Back in my early gaming days, the NES Zapper was one of my favorite gaming accessories. Even if its use was limited to our copy of Duck Hunt, it introduced a new level of interaction to gaming and made the experience truly fun and memorable. Instead of gluing our eyes to the screen and our bottoms to our seats, it nudged us to stand and aim (although we could very much aim while seated).

Over the years, I sought a similar experience in games and the likes of the Wiimote and Guitar Hero (although no light gun involved) helped me get that fix. But these are memories of yesteryear (or, more accurately, yester-gen) and I haven’t seen any peripherals on the market that tried to make the light gun cool again for new titles. I did come across some online but these are limited to one or only a few dedicated smartphone games that work with the device. Enter the Arkade Blaster.

When I first learnt about the PewDiePie-backed Blaster, it instantly brought memories of my (virtual) duck hunting time with the NES Zapper. But it promised to be a contemporary successor to the latter with gyro aiming, haptic feedback, remappable buttons and compatibility with hundreds of PC games and some of the most popular mobile titles. With the opportunity to review it after its successful crowdfunding campaign, I was excited to see if it would indeed bring the fun of the classic light gun to modern games.

Unboxing, specs and feel

After opening the box it came in, I found the following items:

• 1x Arkade Blaster
• 1x Phone holder
• 1x micro-USB charging cable

As for the specs, they can be found below:

• Gyroscope: 6DoF 9-Axis 2.5mW IMU
• Bluetooth: 64Mhz Cortex-M4 at 2mbps
• Buttons: Tested to over 1,000,000 presses
• Blaster weight: 454g or 1lb (phone adds an extra 5-7 ounces or 150-200 grams)
• LEDs: 24bit Color Addressable LEDs
• Battery Life: 3.7V 1000mAh 14 hours (takes about 2 hours to fully charge)

Of note, there is no instruction manual in the box, but all that you need is written at the back of the package; which is essentially to go on the official website to download the companion app and follow the guides.

  

Before downloading the app or even launching the website, the first thing I did was to hold the Blaster in my hand and I was positively surprised by how neatly it fit my palm. This is thanks to the ergonomic curvature of the part of the device where my right palm rests. The front part of the Blaster is held with my left hand and my fingers easily reach the joystick and physical buttons.

This ergonomic feeling was pronounced since I am right-handed, but I can imagine it feeling off for the lefties among us who might need an additional adjustment period with the Blaster. The official store doesn’t offer a lefty version either, so that could be something Arkade considers in the future.

Weighing 454g, the Blaster feels quite light in my hands, allowing for snappy aiming and shooting. Its relatively light weight is thanks to the mid-range plastic material, but that’s also a double-edged sword. The build isn’t cheap per se, but I wish it had a more premium and sturdier finish to it. However, that would also add more heft and make it less comfortable to hold. On the plus side, its build somewhat emulates the feeling of light guns used in arcade shooters.

But then again, comfort could still be enhanced with the Blaster as grips or soft pads would be welcome where each palm rests on the device. There are grips at the underside of the Blaster where my left palm rests but these are grooved grips that are part of the gun’s mold and are made of the same material. I would prefer to have at least some rubberized grips in this area for more comfort as the plastic build can accumulate moisture and sweat in hot weather. 

It also lacks a wrist strap which should have been included as a safety measure. This is particularly important as it does get tiring to hold the Blaster up with both arms raised for long gaming sessions while standing; but in these cases I’ll just sit on my chair and use the arm rests. And you can still loop a strap that fits the Blaster if you find one separately. 

Nevertheless, the experience that the Blaster offers makes up for these minor, yet important omissions.

Gaming off the couch

When gaming (or even when reading this review), you are most likely sitting on a couch or gaming chair, unless you are gaming in VR. This is particularly the case if you are playing an FPS game on PC with the classic keyboard+mouse combo and have to stay close to your controls and screen. The Arkade Blaster aims to radically change that by getting you to game on your feet, Blaster in hand. And yes, it did force me to do just that and this helped me feel “in the action”; at least, more than I would while seated.

Gripping my Bluetooth-paired Blaster, I am ripping and tearing demons in DOOM 2016 by hitting the trigger button, turning left and right to aim and feeling each shot with the rumble feature while the LED strip emulates a recoil lighting effect. It also made mobile gaming fun with titles like Shadowgun Legends and Dead Trigger 2 having me spin 360° to kill zombies or shoot down enemy players in multiplayer sessions. Gyro aiming is accurate and the button presses are responsive, but for competitive gaming you might want to go the traditional route or give everyone a Blaster so that all players have the same handicap (and that would make for a particularly fun multiplayer session).

Indeed, there’s quite a learning curve to using the Blaster. Firstly, there’s the fact that using a light gun for modern games isn’t at all common and requires some learning regarding the buttons layout and which button does what. Secondly, buttons mapping change from game to game and you’ll have to recall which button does what again. The Arkade app features profiles for compatible mobile and popular PC games with the buttons assigned optimally. However, you can still reconfigure each profile to your liking. At the moment, the Arkade app has profiles for 28 games from Fortnite to Max Payne (but Arkade says there are some 40 compatible mobile titles for the Blaster) and you can configure key mapping according to what each game offers.

For PC gaming, the app allows you to remap keyboard keys to the 18 physical buttons on the Blaster (the joystick press counts as a mappable key and the “forward” button under the trigger recognizes light and hard presses, each counting as a separate key). As for the joystick, you can configure it to either control the camera or move your character. I personally think that using the joystick to control movements feels more intuitive, but then camera control becomes a pain with the gyro as you cannot re-center the camera to where you are pointing. This means that you will be mostly strafing if you want to reach an area that is left or right to your position. You could use the motion tracking while streaming PC games on your mobile (more on that later) to spin the camera where you are looking but that would depend on your internet connection and you will be staring at your phone’s tiny screen rather than your glorious (but fixed) monitor (as you can see from the official Arkade video below).

There is unfortunately no option to map camera controls to the physical buttons instead of the joystick to fix this. As such, I’ve had to resort to assigning camera control to the joystick and character movement to the two thumb buttons and the “back” and “forward” buttons where my middle, ring and pinky fingers rest. This is not very intuitive and takes a significant getting-used-to period. A second joystick or at least a nub feels missing in the right thumb area (close to the trigger) that could be mapped for character movement. While this hardware addition might not be a solution, I’m hoping to see a software update allowing players to map camera controls to the physical keys rather than solely to the joystick.

 

While there are 51 PC games profiles on the app, the Blaster will work on virtually any PC games as it is recognized as a Bluetooth keypad of sorts; essentially something like the Azeron keypad but connected via Bluetooth. I’ve played Cyberpunk 2077 (which might be the most cyberpunk way to play it) and Death Stranding with the Arkade Blaster with no issues, even if profiles for these specific games aren’t present in the app. I’m using the default profile and configuring the buttons to suit my needs. Sure, the Blaster often won’t always have enough buttons for all in-game actions but the most important ones can be mapped to the device and keys that are used less often can be accessed via the keyboard itself.

Here I wish there was a way to swap profiles from the Blaster itself without having to go through the app to do so. At least an on-board memory for 2 profiles would do great if you are rotating frequently between games on the same platform or are gaming across different platforms (mobile or PC).

Regarding PC gaming, the Arkade app includes a streaming feature where you can mirror your PC game onto your phone’s screen and make use of the 360° camera control that the Blaster allows. It also supports Steam Link and GeForce NOW for the same purpose, but all this streaming will heavily rely on a strong and stable internet connection. While it’s a downgrade on screen size (and, likely, resolution), streaming your PC game to your phone attached to the top of the Blaster gives you the freedom to move to control the camera and play on your feet; which introduces a new, fun way to play existing games.

Not only can you stream games from your PC to your phone to play with the Blaster but you can also livestream your playthrough to YouTube and Twitch. Once you’ve connected your account to the Arkade app, you can stream what’s playing on your phone’s screen by pressing the Arkade logo on the Blaster; there are two buttons cleverly concealed in the ‘A’ shaped logo to start streaming. While this is a welcome feature, it won’t be of much use to those who aren’t into streaming. Importantly, these two buttons aren’t remappable and feels like a missed opportunity to allow users to make the most of all buttons on the Blaster. I would personally like to see these buttons used to recenter the camera to where I am pointing as this would finally allow me to use the joystick for movements.

One last note regarding the app is that it is mobile-only (Android or iOS). The PC Arkade Link app is only to stream games to your connected phone and does not allow mapping of buttons or changing profiles. I think that having the same features on the PC and mobile apps would go a long way in easing how one configures their Blaster and not tying them to their phone only.

To end this section, I'd like to mention the phenomenal battery life of the Blaster. After using it on and off for about 3 weeks, I haven't charged it once since plugging it in after it was delivered; and Windows tells me that the battery is currently at 53%! Such incredible battery life is uncommon with modern devices and the Blaster deserves some praise for this feat. However, the micro-USB charging cable that comes with it is of rather cheap quality and takes ages to charge, so you might want to look into a better (and longer) one.

The light gun for modern gaming

Even considering my gripe with the Blaster’s build and the need to improve certain features of its software, the Arkade Blaster doesn’t miss to offer a cool experience. It fits comfortably in the hand with each button easily accessible and responsive. The phone holder holds most modern phones securely and its position and angle on the Blaster is easily adjustable. It works best with FPS games, making for really immersive gameplay; while third person titles do support the Blaster, the immersiveness won’t be as pronounced. VR games would also benefit from this peripheral but aren’t supported as far as I know and having only one joystick would make controls challenging.

    

Indeed, the Blaster was obviously made by FPS lovers who put much thought in designing the product and its app to add a new layer of fun and immersiveness to our current gaming habits. Since trying it, the Arkade Blaster is sitting right next to my controller and that says a lot. I’m using it at any opportunity to play an FPS game with a novel touch. It’s not perfect and I wish to see some improvements from the software side at least. But as an innovative peripheral from a newcomer, it makes a great impression.

In one of the promotional videos, PewDiePie, after having some fun with the Blaster, says that you shouldn’t call yourself a gamer unless you have an Arkade Blaster. I won’t go as far as echoing this sentiment as the Blaster is rather niche, and more likely to be adopted by those who are willing to be experimental with their gaming sessions. But it achieves what it sets out to do: add a new layer of fun to gaming sessions; and it does so by taking cues from the classic light guns and adds a contemporary touch to it. If you’re looking for such an experience, the Blaster won’t disappoint.

Exclusive GBAtemp Discount

At the time of writing, the original Blue/Black variant of the Arkade Blaster (as in the reviewed unit) costs $120 while the PewDiePie one is priced at $130. If you are looking to get one of these, then you are in luck! GBAtemp readers can save $10.00 off a Blaster with the exclusive discount code below. Simply apply it at the checkout after choosing your model.

Discount code: GBATEMP

Discount: $10.00 off a Blaster

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