Zap Zone
42130 Ford Rd.
Canton, MI 48187
(313) 844-7746

Lobby

The lobby is decent. It looks nice, although not as fancy as some of the others. The video game selection is good, with the stock selection of games: Racing, fighting, shooting, misc., and an air hockey table. There was plenty of seating in the lobby. The party room was nice in that it was isolated from the main lobby by a mostly unused hallway. However, it was not decorated nicely like the other places. Also, the bathroom doesn't seem to be well maintained.

 

Briefing

There isn't much to say about the briefing room. My only comment on the equipment room is that the equipment racks seem a bit crowded, and are a little difficult to get at in a full game.

 

Maze

The maze is very well designed. It as not as big as some of the others, but it takes advantage of the space very well. It is a single story maze with ramps and elevated areas that provide good sniping positions. The sniping positions are very well balanced with mirrors on the ceiling, to give the player below an even chance. The maze may not be as big and fancy as the others, but it is probably the best designed and well balanced. The only complaint with the maze is that twice, al loose nail has ripped a friend's shirt. One addition point about the maze is that they rearrange it from time to time. This can for people who get bored with the same maze easily. As they change the maze, I will change this review to reflect the current maze.

 

Afterthoughts

I have a few comments on the game. First the rules (no running, no physical contact, no covering sensors, etc.) are never enforced. Sometimes a ref may say something, but no action is ever taken. As a result, Zap Zone does seem to draw a more unruly crowd than other places. My other comment is on the equipment. The equipment has a lot of functionality problems. A variety of problems such as dying batteries, non-functioning sensors, no visible laser, malfunctioning heat sensor, and quiet or no sound from the pack, have persisted since I started playing there. This really hurts the game when you need to turn your focus from the playing to the equipment.

 

Score Sheets

Upon returning to the lobby to pick up my score card, I was quite pleased with it. It was basically laid out identically to Laser Force. It was well laid out and easy to compare and analyze scores and information. The score sheets gave game type, score, % accuracy, and finishing position in the game, as well as the hit counts. The hit counts were listed as grand total by sensor, and by player by sensor, with players grouped into teams. The other nice feature was that it gave you everybody’s scores, so that you know whether you were 5 points or 5000 points out of first place. The graphical layout was a little nicer than Laser Force's, but didn't have their multicolor design.

 

Overall Experience

I would say that the experience at Zap Zone is good. The maze is pretty fun. The only thing that keeps Zap Zone from getting an excellent is the functionality problem. If you manage to get a good pack, the experience is excellent. However, it is unlikely to get a pack that doesn't have at least some form of hindering problem. I think they really need to invest in some new equipment and step up rule enforcement a notch. If they do so, I can upgrade their rating to excellent. I will continue to visit Zap Zone. However, most of my time will probably be spent elsewhere.

Note: The review given here is completely impartial. Information contained in it was compiled mostly from the experiences of our small 4 person group, with various input from several other people we met playing there. The experiences we descibe here are based on over 40 games played by each of us.

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