Review: Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6

Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6. Ultimate poser rifle

The Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6 would have to be one of the more infamous guns of the N-Strike range. Both loved and hated at the same time, it was considered to be awesome in concept but pretty poor in performance.

Personally, I was quite looking forward to the Recon CS-6: it was the first customisable blaster that came with a magazine style clip system for bullets, introducing the new Streamline foam dart. The other big selling point was the "build your own blaster" sales pitch- coming with a detachable barrel, stock, 'tactical' light and aiming sight. Whooooo hoooo I thought.. sounded pretty cool...

I admit I've grown to love it a LOT more than when I first bought it a few years ago. A few years ago, it ended up just being shoved away in the back of the cupboard in the "disappointed" box of toys. And here's the reason why...

At the time I didn't know a whole lot about the internals of these things, and I guess I assumed given the fact it looked like a long range rifle/blaster thingy, I assumed it would perform accordingly. I mean, it's got enough Tactical Rails to attach multiple pieces onto it; at the time it was the biggest gun available.. it should perform like the thunder, yes?

Alas.. this was not the case.

All of the attachments that come with the Recon serve no real purpose other than making the gun look cool. They actually hinder the performance (which already isn't that great); the Recon shoots further WITHOUT the barrel attachment. Against cheaper, smaller guns like the Maverick or the Nitefinder, the Recon just can't match their power or accuracy.

Still..that's not to say the gun is still.. pretty cool to look at. It serves nicely as a prop; feels good in the hand, attaching and detaching the parts is actually kinda fun and the fact other attachments in the N-Strike range can fit it means there's quite a lot of playability to the Recon if.. the reason why you bought it was more for roleplay which.... deep down admit it, lots of us do:)

In a small environment, such as in my apartment (which is a loft so it does ok shooting up and down the stairs) it's still a decent gun. From about 5-10 metres away you can still get a pretty accurate shot at the person sitting on your couch watching TV (amen for understanding partners!).

Modders HATE this gun because it was one of the first of many Nerf guns that had the "reverse plunger" which, for those not informed, merely means "crap to mod".

But.. the cool factor in it's appearance and playability makes it a real favourite with the casual nerfer- which is pretty much any guy who watches action movies and doesn't really care about the internals. And given they've mostly used it in my apartment, can't tell the performance isn't that hot. Because if they really wanted accuracy, they'd shoot a real gun. Which some of them do:)

Usability: 7/10
Out of the box performance: 6/10
Cool factor: 8/10
Price point: 7/10