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I haven't posted much here lately, but things have been happening.

TagFest came and went, and with it the first public hands-on(Well, second. That one was under an informal non-disclosure agreement, though, so not exactly public.) with the shiny new LTAR.

While there, we got to play with the first 12 production-model LTARs off the production line. It was a blast.

While others have already posted their thoughts on this tagger before, I'd like to put mine out there as another set of datapoints.

This tagger looks, and feels, great. It doesn't look like any of the previous taggers in the LTTO or LTX lines, and I think this is a good thing. It's got a very Sci-Fi feel to it, with a lot of smooth curves and sharp angles, as well as a lot of "engraved" patterns over the entire thing.

The smooth curves help with the ergonomics, making this a very comfortable tagger. Compared to the Phoenix LTX, the previous tagger from Hasbro/Shoot The Moon, it has a very balanced weight to it, not front-heavy like the Phoenix(Without the shotblast) was. Aiming comes almost naturally, and the iron sights are very good for lining up the more difficult shots.

The LTAR incorporates features from all the previous taggers, while stripping it down to the bare minimums needed to function, and still manages to pack in a few new ones. There are only two switches(Power, and indoor/outdoor) and three buttons(The trigger, shields, and reload) on this tagger, similar to the LTX, only with a standard "on/off" power switch, rather than the four-position switch on the LTX. There is no display on this tagger, but I've not found this to detract from the gameplay. More on that later.

The limited number of buttons make this tagger very simple to explain, but they hide a surprising number of feature. When you first turn the tagger on, you get a power-on sound quite similar to the Deluxe's power-on sound, and then nothing. If you pull the trigger at this point, you get the 10-second countdown and then you're in a game.

However, the LTAR inherits the "Team-Tag" options from the LTX. Pressing the reload button before pulling the trigger will cycle you through the teams(With the lady very seductively saying "Team Three", as was the topic of much joking at TagFest), with the trigger locking in your choice and starting the countdown. You can also press the Shields button to toggle between 10 health and 15 seconds of shield, or 25 health and 30 seconds of shield(I believe those numbers are correct. I know the health is, not so much the shields.), with a single beep signifying 10/15 and three beeps meaning 25/30.

Once you're in the game, you have a 10-round clip, with a semi-automatic weapon and a manual reload. It likely won't be long before you realize that they brought back Overheat, which happens when you fire too many rounds in a given period of time, in this case from firing all ten rounds as fast as the tagger will let you.

You'll also likely notice that the IFF beacons are back in full force, with lock-ons and proximity warnings, and something new for the LTARs. When you're aiming at an LTAR with it's shields up, your tagger will make a different sound in place of the typical lock-on sound. Unfortunately, with this addition, compatibility with the older taggers' beacons is lost, and the LTAR will not process the old beacons, nor will the older taggers process the new beacons. The LTAR will process and produce old-style beacons if it joins an LTTO-hosted game, however, so compatibility is not completely lost.

Now, I mentioned new features earlier. I also mentioned having a 10-round clip and a semi-automatic weapon. Well guess what, that's not all this tagger can do! If you hold down the reload lever/button, you'll get a different, longer, reload sound. This means you just switched weapons. You now have a 15-round clip, and a fully-automatic weapon. Still a manual reload, and overheat is still in play, also coming into effect at 10 rounds fired as fast as you can. Holding the reload lever again switches you back to semi-auto and the 10-round clip. I, personally, prefer to switch it to the automatic mode and use it like I would the semi-auto mode, just for the 5 extra rounds in the clip.

During the course of your game, you'll see that the LTAR also inherits the light-up sensor dome from the TMB and LTX, lighting up when you get hit. This is a wonderful feature, and has been made even more useful in this tagger. It's now used during hosting to show when a tagger has successfully joined, when it has received the countdown, and after debriefing a hosted game to show who won.

And speaking of hosted games, yes, the LTAR can join any LTTO-hosted games. The procedure is a bit different, though. Once you have your tagger hosting the game, you turn on the LTAR, select the team you want to join with the reload lever, then press and hold the reload lever on the LTAR until the dome lights up solid. This change was made to allow for changes in the way LTAR-hosted games will work, but that will come in another post, once we actually have a way to run LTAR-hosted games.

I said earlier that this tagger lacks a display. It's true. Those dome LEDs are the only visible feedback on this tagger. Many people were disappointed by this. Having played several games with the tagger, however, the only kind of display I think I would really use during play is a vague health display. The audio cues on this tagger are enough to tell you what you need to keep playing, and more than loud enough for you to hear. These taggers are quite loud, and a few of the sounds are quite piercing. If you're worried about the lack of a display, find a friend that already has an LTAR and try a few games with it. I'm fairly confident that you'll find that you don't need one.

Now, the reason they went without a display of any sort on this tagger... This tagger was designed to be attached to an iPod or iPhone. Included in the box is a cradle(More of an impact-resistant lockbox) that snaps on in place of the iron sights, and uses an audio cable hidden underneath the iron sights to connect the iThing to the LTAR's electronics. This cradle is remarkably well-designed(Stories were told of one of the workers being confident enough in it to put his phone in it and chuck it down the parking lot), with the exception that it's not designed to be removed. In fact, it says in the instruction that it's designed NOT to be removable. There was a little tab added to the latch that might make it possible to remove it, if you're lucky enough not to tear it off first. But I digress.

When you hook up your iThing and load up the free app available on the App Store, you can use the iThing to control the tagger and gain a few extra features. You can navigate menus on the iThing either with the touchscreen, or with the buttons on the tagger(Using shields and reload to cycle through options, and the trigger to select them). The App includes a single-player mode, where you can fight against augmented reality AI drones, and earn in-game cash for upgraded weaponry. In the multiplayer mode, you can use special attacks against other players with iThings, the only one of which currently available is the "Talus Airstrike", which launches an AR drone at the targeted player, which they have to fight off before you finish them off.

In it's current state, these drone attacks are quite overpowered. There's a video around somewhere with Brian(One of the programmers for the LTAR) walking you through the App, and then launching an airstrike at me. I then spend the next four minutes trying to fight the darn thing off, most of which is cut out of the video, during which time Brian could have been shooting at me the entire time. There is no limit on the damage the drone can do, and it's fast and small.

That said, the App is still in Beta, and much could change there, for better or worse.

Overall, this is a very solid tagger, and has a lot of potential. My guess is that the electronics for the next few taggers in the line(Assuming this one does well enough to get continued) will change very little, with only the shape of the blaster and the sounds changing noticeably. The iPhone/iPod connection allows for almost limitless modification, assuming the App eventually allows for it. If it doesn't, I'm sure a hobbyist will come along and turn the tables on what can be done with it.

Not that I have plans for that, or anything.(Wink, wink.)

These taggers are already hitting shelves at Target, and are planned to be carried at Toys 'R Us and Walmart, as well.


For pictures of the LTAR to go with this post, see HERE.