Review – Mad Catz Call of Duty: Black Ops Stealth Gaming Mouse
What makes a mouse a gaming mouse? Is it a cool appearance, programmable buttons, comfort, or handy features? If it only takes one or two of those, this mouse definitely is over-qualified for the gaming designation. Not only does it have all of the said features, it is extremely accurate, especially with its precision aim button, among other great features.
Exactly what is the CoD Stealth mouse? If, at first glance, it looks like a Cyborg R.A.T. 7, and if you said this, you would be close in your assumption. It is made by Mad Catz, and is technically part of the R.A.T. family; however it’s not quite a R.A.T 7, but has slightly more features than the R.A.T. 5, really making it more of its own product and not just a re-branding.
So what’s so special about this monstrosity of a mouse? For starters, appearance. Thanks to the CoD: Black Ops insignias and artwork, it’s a much better looking piece of hardware than its other R.A.T. counterparts. Then there are the more subtle features, like its braided USB cable, adjustable palm rest, and aluminum frame.
What really sets it apart from other mice are its unique features and incredible versatility. There are two programmable buttons and two scroll wheels, as well as on-the-fly DPI adjustment, physical weight adjustment and a precision aim button, which instantly increases or decreases the mouse DPI depending on your preference. There is no software disk included; instead it comes with a 1GB Black Ops metal dog tag flash drive, which is pre-loaded with device drivers and profile editing software. The profile editor allows you to edit the DPI of all three on-the-fly settings and the precision aim button; it also allows advanced keystroke and application commands for the side buttons and scroll wheels, not to mention an unlimited number of user profiles.
This mouse isn’t just for gamers, though. I’ve cross tested it on several applications over the course of about a month. I used the mouse on Photoshop, Sony Acid, World of Warcraft, a few first-person shooters, and am pleased to say I’m impressed. The precision aim button is great for fine photo touch-ups and the programmable buttons are exceptionally user-friendly for keyboard shortcuts and other aspects of basic computing. As for Sony Acid it is just as useful; the DPI adjustments are good for editing lengthy tracks and inserting small chopped samples. On my “everyday use” profile, I have mine set for previous page on my web browser and the other set as Alt-F4 (“Close Current Window” command), which is only one combination of many. Use in WoW wasn’t much of a difference from other gaming mice, but with FPS’s, however, the precision aim button makes sniping a breeze.
This doesn’t mean the mouse didn’t come with a drawback. On a few occasions I’ve right clicked and had it stick; other than that, this was an overall pleasing product experience.
With a price varying between $80- $110 dependent on where you buy, it’s not going be the most inexpensive mouse out there but is well worth the price, especially compared to other similar devices like this in the gaming world. If you’re a fan of Black Ops, or the R.A.T. series of gaming mice, I definitely recommend this for you.
Mad Catz Call of Duty: Black Ops Stealth Gaming Mouse on Amazon
