When my Razer Spectre mouse arrived, I was stoked. Finally I’d be able to break out of diamond and, in all likelihood, set myself up for a grand masters slot next season. It had everything I needed: adjustable button resistance -- so I could warm up with high resistance and then switch it to low for unparalleled click speed and finger endurance; 1000hz ultrapolling -- surely my old mouse was to blame for my slow reaction time when fending off muta harass; lots of DPI -- more is better right?; and, best of all, a built-in color coded APM meter -- why should I put in the effort to play faster if my old mouse was just going to sit there and be... well... grey?
So after plugging in the mouse and installing the Razer StarCraft II Trifecta Software Control Center (yes, they call it that) I was ready to pwn some noobs.
Game one was was a TvT, not my favorite match up, but luckily I had Miss Spectre (pretty sure mice are girls) to help me out. Yet somehow my opponent defended my marine tank push, attacked with some cloaked banshees and won. Are you kidding me? I glared down at Miss Spectre, wondering what the hell she was doing while I was busting my butt trying to kill invisible flying rocket launchers who were annihilating my SCVs.
The rest of the day went basically the same. I won a few games, and lost a few, but it was clear that Miss Spectre wouldn’t be carrying me to grand masters anytime soon. After the disappointment wore off and I accepted the fact that I would have to actually practice and not just rely on a flashy mouse with really cool sounding features to make me better, I started to look at the mouse a little more objectively.
Here’s what I found.
Ease of setup: 7/10
Downloading the drivers was slightly more complicated than it could have been. On the Razer website, rather than listing the Spectre under “mice” it’s listed under “StarCraft II”. Obviously not a huge deal, but took an extra click or two in order to find. You actually download the entire StarCraft II Trifecta Software Control Center, which works with the Maurader (keyboard) and Banshee (headset) too. So if you have all three items, it’s nice to have the settings for them centrally located.
The StarCraft II Trifecta Software Control Center... awesome name
Appearance: 6/10
The Spectre is very un-intimidating to look at. It’s really small and lightweight, almost fragile looking. The lights are cool, especially when you’re playing and they change colors based on your APM. The StarCraft II logo is a neat touch and some decent advertising for Blizzard. But it also screams “massive nerdery” which might be a concern if you’re still in the closet about your gaming. Looks are purely subjective though and I’d imagine the Spectre goes really well with the other Razer StarCraft II products.
Looks smaller in real life
Feel: 10/10
I was using a Logitech G500 before the Spectre and thought I liked the bigger heavier type of mice. After I started using the Spectre I realized I was completely wrong. It took a couple games to get used to, but I ended up falling it love with the small, feather-light feel. There were times when I almost forgot I was holding a mouse at all, it just felt so natural. Even though it may not have directly contributed to improved performance, I definitely felt faster when I was using the Spectre; like my mouse hand didn’t have to work quite as hard to jump around. I’d imagine if you’re a much higher level player than me, the difference would be even more noticeable and probably could improve your play a bit.
The adjustable click resistance is a cute gimmick but it’s hard to notice much of a difference unless you’re focusing on it. I actually thought the “low/med/high” switch was for changing the DPI when I first got the mouse and figured it just broken. I ended up putting in on low, which I think feels the best. It’s definitely conducive to fast clicks, and again, probably a bigger deal if you’re an ultra high-level player.
Reliability/Performance: 10/10
I’ve only played a few hours of StarCraft II with the Spectre but haven’t run into a single problem. No skipping, accuracy problems, or anything like that. A problem I’ve run into with mice in the past is having dust collect on and around the pads on the bottom and give it a little bit of a sticky feel. The Spectre still collects a little dust, but it seems to be a lot less than my Logitech G500 and it wipes off very easily.. Obviously, that’s just an observation and not some kind of university approved double-blind study, but the mouse does seems to move around very smoothly.
Conclusion:
Just like with any piece of gear, the Razer Spectre is not going to magically make you a better player. And the difference between it and other higher end gaming mice, isn’t massive. But it is a very good mouse. I’ll definitely be sticking with it over my Logitech G500, even though I initially thought it was too small and light. It’s extremely comfortable to hold and has very smooth movement. The flashy bonus features are cool too -- I find myself frequently admiring the pretty colors during the opening seconds of the game when I’m just spamming APM. If you’re looking for a new mouse, I’d highly recommend it.
LINKS
Buy the Razer Spectre on Razer's official website: http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.199816600
More Razer SC2 Gear: http://www.razerzone.com/sc2/en
Follow Razer on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/CultOfRazer
http://twitter.com/RazerStore
Follow Woody "soso" Favinger on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/wfavinger
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