PC gamers- it's your season again. Most of the best upcoming and recent titles are either exclusively on the PC right now (SimCity 5) or are much better played with a mouse and keyboard (Bioshock Infinite, which is a bit wonky and graphically outdated on consoles but sharp and fun on the computer). We've got a pair of PC gaming accessories ready to help you make the best use of your rig. After all, you've spent some money on a video card and plenty of RAM- now it's time to level up your peripherals.
If there was a prize for longest product names, this product might very well capture first place. If there was an award for minor English typos on an official website, the company might also deserve some attention. The… wait for it… A4Tech Bloody Multi-Core Gun3 Gaming Mouse V5 is part of a line of mice from this Taiwenese manufacturer hoping to knock down Razer and other manufacturers who focus on the high-end gaming market. A4Tech's marketing might not grab you, but will the hardware?
If your answer to their question: "Who Die First?" is "Anyone But I", then you're part of the target audience. We admired the feature list on the box, which includes: "Holeless Engine Keep Dust Away". Also, this is a mouse with a bloody handprint that glows red and an armored appearance, so you know that you're dealing with serious gear.
Jests aside, this is actually a pretty interesting, and quite effective, gaming mouse. There are a few other models- the more rounded V2 and V3 and the bigger, meaner brother the V7- but the V5 shares most of the feature set. Like most decent gaming mice, it's a wired optical mouse- wireless would add lag- with adjustable DPI ranging from 200 to 3200. They claim that it's the "most accurate shooting mice with auto recoil suppression and concentrated trajectory, which offers the unprecedented high headshot rate. It also offers both software and hardware dual trajectory adjustments".
And indeed, somewhat crazily, you're able to adjust the "trajectory"- sort of an aim corrector- that helps stabilize against those annoying weapons that attempt to be realistic. Instead of your machine gun recoiling, the mouse can actually override this, correcting for it automatically. It sounds pretty cool, though it takes quite a bit of tweaking and the software is a bit buggy and poorly explained. Also, one big caveat that isn't disclosed obviously on their website: these extra functions require you to spend an extra $20! That's right: the software for the mouse actually only includes a "trial edition". If you buy the non-refundable add-on, you can enable an auto-strafe mode with auto recoil suppression, thus annoying any other gamers out there with your too-good-to-be-true aim and movement.
The other primary feature of note is the multi-core system. Despite the confusing name, this isn't a system of modifiable weights, like the MadCatz R.A.T. mice that we've reviewed where you can change the heft of the device. Instead, the "cores" change how the mouse responds, which isn't that interesting- a basic mode for casual users and another mode that allows you to switch between single fire/two-shot burst/three-shot bursts, and a third that enables the ultra special modes (if you've paid for them). There aren't nearly as many buttons as some others that we've seen- MMO players should look more towards the Cyborg line and others, as the Bloody mice are more for twitch gaming. The mouse surface and feet are decent, and the roller as well, though we didn't love the placement of the side buttons. That holeless optical engine actually does keep dust away, a constant irritant with our other mice. The main left and right buttons are smooth and fast and altogether impressive. Altogether, this mouse is quite the package- decent hardware and some highly questionable software, the first mouse we've seen where you need to pay to unlock features but with some surprisingly powerful features indeed.
Stop at nothing to win? This mouse might very well be for you- a powerful new weapon in the gaming arms war. $45 or so, available online.