Merge 6DoF Blaster hands-on – in pictures
Forget laser tag – this toy blaster brings the battleground to your living room…
Merge 6DoF Blaster hands-on – in pictures
It might just look like a simple plastic toy at first, but slip your smartphone into Merge’s 6DoF Blaster and its VR-esque tracking skills will turn your lounge into the world’s cosiest shooting gallery. OK, so it’s not going to be anywhere near as immersive as an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, but this affordable tech toy still offers loads of baddie-blasting fun. Read on for our first impressions.
Design
This Blaster looks like something straight out of Futurama. It oozes sci-fi style with its purple and green colour combo, yet looks cheesy enough to prevent it looking hostile. How does it feel? Well… like a children’s toy – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Its plastic build feels robust enough to survive several clatterings and it’s incredibly light, so it won’t hurt if flung in your direction. What’s more, it’ll only cost about $40 when it goes on sale.
Setup
OK, so right now it just sounds like your average plastic toy gun. Big deal, right? But slot your smartphone in at the top, with the accompanying app loaded, and your living room will turn into an epic battleground. During the setup of a game the app will analyse the space available to you and adjust the size of the game’s arena accordingly.
Controls
The 6DoF has no tech wizardry inside – not even Bluetooth. Pressing each button simply uses mechanisms to prod your phone’s touchscreen. That means you could actually play its games by just holding your phone instead, but where’s the phone in that? The buttons feel rather clunky and require a firm squeeze to work. The reload button particularly feels unresponsive, so you’ll have to give it a proper bash to ensure your ammo is restocked.
Movement
By using your smartphone’s positional tracking technology, the game will react to your movements just like a virtual reality headset would. See that plasma bolt coming straight for your head? Duck in real life, and you’ll be able to dodge it in the game too. You’ll even be able to move to cover and peer over the top for a better vantage point.
Games
The game demo available during our session bore an uncanny resemblance to VR classic Superhot, with faceless mannequins firing lasers in our general direction. When shot they would explode into shrapnel rather than blood and guts – this is supposed to be kid-friendly after all. Using one of the Blaster’s extra triggers you can zoom in and slow down time, although doing so drains the power-up meter, offering some welcome depth to a fairly basic shoot ‘em up.
Initial verdict
The best toys are the ones that will make you send the kids to bed early so you can have a go yourself – and with the Merge 6DoF Blaster in your house, your sprogs will never be up past 6pm again. Sure, the gun feels distinctly plasticky, but if Merge manages to nail the software side and offer plenty of games to support it, then you’ll have one of the most fun and affordable ways to get immersed in a virtual world.
