Nerf Mega Centurion - Unboxing Pictures and Thoughts

More images from the Chinese site 'Baidu' reveal unboxing photos of the eagerly awaited Mega Centurion.

No more tiny images. No more low res. box art. Just one whole Megabyte of awesome.

First Off, the Box.

We've all seen this before but there is something new. The chap holding the blaster has changed. No longer does he wear the frown of a battle hardened Nerf warrior, instead he is wearing a grin the likes of which we shall all wear the minute we buy one of these.

The back of the box is much the same as any other box. Graphics highlight the key functions of the blaster as well as previewing other blasters and accessories.

But there's something new.

In the bottom left corner, there is a new graphic illustrating the ranges this blaster can achieve. This states on average, 63% of your shots will hit 90-105 feet. The other 37% hitting less than 90'. For stock ranges, these are amazing. No indication as to whether these ranges are angled or not but historically Hasbro angle their shots to get the best possible range. We shall see if these claimed ranges stand up.

Out of the Box.

As speculated before, we can now confirm that the barrel is removable although it is not clear whether this is interchangeable with other N-Strike blasters. By the looks of the photo, I doubt it. It looks to me that it is a push fit on the front. The orange pieces on the rear of the barrel look like they would get in the way if the barrel was attached in the conventional fashion.

As the name suggests, the darts are, well, Mega. The photos below show them compared to an Elite dart. As you can see, they are a fair bit larger, and they're whistlers. There is also a picture of the Mega clip compared to the equivalent 6 dart Elite magazine. Obviously bigger and boasting a sweet looking angled base. Why don't other clips look this sexy?

Assembled, we finally get an idea of how long this beastie is. If you intend on using this with the barrel extension, you'll definitely be needing that bi-pod. I doubt I'll ever be using it in this setup, unless you have to by design. We shall see.

Look how far forward the mag well and jam door are. Without the barrel they're almost right at the front of the blaster. So what's behind it? The massively long grooves on the side of the blaster suggest it's all plunger assembly. How else will this blaster hit 100' without an obscenely big plunger?

Here is the Mega Centurion compared to the Longshot. As you can see, it's not that much longer. Maybe a few inches or so but nowhere near the 5 feet that was claimed when we first saw this blaster. All in all it should be fairly manageable

So What do I Think?

Is Mega Better?

Whilst I'm really excited about this blaster, I'm not entirely convinced it's going to be that awesome. Yes the ranges are incredible for a stock blaster but it needs a new ammo type to achieve them. at around 5p each, Nerf darts are somewhat overpriced as it stands. How much do Hasbro intend on charging for these Mega bad boys? I bet you won't be able to buy them in packs of 30 either. Unless you can buy extra clips will it really be worth it? Can the Centurion survive being converted to normal streamlines without affecting performance? My experience says "No" but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Form

I'm going to say it. No doubt you are going to hate me for it...

Is this blaster not a bit... ugly?

It seems to inherit all of its features from other N-Strike blasters with the stock from a Rayven, handle from the Stampede and the body is not far off a Longstrike. Did Hasbro design this blaster using the BUILD-A-BLASTER feature on their website? Maybe we misunderstood the purpose of this simple flash game. Maybe it isn't a game at all but a powerful blaster development tool?

All jokes aside, I'm not really feeling the aesthetics of this blaster. I can't look at it without seeing the parts of older blasters which just leaves me with with the feeling that the Centurion isn't new at all. Maybe I'm missing something. I don't play many FPS games so I'm sure someone is going to say it looks like a 'Super Dooper Pulse Plasma Rifle' from some massive game franchise but I don't get that. To me it's just Frankenstein's monster.

Another thing that troubles me about this blaster is the lack of fore grip. It looks like it is designed specifically to be used with the bi-pod and so there is nowhere to comfortably place your supporting hand. It appears there is some room behind the clip but will that place your hands too close together making it awkward and uncomfortable. Maybe you can support it by holding the clip? Maybe it's a lot more comfortable than it looks? I'm just saying that it looks a bit awkward.

Operation

No photo can really show you how this blaster works. We need to wait for a video for that (*crosses fingers*). There has been much speculation as to how this puppy works and why the plunger tube is so chuffing long. I won't go into it but there have been some good ideas including a 'half prime' system allowing for a quicker prime at the expense of a full power shot. Personally, I'm not convinced by this idea. Only time will tell. It's good that the rumour mill has been churning away for this blaster but the truth is, no one will know until we get a video or the blaster is released, whichever comes first.

I hope the guy who took these pics owns a video camera.

Thanks to Basic Nerf for the heads up.