From the Armory: Snapfire and N-Strike Elite Rumors

This week, Kernel Sanders examines the Nerf Snapfire and speculates on the N-Strike Elite.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL RIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTT!!!!

Its been awhile since we’ve heard from the armory, but now that the year has turned over and had a few months to run, we’ve got some fun stuff to look forward to. The first of which comes from Nerf’s somewhat beleaguered Dart Tag range. Nerf made one of the greatest guns ever when they built the Dart Tag Fury Fire, because it was simple, modable, and had a high magazine capacity. The generation after this one contained the bomb known as the Quick 16, a massively over complicated slam fire blaster designed with an integrated magazine for sixteen Taggers.  This gun was marred by very weak construction and weak performance, oh, and did I mention that it jammed whenever another player sneezed? The point is, the Dart Tag line took a nose dive, but now Nerf may give the line some life with the Snapfire.

Of the guns that came before it, this one takes most after the old Barricade, the gun that introduced this generation to flywheel construction in Nerf blasters. Both are true semi-automatic blasters, where one pull of the trigger will fire one of the darts. Now, to make this possible in the Barricade, the trigger operated an arm which pushed the darts into the spinning flywheels which launched the darts. This gun seems to make use of a standard plunger system and an eight round turret, all of which is operated from the trigger!

That’s right, pulling the trigger in this gun both advances the turret, primes the plunger, and fires the gun. ZOH MY GODS! No motors, no batteries, no pumping, just a pure semi-automatic pistols, the dream of a dual wielder……….or is it? Ya see, other guns which has trigger operated turrets include gems like the Maverick. Though Nerf has improved these trigger operated turret systems, they are still plagued by weak components which causes misfires and jams. And indeed, with the brief video I found of its firing, it did appear to jam. It was, however, a low quality vid, and the gun itself could be a pre-production model, so we’ll see to reliability when it hits stores. Also something new on this model, adjustable spring tension. There is a switch on this gun which can ease spring tension, reducing range and increasing rate of fire, or increase it for the inverse affects. That is actually a really smart idea, it gives the player options which can make the difference between life and death in game. I will, however be curious to break into one and see how they are accomplishing it. In any event, I expect this to be highly effective close range sidearm, I can’t expect this thing to have great range out of the box. Assuming the reliability is up to par, or can be modded to be, this could truly be one of the greatest running blasters Nerf has made.

So what else is new? Well, watch this.

That’s right Nerfers, Hasbro has finally let Nerf make their awesome looking guns perform as well as they should, or so they claim. Really, it is to wonder how they’re going to accomplish this. Well not that much of a wonder. As a Nerf Modder myself, I spend my nights and weekends making blasters shoot farther, or faster, or both. But in the process I often as not make them more dangerous. Either making them sting a bit when they hit, or cause bruises and welts on unprotected skin. With Hasbro and Nerf being so conscious about law suits, just like everyone else in the business, it would make no sense to create guns which would cause more damage than their current line. But then it goes back to that preview, and the claim that it makes, 75ft ranges. Now really, when one is measuring a range like that, they’re measuring the range from the muzzle of the blaster to where it lands, so really the effective range is between 5 and 10 ft less, though that is probably going to be rather low. So I would count on reliable ranges out to 60-65 ft. In any event, those guns have to be more powerful, unless Nerf has modified the ammo somehow.

Oh, I forgot to mention the ammo. I want to buy the gun just for the ammo, on the surface they seem to have repainted the standard streamlines with a blue shaft, WHICH LOOKS AWESOME! Though Nerf mentions this special ammo, so maybe they’ve FINALLY rebalanced the weight in the streamline to correct the fishtailing issues which have plagued them since their birth.

How they plan to accomplish this miracle is all speculation at this point, as Nerf is being tight lipped until the release date later this year, but I’m going to keep watching the New Zealand and Australian sites for more updates and bring them to you as I find them. But here’s the bottom line, Nerf seems to be finally listening to its adult fan base, which is not insignificant, and making blasters which can do the job they need them to do. So in summary: The Snapfire the N-Strike Elite ranges are new more tactically oriented Nerf blasters with greater rand and usability in mind. These blasters appear, from preliminary data, to be highly effective as tactical weapons in Nerf Wars. We’ll see what actually stack up, but the Snapfire gets a preliminary rating of 4 out of 5 for its full semi-automatic firing and lack of a loud motor, and the N-Strike Elite range as a whole receives 4 out of 5 darts for offering a variety of tactical options with ranges equivalent to modified blasters.