Nerf with laser but without arrows? Is that fun?
19.11.2018
Translation: machine translated
Nerf is known for shooting foam darts. However, two of their new blasters have swapped the cartridges for infrared lasers. Are they any good?
Nerf are taking a bold step with their new "Laser Ops" series. They are leaving out the central object of the previous blasters. The arrows. Instead of physical cartridges, the "Laser Ops" blasters shoot optical infrared signals. I had the opportunity to try them out and find out whether Nerf is taking a step forwards or whether it's backfiring.
Nerf has launched two new blasters in the "Laser Ops" series. One is the handy Alphapoint in the size of a pistol and the other is the rapid-fire blaster Deltaburst in rifle format.
Alphapoint
The Nerf Laser Ops Alphapoint is the smaller of the two blasters, but still weighs an impressive 750 grams including the four AA batteries. The blaster pistol feels good in my hand. However, Nerf states that even eight-year-olds can play with it. However, I doubt whether they can hold the blaster equally well with their smaller hands. The Alphapoint has an automatic single shot function. When you pull the trigger, the blaster fires a single shot. You only have to reload after ten shots. To do this, press the reload button at the bottom of the pistol grip and you are ready to fire again.
Deltaburst
The Nerf Laser Ops Deltaburst is not only larger than the Alphapoint, but also correspondingly heavier. Including the six AA batteries, the Deltaburst weighs a whopping 1,800 grams. This blaster needs the two additional batteries for its integrated LCD screen and rapid-fire function. When you pull the trigger on the Deltaburst, this rifle fires three shots in succession. You also have to refill the virtual 18-round magazine by pressing the reload button on the barrel.
The target is the weapon, not the person
If you play together with others, you have two different modes to choose from. Firstly, you can play all against all. The winner is the last person with life points left on their blaster. In the other game variant, one team competes against the other. There is a red team and a blue team. The aim is to eliminate the opposing team's blasters and keep as many of your own team's blasters alive.
In both game modes, weapons fight against weapons and not people against people. The aim is not to hit your opponent, but their blaster. More precisely, the red area at the top of the blaster. You only score a point if you hit this area.
Augmented reality? Now it's getting interesting
If you don't have any teammates at hand, you can also have fun as a single player with your smartphone. Nerf has developed an augmented reality app that allows you to shoot down spaceships in your living room. The single-player mode starts off pretty simply. Spaceships appear here and there, which can be destroyed with just a single shot. However, the longer you play, the tougher the opponents become. Their ships become more robust, have more powerful weapons and appear on several sides at the same time. Over time, you will earn more and more experience points in the game. You can use these to virtually upgrade your blaster and unlock new parts in the game.
You can also use the app when playing with your friends. You can check the statistics and results of your battles in the app and call up the leaderboards. This can either be done centrally on a single smartphone or you can all use one phone and connect with each other in the app.
Conclusion
Nerf has broken new ground with their "Laser Ops" blasters. It's no longer about shooting other people with foam arrows, but about pitting the blasters against each other using infrared signals. Both the Alphapoint and the Deltaburst rely on batteries. I was unable to find out how long a set of AA batteries would last, as they never had to be replaced during my entire test.
A lot of time and passion has been invested in the accompanying app. It has a clear design, is stable and connects to the blasters via Bluetooth without any problems. Its integrated game modes are excitingly designed and offer additional opportunities to improve the blaster virtually.
I get paid to play with toys all day.
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