Invictus, At Last

Invictus. The definition of the word is “unconquerable or undefeated”, but for me Invictus means something else. Invictus is the iCOMBAT traditional style laser tag system that I first tried at the company headquarters in Wisconsin and that I have wanted to play ever since, but somehow I had never had an opportunity to experience this system in an arena until now.

A couple of weeks ago Logan asked me about this at Armageddon and our friend Travis had sent me a photo after playing at a site called Fourth Dimension Fun Center in Frederick, MD. He asked me what system this was and I recognized it immediately.

Needless to say, Fourth Dimension was at the top of my list of laser tag sites to visit when I found myself in Maryland last week. I can’t believe it took this long, but at last I have finally played Invictus “out in the wild”.

I must say, I really loved my game experience here! Invictus is an untethered phaser paired with a tactical-style sensor vest and when you fire the phaser it is booming as the shot resonates with vibration. This just feels sturdy and powerful to me.

Staff member Bryson walked me through the things I needed to know, starting with the trigger and the black button near the front of the phaser. He explained the specialist classes including Commando that makes the phaser fire fully automatic and the Titan with the grenade feature. He noted that since we were playing a 1v1 game that the medic class would not apply. He also showed me the flashlight and shield features before we entered the arena and I got to try things out.

Honestly, that game was simply about experimenting with the gear as most of his instructions left my head as soon as we started playing. The phaser would countdown and I'd hear "go, go, go"...then I would go, go, go! I tapped the different special features just to see what would happen, but in a 1v1 I only got a small taste of what the game could be. What I can mostly speak to is how the gear felt as the game was going on and it definitely felt like something I want to play more! I explored the totality of the arena, spending a good amount of time targeting from the upper levels, which provided the most comprehensive view of the field.

And I enjoyed checking out the creative aspects of the arena as well.

This was a memorable first game and Bryson gave me props for taking the lead all the way through the first half. He did take me down once he saw that I was holding my own, but that challenge is what makes the game exciting, so I thank him for bringing his best to the game.

By the end of my visit to Fourth Dimension I was really wishing I had more time to spend there. It was a great introduction to a system that I hope to play a lot more in the future. However, for now I’ll just be glad that I got the chance to play Invictus, at last!