Reviewed: May 3, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Manufacturer
Mad Catz

Type: Lightgun
System: PlayStation 2

Rating: 9.0

Features

With recent social and political events the government seems to be putting undue pressure on the gaming industry and subsequently, games that use “guns” have nearly become extinct. Thankfully, a few game publishers are still making shooting games and Mad Catz is supporting our constitutional rights to bear arms – even if they are plastic, with their new Mad Catz Blaster lightgun for the PlayStation 2.

Mad Catz released this peripheral last year, and unlike the Xbox version that shipped in October the PS2 has a few more games in the library that take advantage of this unique peripheral. Even with the extra titles and the obvious potential for greater sales it is still quite difficult to locate the Blaster or any of the games to use with it. Between kids shooting teachers and each other and the D.C. Beltway Sniper you are going to have a hard time finding a lightgun game or a lightgun in any major franchise store like WalMart or Meijer. If you are lucky you might find one tucked away on the bottom shelf of your local Babbages or EB.

This is a shame because the Blaster is perhaps the finest lightgun I have ever had the pleasure of using for any system. I've got a box of lightguns that have all had their 15-minutes of fame. The most recent was the CyberGun Desert Eagle that came with my copy of Endgame and while that gun was very nice, the Mad Catz Blaster shoots circles around it in both precision and comfort. My biggest complaint with the Desert Eagle was the squared-off edges that caused a great deal of hand fatigue after extended play. The Blaster is smooth and rounded and perfectly sized, weighted and balanced to stay in your hand for hours at a time.

Hooking up the Blaster to your PS2 can be easy or difficult depending on your game and TV layout and configuration. The PS2 Blaster requires a pass-thru connection so you can send the video (yellow cable) signal through the lightgun so it synchs-up with the TV. While this gives you excellent calibration and precise control, those with S-Video connections will need to locate those original cables that shipped with your PS2. And those of you who have connections in the back of your entertainment center will be more than annoyed when you have to crawl behind your TV everytime you want to play a lightgun game.

The Blaster supports all the popular gun modes including Guncon, Guncon 2, and normal lightgun operations, making this the last gun you will ever need to buy for you PS2 unless somebody developes a new protocol standard. I tested this weapon extensively with games like Time Crisis, Endgame, and both of the Die Hard Trilogy games and it worked flawlessly.

The gun feels great in your hand, perfectly weighted and balanced so you can play for extended periods of time with no abnormal arm or wrist strain. The buttons are all within easy reach and the D-Pad is conveniently located for easy thumb reach and the reload button molded into the grip is perfectly placed. There are multi-colored, multi-function buttons that light up to indicate the various firing, reload, and Guncon modes. The 10-foot cable is plenty long; you don’t want to be any further than that in a gun game anyway.

The Blaster for the PlayStation 2 is definitely a niche controller but at least you have a slightly larger selection of software to use with it than the Xbox version. If you own one or more lightgun compatible games then the Mad Catz Blaster should definitely be part of your PS2 controller collection.