Laser Tag Massacre is a 2024 horror game developed by the indie game development team, LiminalRoad. The story revolves around a group of teenagers who decide to throw a party in an abandoned arcade building and enter the locked laser tag arena, unknowing of the fact that a homicidal psychopath is waiting for them in ambush like a lion waiting to pounce on a gazelle. The charming carelessness of youth, banter between friends, sparks flying and rejection, fun and bloodbath – Laser Tag Massacre has it all. We played the game and found it to be extremely nerve-wracking, like an 80s slasher movie. Although there’s no chainsaw whirring or you being chased by Leatherface, the intensity is very much the same.
Laser Tag Massacre could be described as the love baby of classic popcorn slasher flicks and early 2000s PS-1 style video games. Here’s our review of the Laser Tag Massacre.
A riveting Teen drama
Teenage stupidity that looks charming and reminds you of the good old times, meticulously written dialogues that are snarky, nasty, and sharp-edged, harmless humor, a brewing romance that is pulled off the stove, feelings of jealousy, masculine rage, a confused teenage feeling of the “entire world crumbling down just because you had a bad moment,” feelings of humiliation, intense fear of death, murderous rage of a psychopath, a cat and mouse chase, and the herculean efforts of an adrenaline-fueled man who was on the verge of meeting his maker – Laser Tag Massacre is more dramatic than a TV soap opera. The plot brings you laughter, feelings of rebellion, bittersweet moments of love and friendships, and heart-pounding moments of fear.
Laser Tag Massacre feels like a pulp fiction story that metamorphosed into a video game.
A party that turns bloody
The game’s story is essentially about a Halloween party, which is being thrown by the game’s characters in an abandoned arcade. The arcade was locked down many years ago as a result of a fire incident that engulfed the arcade and claimed the lives of three children. Only 2 out of 3 bodies were found, and the 3rd child, Helio Rocha, was presumed dead. Back to the present, our main characters decide to enter the laser tag arena; everyone’s having fun until a painful shriek breaks out. You follow the scream and witness the missing, half-burned kid, Helio Rocha, unleashing a barbaric death sentence on your friend in slasher style.
What happens next could be described as a maniacal killer chasing down a bunch of innocent kids. The game has a spiritual “Wrong Turn” movie-like vibe, where a harmless expedition turns into a bloodbath.
Stylistic gore that is movie quality
The grain-filled, gritty, and raw PS-1-styled graphics of Laser Tag Massacre add an old-school, immersive vibe to the gameplay. The blood-splashing, severed body parts being thrown away, slow-motion running shots, and puke-inducing, stomach-churning displays of gore in ‘Laser Tag Massacre’ are incredibly dramatic, flamboyant, and disturbing but fun to look at. A similar guilty pleasure of watching characters being chased by a killer in slasher movies can be strongly felt during the gory portions of gameplay. The pixelated blood spilling and slashing, mixed in with the suspenseful sounds, is an audiovisual treat for hardcore fans of gore. You should avoid this game if you don’t want to see violent displays of gore.
Campy moments that are unintenionally hilarious
Freezing and expressionless faces of characters, bobbing of heads with a perpetual creepy smile plastered on their faces, overtly dramatic and heroic moments with smoke coming from behind like shown in action movies, childish and goofy body moments being performed by teenagers, NPC characters throwing tantrums after being rejected entry to the Halloween party, Halloween costumes that look more goofy than scary, and a Michael Myers costume-wearing man staying silent throughout the party are some of the unintentionally funny moments in ‘Laser Tag Massacre.’. The screenplay is incredibly campy, over-the-top, and somewhat silly but delivers cheap thrills nonstop.
The climax lets you take a breather
You will get to avenge your friends’ death by inflicting fatal harm on the psychopath’s body after a nerve-wracking cat-and-mouse chase of life and death that involves you frantically running away from Helio Rocha, the killer on the loose. Just like at the end of Die Hard movies, you will emerge victorious like John McClane and walk out of a building. The climax lets you breathe in peace and thank your god for showing mercy. Overall, Laser Tag Massacre is an incredibly gory game, and the Terrifier movies are going to get some strong competition from this game in terms of gore.
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