Customer Reviews

Lazertag System 2PK

5 star:		(131)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This is an excellent product that is a lot of fun for many ages. Thanks to this unit we have an active club going strong. Forgive the long review, but this unit deserves it in my mind.


Pros
Fun - It is a blast, especially in groups. This really is for adults as well as kids, and if you get a group of people together to do this, you will have a blast. There are many videos of people playing with this and previous generations on Youtube. Search 'Phoenix LTX', 'Tagfest', 'Lazer Tag Team Ops', and you'll probably find a lot.

Range - These taggers (guns) have a range of about 350-400 feet, maybe further (maybe a bit less in bright sun).

Features - These taggers have several features to enhance the playability. a) 10 or 25 tags - you can set a switch to set your 'life' at 10 or 25 tags. This can help balance some scenarios where differences in numbers or age/experience might make things unfair. b) Indoor/outdoor mode - this helps reduce the sensitivity of the receivers - reduces splash damage you get while playing inside. The IR signal can reflect off walls and make it pretty easy to take hits, even around corners and off your clothing. c) Accessory connectors for more options (see below) d) Realistic reload - you drop a fake 'clip' out of the bottom of the grip, much like an ammo clip. e) realistic recoil - there is a hammer that lights up and pops out a little with each shot, and also a vibration with each shot/hit that add to the experience.

Accessories - There is already a shotgun attachment developed, as well as a green dot site. These slide on to connectors on the tagger to give additional capabilities. There are also rumors of more weapon attachments in the pipeline. There was also a video game accessory to let you play 1 player vs. the computer on a TV, but it was pretty useless, and you probably won't see that any more. If you play with the older LTTO style taggers, you can actually join games hosted by the older taggers.

Exercise - Depending on your gameplay style, you can get as much exercise out of it as you want. The range on these guns is hundreds of feet (a bit less in full sunlight), so you can easily get winded running around inside the playable area.

Eductional - I know - it's a shooter game... but it teaches basic strategy, tactics, and teamwork, and even the younger kids are starting to pick up some of these concepts.

Durability/Battery life (cost of ownership) - The taggers (guns) are very rugged - if you compare the cost of the system with a commercial lazer tag rental facility- you will make your money back in a couple of sessions of playing, and these taggers last a long time. We are still using all of the taggers we bought over the year, though some of them are developing glitches. Battery life is also very good - even with rechargeables (which seem to be a little less effective, but much cheaper in the long run), the batteries will last several sessions of playing.

Online Communities - Very active online community (there's several newsgroups including an active one on Yahoo, search for 'Lazer Tag Team Ops'). The user community and the available technical information on the web opens the door for tech-minded to tear them down and 'mod' them to give them additional features. You may have to solder some stuff, clip some wires, or similar, but some of this is pretty cool. Even me, the solder-novice - has gotten into this a little bit with a few minor mods.

Interaction with others - You can play team-based games of 2 teams. The largest game we had was 36 players at once and it was a bit chaotic, but fun.

Cons -


Can't change the brightness of the LEDs - these are EXTREMELY bright while playing at night, and not only can this effect your aiming, but it gives away your position. We find 2 layers of scotch tape colored with black sharpie work well to dim it down a bit.

Joining hosted games is painful - Mostly a complaint about interacting with older taggers - joining LTTO hosted games is clunky at best.

Lack of Attachments - This is not a failing in the unit, but this particular packaging. This set is a re-offering of the original LTX, which came out last year, but this set has been rebranded under the Nerf brand. Unlike last year's model, this set is sold without the green dot sight and 'shot blast' attachment (at a lower price, granted). I believe it's their intention to sell the attachments separately, but they are not on shelves yet. In this economy, that may not happen if the interest in the line doesn't improve. That would be a complete shame, since this is one of the coolest 'toys' I've ever played with.

My 12 yr old son loved playing Lazer Tag at our local Lazer tag center for his birthday. His friends have this system (last year's model)and because it comes with two taggers, someone would get left out. So, I got this and now they have 2 on 2 battles outside and even in the house. This system is awesome! Very accurate.

My son loves these guns and they are fairly durable. He has played indoors and out, both are ideal for playing. My chief complaint is that each gun takes 6 AA batteries. His first set of Energizers lasted about 2 days. He was on holiday vacation and played quite a bit. His second set of batteries lasted approximately 5 days. I would highly recommend rechargeable batteries, you'll get your money's worth with these guns in about 2 weeks time.

After reading all the reviews I was very excited to get the guns in the mail and try them out. The guns were great fun indoors, but outside they were useless. The other reviews talked about their 300ft range, but I had on average about 20 feet of range. They did not work at night at all. The other reviews out there are a bit old, and maybe they changed their designs. Indoors, in close range they were great fun, but don't expect to do anything more than that.

I bought this toy for my kids, one is 17 and the other is 12, and they love it. They play with it often. They had friends over last night and they were playing it in the house (there is a switch that lets you choose indoor and outdoor), then they carried it outside. They had kids from 19 all the way down to 12 playing, and they all said how cool the lazer tag is! I think we are going to buy another set so that they can play in groups! One thing the kids really like is that you don't need to wear a vest! This was definitly one of the best gifts I've bought lately. It gets the kids up, out and moving, and they have a blast!!

I was sad to see these out of stock and being sold for double and triple the price. It's great to see them back in stock and for under $60.00. The suggested retail price is 49.99. Once the repricing engines kick in, expect to see more lower priced options.

Pros:
1. Durable
2. Long lasting battery life
3. Works with shotgun versions selling for $399 or more.
4. Team play

Cons:
1. No shotgun attachments forsale
2. Vultures selling for more then suggested retail price

These guns are a ton of fun. We purchased 4 so we could play with our 2 boys. They work very well indoors, but not so well outdoors. I would have given them five stars all the way accross but one of the guns has worked poorly since it was out of the box. Would have returned but it's a pain to return and exchange via amazon. Wish I would have purchased at a regular store, would have exchanged the one that didn't work.

If you are trying to decide whether to buy the Pheonix LTX vs. the discontinued LTTO taggers, here is what you should know.

Pheonix Advantages:
- More durable: There is no LCD screen or goggles to break. I have seen the recoil light and rumble action on the LTX stop functioning, but honestly, that really doesn't affect the quality of play much.
- More comfortable: The LTTO grip is too small for an adult and the position of the shield button results in accidental activiations in the heat of play. Reloading is also more comfortable and easier with the LTX.
- Simpler and more intuitive to use. The controls for the LTTO are really too complicated for casual players and younger players.
- Easier to aim: The iron cite on the LTX is larger and better positioned on the top, like a normal gun. Also, I noticed that aim does not have to be as accurate with the LTX in order to score a hit. With the LTTO, an OEM or after-market green/red dot sight is valuable for lining up long shots. The sight for the LTX is almost unnecessary.
- The shotgun attachment is cool. LTX has it. LTTO does not.

LTTO Advantages:
- The mute button. The LTX sounds are cool, but their noise could be annoying in certain situations.
- More game options. This is a trade-off because there is something to be said for simplicity.
- No bright lights to register hits or keep track of ammo/life. This is useful for stealth play.
- The goggles look cool, but they are kind of annoying to wear.
- Automatic fire and overheating if you use it too much. LTTO has it. LTX does not. I think this is a cool feature, but some players get annoyed about the overheating.

Overall, I recommend the newer LTX taggers, but I can see some reasons why more advanced players might want the older LTTO taggers.


*** A Special Note about Kids and War Toys ***
Some parents of young kids might find the idea of their kids blasting each other with lazer taggers to be morally questionable. Personally, I found lazer tag to be a great ANTI-war toy. At the end of an exhilarating game, ask your child how many times they got shot. Usually dozens is the answer. Then ask them what that would mean if they were fighting with real guns. They will quickly reach the conclusion about how insane it is to take use of real guns lightly.

We ordered this Lazergtag System for our 2 grandsons, age 7 & 8 because some boys at the park had a similar system and let them play with them. We took a chance because this one was much less expensive than many we looked at on the internet. Received them very quickly and was packed well. The only thing to know in advance is that each gun requires 6 AA batteries. Luckily, we had them because of course the boys wanted to play right away. Rechargeables are your best bet because of the quantity (12) required. They love playing with them. Would recommend as a good $50 purchase.

I have purchased 4 sets of the laser tag system and they are just plain and simple fun.
Players ranging from age 5 to 50 have enjoyed this toys. They seems acurate and reliable. Battery issue are not a bad a some of the earlier post, but they do take 6 aa batteries. If you can get these taggers under $60.00 then pick them up. The price change almost daily, and you can easily get all your money back on EBay.