Oakdale laser tag hits mark with kids

OAKDALE -- As the unsuspecting residents of Oakdale went about their Saturday afternoon business, a gunbattle broke out between two squads of warriors.

The setting: a village tucked between an almond orchard and a new subdivision. The fighters: preteen boys armed with Uzi-style weapons. Their goal: a classic death match. Most kills wins.

No, the cowboy capital of the world hasn't been overrun by a platoon of child soldiers. The warfare raged in an empty field near the corner of Branding Iron and Greger streets, where outdoor laser tag company SpecOps Live Play has set up shop.

SpecOps leases a few acres of undeveloped parkland from the city. The City Council approved the one-year lease in November. SpecOps pays the city $20 for every day it uses the land and will give the city 5 percent of its gross revenue. A two-hour birthday party with 10 guns costs $250. The agreement could generate $13,065 for the city over the course of a year, said Parks and Recreation Director Cheryl Bolin in November.

On Saturday, SpecOps was generating a lot of breathless yelling and electronic gunfire. At the second of two birthday parties SpecOps held that day, a group of about 10 boys battled inside a plywood village built to simulate urban combat. "Derek, I killed your dad!" cried one pint-sized commando after he felled a much older competitor.

SpecOps co-founder Todd Robinson calls his game "laser tag on steroids."

A squeeze of the gun's trigger emits a blast of bullet-like sound. Guns zap opponents with an infrared beam. Players wear sensors that blink red when they're hit and stay red when they're dead. Sound effects enhance the experience. When you die, your gun lets out a death scream.

For older competitors, Spec-Ops provides complex scenarios meant to make players feel like they're in a video game, Robinson said.

With younger players, Robinson said, he tries to make the games about teamwork and communication, not just shooting. At first, young players are cautious, peeping around corners because they're afraid to get shot, he said. By the second or third game, they've shaken off their fear and race around the village like gleeful miniature Marines.

Among them Saturday was 8-year-old Brodie Gregg. Don't let his freckle-splashed face, silky blond locks and sub-5-foot height fool you. He was the smallest but most ferocious player on the field, taking down three opponents during a game called "encounter assault." (Smaller stature is an advantage on the Spec-Ops field, said 4-foot-6 Cody DeMiguel. Being short allows soldiers to operate with maximum stealth.)

Brodie declared the game fun. Why? "Because you get to hide behind stuff and you get to shoot and you never die, unless you're eliminated," he said.

Bee staff writer Leslie Albrecht can be reached at lalbrecht@modbee.com or 578-2378.