

BUT WAIT NO MORE.

These “Walking Dead” blasters are not only in a $30 and less price range, but they also are marketed at hitting 72′. Given the rising price of blasters, this adds some much needed relief for comic fans, collectors, and blaster enthusiasts.

Let’s talk colors.

Once again, the blasters draw inspiration from “The Walking Dead” comic book universe, in packaging and font, so if you’re a fan of just the AMC show the aesthetics might seem different to you. Also, Daryl wasn’t originally a character in the comic book, so no crossbow (yet…?)

The colors are a vibrant yellow/red/white, which is common to keeping cosplay enthusiasts and players from being identified as using anything dangerous. It’s not exactly some of the first colors you think of with a black and white comic or the zombie apocalypse but I like them and think they work in the space of making easily identifiable toys. (Yes, Toys! Remember, these are toys.)

The blasters are also a bit on the larger side, some folks may say this has a lot of empty space in the shells. Personally, I like the dimensions of the Abraham blaster, as it feels the most comfortable of the bunch to me, even without the adjustable stock. The mag release button is in an intuitive location, and resistant enough that I won’t accidentally hit the release at some point and dump my ammo. The priming slide/carry handle is a familiar motion for me from past blasters, so it’s not a pain to use, and the handle actually helps keep my hand from sliding off for some reason, such as dirt, sweat, or rain. I haven’t had a horrible jamming problem at all, whether that’s to the design or the fact I use fresh darts regularly is anyone’s guess. But finding a comfortable hand position on the blaster is definitely not an issue, the only real problem for me is carrying enough magazines to keep myself blasting 🙂

The carrying handle did come in handy to use while running, oddly enough. It’s one of those neat touches to a blaster that while it doesn’t affect performance, it adds to the feel and look of it to a huge degree. Otherwise, the blaster’s length isn’t super problematic in close quarters either, and aiming at targets wasn’t obstructed (as you can see in the video). The Buzz Bee darts need some further testing, but I like where they’re going so far.

In all, I feel it’s a really solidly built toy. The cost is right, and the biggest boon for parents is the magazines and darts will work with Nerf branded toys. Through some alchemic reaction the Buzz Bee and Nerf mags and darts are cross-compatible from what I’ve seen so far, so having to reinvest in a new ammo type or mag type (while preferred) is not a necessity. Keep in mind that stock blasters are built for their own proprietary accessories, and while they work together it may not provide full range and may lead to jamming some of the time.

Whew! So is this on your to-buy list? Will you use it for a costume? I have more reviews on the way, if you have any questions make sure to comment below! The blaster is available now, at a suggested retail price of $32. Fight the dead, but fear the living!

Edit: Sample provided by Buzz Bee toys, opinions remain my own.

SPOILER:

RIP Abraham, in both comic and tv show universes.