Review: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Night Vision Goggles

"Looks like you have a big penis on your head"-girlfriend

Part of the fun of apartment warfare is all the crazy role play of pretending you're in an action movie or video game. Wanting to be all covert ops Sam Fisher style, and to compliment the Nerf N-Strike Spectre REV-5, one always needs a pair of night vision goggles. Of course, REAL night vision goggles are uber expensive and unless you genuinely ARE military, will have you labeled a pervert:) Sooo... I picked up a pair of these instead off ebay for cheap: A pair of toy night vision goggles that came with last year's massive hit, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Prestige Edition. Can you really see in the dark? Whooo...

These COD MW2 Night Vision goggles were made for Activision to accompany the Prestige edition of the game by Jakks Pacific, the toy manufacturer who are also responsible for the Eyeclops range of kids night vision gear. In turn, it uses the same technology (yup, "real life night vision!") as the Eyeclops, only with a different mold that looks less like a bug eyed insect with a cyst on its forehead, and more like.. well a big cylindrical lense; Somewhat phallic as pointed out by my other half:) I actually purchased the Eyeclops night vision goggles when they came out a few years ago, and promptly returned them within a day because to be honest, they were kinda crap.

Eyeclops Night vision. Not the best.

Although they genuinely DO work in the night, the Eyeclops' screen is only in one eye, and also about the size of a postage stamp. It's very small and difficult to make out and being only in one eye means your depth perception is kind of screwed up. You might be able to make things out in the dark, but you won't know how far away you are from them. I would almost bet money that you're going to end up in a crumpled heap on the ground after tripping over your feet, or smashing into a tree. True story.

In the end though, I wasn't actually caring about the performance of these googles; (hence me opting to buy them again!) and was even looking for second hand broken ones that might be a lil' cheaper. It was more for the overall "look" of it all, and while the Eyeclops model looked more like what Sam Fisher dons in the Splinter Cell games, I sort of liked the look of the COD MW2 ones better.

Chucking in 5 AA batteries, I admit I was therefore PLEASANTLY SURPRISED that they had definitely improved the night vision mechanism considerably from the Eyeclops. Firstly, the screen is MUCH bigger and clearer, and is not limited to one eye. You're basically looking at it through both eyes which is a massive improvement. There are also improved focusing features for clarity so you can improve the vision to suit your eyes.

The goggles come with a switch to swap between white/grey night vision and the more familiar green tint that you see in movies. I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with clarity but is more for show, but green looks cooler:)

One thing the Eyeclops did have over it was a small low-tech "window" you could open and therefore see out normally in case you were smashing through trees and walls all the time; the COD MW2 doesn't have this (mainly because the night vision screen uses both eyes, not just one). Depth perception is still a bit of a doozy and has you walking into things and waving your arms around furiously instead of aiming your blaster.

For looks, they're awesome and they work a LOT better than I thought they would. That being said, they're still a toy and probably should spent most of the time on your forehead if you're really planning on using your Spectre in any blaster capacity:)

The goggles come with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition, which is still available at some stores and on ebay but pretty exi for around 300 dollars AUS and above. Ebay sellers do sell the goggles seperately (normally second hand) but they still seem to get snapped up a lot for between 60-200AUS depending on the day. If you can get them for cheap, they're kinda fun, but understand they ARE a toy and you're pretty much just getting them to roleplay than to...see chicks changing their clothes. :P

Usability: 6.5/10
Out of the box performance: 7/10
Cool factor: 8/10
Price point: 5/10