Preview: Nerf N-Strike Rayven CS-18. Tacticool just got cooler.

You'd have to suggest the hottest blaster this year that just came out of nowhere is this upcoming Nerf Rayven N-Strike CS-18. Speculation has been thick and fast over the past few weeks since we posted links to blasted.de of the upcoming blaster; I can confirm on the whole our switched on readers were pretty accurate in their observations from a few blurry pics. It IS a rear vertical flywheel blaster but one that uses an 18 round clip to fire streamlines.

When the opportunity came for us to get our hands on one to test, I don't think anyone would have said no:) Regardless of whether you're a fan of flywheel blasters or not, we have to admit the Rayven is pretty damn cool.. tacticool even:P

(For the record this is our 666th post on UT.. whooooooooooo spooky!)

 The first thing you'll notice about the Rayven CS-18 is the new colour scheme, replacing the traditional gold N-Strike scheme with a sort of cross between a lime and olive green. It's got some design cues from the Stampede ECS but what most fans will point out is the Rayven essentially looks rather "Bullpup-esque" and appears to be made to look like a sub-machine gun.

The blaster uses a flywheel mechanism but unlike the revolving barrel of the Barricade RV-10, the Rayven is standard clip fed compatible. It can fit all of the standard sizes with clips and drums, but it comes with it's own special 18 round clip.

As rightfully pointed out by many of you, the Rayven CS-18 accommodates barrel extensions from other N-Strike blasters such as the Recon, Longstrike and Spectre which can come in handy if you are not a fan of the short muzzle.. just need somewhere to put your other hand:)

The Rayven CS-18 has two tactical rails- one on top of the blaster and one on the right hand side. I'm particularly a fan of the side one, which allows for a practical use for those mission kit lights.

The built in stock is a little short for my liking, but I got used to it after a while. The Rayven also has loop holes for shoulder straps, which I thought made sense given the design of the blaster. The styling also makes it pretty uncomfortable to dual wield- sure being semi automatic in theory you COULD, but I found the stock sort of gets in the way and doesn't allow for the greatest in mobility for those who like to use two blasters simultaneously. 

The blaster itself requires four AA batteries behind the black screw in door. No doubt this will be the first point of call for voltage modders:)

 Powering the blaster up requires the use of the small button located under the trigger, in similar fashion to the Vortex Nitron. Simply hold it in for the flywheels to power up to full speed. It doesn't however work without a clip inserted, nor if the jam door is open. Unlike the Nitron, the Rayven IS genuinely semi automatic- holding the trigger down will just leave you with that flywheel sound and not much else other than draining your batteries:)

The jam door is located at the rear of the Rayven CS-18 and uses a unique hinged mechanism to open rather than the traditional slide of other N-Strike blasters.

Clip release is found in a protected button found in the stock of the blaster. Interesting design choice; I'm sure they had their reasons rather than the standard release on the side of the blaster.

Now onto the clip. The Rayven CS-18 boasts Firefly technology- that is that it exposes bright light to the glow in the dark darts, therefore.. well allowing you to shoot.. in the dark. There was a lot of speculation on how this would work- as many of you know, the Firefly used an interesting "flash" mechanism that would light the dart up just before firing. 

The power switch on the clip. Once on, it just stays on. Note the "firefly" logo

Not so innovative with the Rayven; I admit I found the way the Rayven light up the darts to be a tad.. low tech. Essentially all that it is (from what I can tell so far anyway) is the Rayven's clip merely has a 3 AA battery powered torch that just turns on with a flick of the switch, thus shining a bright blue light through the clip and against the darts. Nothing else to it. It's THAT simple.

 It's a cool looking clip, and it's grey rather than orange, but to accommodate the three AA's, it does add some weight to the blaster. I HONESTLY cannot see this gimmick being that appealing in the long run. It's fun for a short period of time, but chances are most Nerfers will just go back to traditional clips and not bother.

The LED's inside the clip. Look cool admittedly.

 The clip is otherwise similar to the Stampedes- it is 18 round capacity and it says it all over the clip just like the way the Stampede's does. For first time use it's also taped up with those annoying "18 MAX" words which you have to remove prior to use just like with the Stampede.

 I do note there are a few design details on the clip- other than the big 'Firefly' logo on the battery pack, the end of the clip is also fitted with two rubber pads, I guess for protection given it's placement does make it prone to more bangs and drops. Also the orange lines on the side make it very reminiscent of the Vortex line, and with the weird green colour, I can't help come back to my comment I made a few weeks ago that the Rayven-CS-18 looks like a love child between N-Strike and Vortex:)

 Attaching the clip is as easy as.. well slapping it into the slot. If your jam door is closed properly and your clip is secure, you should be ready to fire. I alas had some mix up with my unit, and was sent standard streamlines rather than these glow in the dark ones which was a shame but... oh well:P

The clip release switch WITH clip attached

Soo now the all important performances. It's pretty similar to the Barricade RV-10 to be honest; I found it a little more on the quieter side though and probably more of a Nitron style hum to it all. Ranges and accuracy weren't bad, passing those standard 30-40 feet marks (or up my stairs hitting the ceiling) but I admit my initial tests weren't using the best batteries I could find so I will probably be amending this review as I give the Rayven CS-18 more of a go.

With mission kit pinpoint sight and green light

To be brutally honest though, the thing that sells this blaster isn't the performances (which are a bonus) but the sheer COOL factor of it. Fans have been screaming for a sub machine gun style blaster for ages and Nerf have come up with something pretty darn cool.

The Rayven looks amazing and the fact that you can do so much with how changing it's styling will be a big hit with tacticool fans and aesthetic modders alike. I love this thing, it just looks tough and while I can't really care much for the "Firefly tech", the clip does look mean and all I keep coming back to is the styling and aesthetics that went behind this pup. It's sort of Stampede, sort of Deploy, sort of Barricade all in one and it just works. I'm unsure of why they chose the green, but I really don't mind it.

Adding a Recon CS-6 barrel

Adding a Whiteout Longstrike CS-6 barrel

Adding a sonic Recon barrel with Stampede bipod

Size compared to the Barricade RV-10

With a Raider 35 round drum. Uncomfortable.

I'd imagine these would be coming out for the Christmas period so not long to go. As I learn more intel I'll post it, but for now I think this definitely gives a great preview of what we have in store from Nerf's new NStrike range. Rayven CS-18 gets the thumbs up from us:)