Introduction

A peripheral designed just for gaming, what could be better? The average gamer uses a mouse and a keyboard but some are moving away from keyboard and are instead using a keypad. Keypads are a collection of the most frequently used keys, in this case all thirty nine of them, on a keyboard bundled together on a separate interface platform. This gamepad has been around now for over two years, and according the Cyber Snipa the average keyboard is just too cramped for precision control and long term game play, this is their answer to the problems.

• LED under-lighting
• 37 mappable keys (hmm I count, 39 in total however…)
• Plug and play - no drivers needed
• "Butterfly" directional keys
• Compatible with Vista 32 and 64bit Connection: USB
• Package Size:370 x 250 x 50mm Product Size:235 x 153 x 24mm Product
• Weight:380g excluding packaging
• 515g including packaging Package Contents:1x Cyber Snipa Game Pad V2™
• 1x Instruction Manual

Retailing at £16.99 from http://www.cybersellstore.co.uk/

Feel and Look

I’m not going to review the box, because lets be honest, it’s either thrown away or becomes buried under your bed with all the other ‘just in-case’ boxes. However, if you are interested, the box is mainly black with some graphics, the usual spiel of what’s inside the box and a large see through window so you can see what’s inside the packaging.

Inside you get the gamepad itself and an instruction manual, and some bits of plastic. There’s no installation CD’S, this is because the gamepad is ‘plug & play’.

The game pad itself is aesthetically pleasing, the buttons are clearly labelled and the pad looks well made. Something amazing happens when you plug the pad in… a huge blue spot light appeared on my ceiling which came from the crosshair graphic on the top of the pad, then, by pressing the little button on the side I created a nice ambient blue glow on my desk, this time the light was coming from underneath. So far, its thumbs up, spangilily LED’s are a plus for me. Besides it matches the Razer Deathadder mouse, although it clashes with my purple walls…

Ok, so on the front of the Game Pad 2 we have a 6 blue ‘Butterfly’ keys which take on the role of W, A, S, D, Q, E, as we all know, W and S just don’t line up right on a keyboard, so maybe this layout will help somewhat. Then there’s the popular keys such as TAB on the left and R and F to the right. A key that’s missing though in my opinion is the Caps Lock Key, I use this in Call Of Duty 4 for Sprint/Hold Breath, so to have this missing was somewhat a pain. I don’t like the way ‘SHIFT’ is presumed to be run/walk, am I the only person who plays like me? A really good feature of the Game Pad is the way that all the number keys from 1-0 are all close together unlike on a keyboard, it helps you find your rage binds easily. Another useful addition is that there is two sound control buttons on the left of the ‘Butterfly’ keys.

Below the keys is the squidgy cushioned wrist pad, this is removable, but to be honest it’s really nice to use. My wrist didn’t grate against it and my hand was held at the right angle. On the underside of the pad is six rubber pads that should stop the Game Pad from scooting around your desk as you’re clutching.

Performance

As mentioned earlier the Game Pad doesn’t come with any software, the pad was easy to install. I just plugged the USB port into my PC and my lovely Vista 64 bit OS installed the drivers automatically, and there I was, ready to go fraggin’.

Seeing as I only really play Call of Duty 4 this is the game I tested the pad on. After walking (yea I hadn’t decided on a new sprint key) for around thirty minutes on an empty server I came to a few conclusions:

• I need a new sprint key
• The keys could do with sum lubrication, perhaps some WD-40?
• I was finding to hard to adjust my hand position
• Moving back to the keyboard to type was getting annoying

Deciding to try my luck I joined a popular TDM (Team Death Match) server I joined not feeling fully confident. I could get some frags, but my hands were becoming tired some what from having to press the buttons harder and moving further to reach the key I wanted. Some time later and I’ve come to the conclusion that although this pad is logically perfect it just isn’t for me. My hand is more comfortable being in the shape of a claw that being more flat and stretched out.

Conclusions

Well maybe as Bexx said, it’s because I’ve got small hands, but I can’t for the life of me reach all the buttons I want comfortably. And that this for me draws me to the conclusion that this Game Pad just isn’t going to work with my style of play or my small chipolata sized hands.

This review isn’t about me though, it’s about the product and how it performs in general. So here’s what I think. The 6 rubber pads should stop the Game Pad from moving around, but they really didn’t, because the Pads light I found that it was moving ‘itself’ around my desk.

The buttons, I’m used to a Logitech G15 Keyboard, I found the keys on the Game Pad really hard to press down, a bit like piano keys, maybe they need wearing in more. The keys just didn’t feel as silky smooth as I think they should be.

Cyber Snipa says the problem with keyboards is that they are too cramped, but to be honest I found the Game Pad rather too spaced out. My little finger would have to wiggle around a little too much for comfort to operate ‘Shift’ ‘Z’ and ‘Control’. I love some of the buttons layouts though, I like the ‘Butterfly’ layout, I found this worked well and was an improvement over the classic layout on the average keyboards.

The idea of a Game Pad is great though and I appreciate CyberCell http://www.cybersellstore.co.uk/ for giving me the opportunity to try one out.