The 2013 Super Soaker line have some pretty amazing design moulds, but alas they're mostly triggerless piston based blasters which is one big fat fail in my book. The thing is, water guns are just not as popular as they used to be so there's no desire to put any effort into making them any more than glorified syringes.
Nerf blasters are the thing everyone likes and so interestingly enough, the Flash Blast is the one Super Soaker Hasbro have brought out that DOES have a trigger and uses a rather novel spring based firing mechanism that takes its cues from Nerf blasters like the Maverick/Strong Arm to prime it. How does this translate to the water fighting arena? More after the jump.
The water tank is at the front of the Flash Blast and it's pretty small to be honest. From our tests, you can really only get a good 10-12 shots out before you start running out- and you're done at around 17-18.
Rather than a multiple pump air pressure system, the Flash Blast requires the user to prime the blaster the same way you would with a Nerf Maverick. Just pull back the cocking slide on the top of the blaster and release and you're ready to fire. It's pretty stiff, but no harder to do that a Nerf gun, but the difference is you're more likely to have wet hands in a water fight, and then it can get a little slippery to cock- especially if your hands are small.
The Flash Blast boasts 'Slam Fire'- hold the trigger in and you just need to keep cocking the slider back to allow rapid firing. I did like this except once again with wet hands and a rather stiff slider means hands get pretty tired and sore pretty quickly.
It's pretty much ok but nothing special on ranges and power and you're more likely going to antagonise and annoy your opponents rather than use this to get you anywhere with the Flash Blast. The stream is ok but not really that thick and while I wanted to like it, i think while it wins points for much needed innovation in the water gun market, it's just not practical in a water fight.
I think its more like a scout rather than a maverick
ReplyDeleteI think its more like a scout rather than a maverick
ReplyDeleteThis may not be effective in a water fight proper, but for games like "assassin" it's great; you get decent range that you can keep primed in a very small package, and it doesn't drench your target to the point of annoyance.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who's bought the entire new line up, I've gotta say the pistons pumpers are actually really fun. I've got a few of the older CPS soakers, but I still prefer the new ones for casual shooting around and organizing games.The advantage is that you can spend more time running around and spraying water and less time pumping. They definitely have them marketed with video gamer mindset, with different combat roles in mind. Game play with them feels very much like nerf game play-- conserve shots and wait for a good opportunity to make the most of your ammo. More tactics and less constant hosing. I kind of like that change. You don't get soaked as fast and theoretically can have a lot of variety in gaming.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly look awesome and are really comfortable to hold and run around with.
-Buster
Buzz Bee did this much more effectively with their Splat Blaster/Splat Blaster II, since they used an actual Buzz Bee-sized plunger tube.
ReplyDeleteThis is a soaker version of the dart tag Sharpshot.
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed with this gun it is a great theory but the stream it to small, the PC is to small, and the spring to weak for if to get anywhere against anything more than a squirt gun.
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