M.L. Lewis
There’s a zombie uprising happening right now in Ohio, but it’s not what you think. In March, Midwest Shooting Center held their grand opening by showcasing the latest in firearms technology, called Live Fire Gaming. It is an interactive shooting experience where players shoot live firearms at a moving target in various scenarios. Today, I finally got to see what all the rage was about. I arrived at Midwest Shooting Center amazed by its huge size! The store is a beautifully clean establishment with a wide range of firearm accessories, supplies, targets, and apparel. There was even a small selection aimed at knife enthusiasts. Upon arrival, I was nervous about a long wait because the parking lot was packed. This thankfully was not an issue. Despite a large number of people present the whole process of getting set up went by fairly quick.
The first thing they had me do was sign an e-waiver. Then, they moved us to the range part of the store where there was even more gun accessories and targets. The lines moved very fast and when I reached the counter I learned there were two versions of the zombie game available. There was Zombie Attack 1 which had 46 targets and Zombie Attack 2 which had 26 targets. To create a more realistic experience I was given a special pair of Bluetooth headphones that provided music and special sound effects such as zombie moans to enhance the experience. To rent the Live Fire lane it costs $20 for the first hour and $10 for each additional hour. Each game costs $10 a person to play. Ammo was $11 for a bag of fifty bullets. I brought my own gun, but if I didn’t they had a wide selection available for a rental fee starting at $20. To get set up it took roughly twenty minutes, and most of that was walking through the well-organized system they had in place to ensure safety and maximize gameplay.
Once inside the range, there were multiple employees available if you have any questions or issues regarding the system. I played both versions of the game and found them both pretty interesting. Zombie Attack 1 took place inside a home and eventually led you outdoors. This game was a much slower pace one that made it great for beginners. Zombie Attack 2 was a much faster-paced game and it took place in an old rusty warehouse with zombies and zombie-dogs. Shooting the zombies wasn’t easy since they jerked around and gradually increased in speed over the course of the game.
My official score at the end of the day was six zombies and no dogs. The games were a lot of fun and it really opens your eyes at how good of a shot you think you are. I do want to give the staff a special thanks for being extremely nice and accommodating to me. They don’t make you feel like a burden or dumb for asking them so many questions. They are also a very enthusiastic and friendly bunch of people.
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