[Alex]
“Surprising” is the word that came to mind when this rocked up on my doorstep
faster than expected. It is the word that seemed to repeat itself at every
significant step from unboxing, assembling, testing, playing and even a brief
voltage mod. There were a few pleasant surprises, but a few concerning ones
also. Even with other people's mixed feelings and reviews that I had heard
prior to finally getting my own hands on this blaster, I am eager (Despite being delayed again... sorry Squaddies!) to present my
take on the flagship of the new Nerf Elite line; the Hail-Fire!
The
Hail-Fire is currently an ‘unofficially released’ blaster, however it has
already hit online stores such as Amazon (where this one has been procured
from) and has popped up early on some U.S. store shelves. It is supposed to be
on sale as part of their “9.9.12” (9th September) campaign… but
there always seems to be some early bird business going on with new Nerf
releases :P
As
mentioned before, the Hail-Fire is the flagship model of the new Elite range.
It is a battery powered flywheel system blaster and uses the clip system (just
like a Rayven). But this is where the Hail-Fire makes its case to stand out
from the crowd and dares to be different; its biggest selling point is it uses
a unique “rotating ammo rack” system capable of holding up to an unprecedented
EIGHT clips at a time! This means when using eight 6-dart clips, you get a 48
dart capacity. Using eight 18-dart clips gives you a whopping maximum of 144
darts total! It is not just designed to *hold* the vast number of clips, but
also the ‘rotating’ mechanism allows for speedy reloads from an empty clip
around to the next full one.
In the
box you get the Hail-Fire blaster, twenty-four Elite darts, four Elite 6-dart
clips, two round semi-circle shell fragments, the front handle split in two parts
and the instructions. *NOTE*: This blaster uses 4x AA batteries which are not
included. On the rear of the blaster just above the trigger grip is where the
battery tray is located.
As explained
in my Retaliator and Rampage review, the new Elite streamlines are improved
over the regular darts. The Elite darts work particularly well in flywheel
blasters like the Rayven and the Hail-Fire due to their rubber tip re-design. The new 6-dart clips are similar to
the 12-dart clip with the Retaliator in that they are transparent on one side,
they have slightly different detailing, and they have a safety ‘overload
prevention’ notch on the inside to stop putting too many darts in at once.
When
assembling the Hail-Fire, the first surprise I encountered was the tricky time
I had trying to get the two round shell halves to clip into place. There are three
spots they slot into on either side, but the centre one is a pain to get 'snapped' in. The front handle was a bit tricky trying to click together correctly…
but it helps when you have them around the right way :s
The
Hail-Fire seems like a bit of a coin-toss between if people like the aesthetics
of it or not. For me personally, I originally did not like the look of it when
it was first leaked / announced. It looks rather pudgy with a fat belly, and
the rest of the blaster reminded me of an obese Barricade.
But as
I look at it now, I feel I can look past its odd appearance and appreciate it
more from a functional view. The Elite N-Strike colour scheme, digital camo
texture and the transparent Jam-door to watch yourself rapid-fire are nice
touches, but other than that it really does remind me of a ‘Barricade meets
Vulcan’ offspring.
The
rotating ammo rack is an interesting piece of work and really defines what the
Hail-Fire is all about. Although it does make the blaster much wider than many
would deem desirable, the second surprise I found was the size it actually is.
The first leaked pictures all seemed to hint at it being big and chunky, but
then when the teaser videos appeared of people wielding them at the Elite
launch party made it look incredibly small. It is only once you have it in your
hands do you realise that the size has been structured to just the right
proportion. Any smaller and the clip ‘carousel’ would have been a very tight
squeeze, any larger and the blaster would not have been younger kid friendly
(sometimes it is easy for me to forget I am playing toys primarily designed for
8y/o+ kids… :S).
When
wielding the Hail-Fire it handles much like a Vulcan; holding it lowered from
the shoulder at around waist-height; one hand on the front handle, the other on
the trigger grip. Initially it felt a little odd since it is shorter than a
Vulcan plus being wider at the sides meant a little extra manoeuvring to get it
in a comfortable spot. Although the size of the blaster is one thing, I do
admit that the ergonomics of the Hail-Fire are a tad clumsy to get used to.
However a few dozen empty clips later it does grow on you; the only times it’s
wide girth and front handle get in the way is when attempting skill shots
around corners or behind cover in tight spots.
The
front handle is designed for two purposes; to carry and stabilise the blaster
(especially when laden with larger heavy clips) and also to ‘advance’ the ammo
rack. The user pushes the handle forwards to spin the ammo rack around
part-way, then pulling the handle back to resting position will fully complete
the rotation.
The
front grip is a little on the small side and could be a problem for
larger-sized hand users. In addition, the way the advancing handle pushes forward
sometimes feels like it does not go far enough... I kind of expected it to be
like a crazy scientist’s lab where they “throw the switch!” with a massive
swing and a huge “clunk!” noise, but instead it only moves a fraction of the
expected distance forward. It’s not a bad thing, but still it feels odd.
Funnily
enough it is the reverse of the trigger grip; it fits the palm of my hand
perfectly and the triggers are nice and large enough for me to get my fingers
wrapped around comfortably – especially the flywheel trigger which is much more
prominent and defined than the teeny tiny ones almost hidden away on the Rayven
or Nitron. But the third surprise to hit me when I initially grabbed the
Hail-Fire is that the grip feels… different. Don't get the wrong idea I do find
it comfortable, but it doesn't strike me as a familiar grip, kind of a hybrid
of several different blaster grips.
The
Hail-Fire uses a small trigger underneath the main trigger which revs up the
flywheels. By holding it down it keeps the flywheels spinning. Pulling the
larger main trigger pushes a dart into the flywheels which grab it
and‘launches’ it. Being semi-auto means each individual pull of the main
trigger fires one dart so the faster you pull the trigger, the faster you spit
out those darts. Bearing in mind; the faster you shoot out darts, the slower
the flywheels become, resulting in some loss of range.
Unfortunately,
this is where I take a few negative stabs at the Hail-Fire. It has two tactical
rails; one under the front barrel and another on the back on top, just above
where the battery tray hides. My honest opinion is these rails are near
useless; the front tactical rail is too short for most accessories and is only
good for a Stampede or Retaliator grip, yet makes no sense when you’ll be
holding it by the advancing handle on top.
The
rear tactical rail is silly for torches since again the front handle just gets
in the way. Or impractical for scopes because you cannot look through them when
holding it a-la Vulcan style. For custom-made tactical accessories then yes it
is a great idea; maybe dart, clip or a Jolt holder? I bet a custom camera mount
on the rear would make for some interesting footage from that position at a
wide angle though :P Also near the rear tactical rail, the Hail-Fire features
two anchor points for hooking a Bandolier onto securely. It does work… but is
not very comfortable or practical to carry something so wide around unless you
really had to, or just wanted it there as a safety in case of dropping it.
Next
on the chopping block is the very purpose (and ‘selling point’) of the
Hail-Fire is also its main flaw. When only a few clips are inserted (for
example; the four 6-dart clips it comes with), the ammo rack moves quickly and
accurately. But as soon as you either add more clips, larger clips, drums, or
if they are not evenly loaded, this is where some problems may occur.
I find
the weight is a key factor here; the heavier the ammo rack becomes, the more
movement occurs when making big movements (such as while running and whirling
it around in different directions too quickly). The ammo rack may struggle to
keep the clips aligned with the dart pusher and the barrel while it is rattling
around. This may result in either a dart getting pushed out of the clip, but
not into the barrel and just fall out, or you may not even be able to pull the
trigger properly.
This
only occurred when moving the blaster around significantly or when it had
somehow become unbalanced. This is why I do not tend to recommend drums on the
Hail-Fire; because of their bulk and weight they tend to shift around a lot
more than using regular clips. My advice is to only use straight clips, try to
take your time and keep it steady; I’ve never had a problem with firing it from
a standing position, while walking or doing a short mild jog while keeping it
steady. Just remember it’s not made of precision metal components to keep
everything perfectly in place, so be patient :P
The
other problem is the weight affects advancing the ammo rack too quickly. Even
when using eight 6-dart clips if you shove the front handle grip forwards and
then backwards too quickly, the rotation system will just shudder coarsely and
just reset to where it was without advancing, resulting in still being stuck
with an empty clip loaded. This is another reason why I do not recommend using
drums; you have to make not just one but TWO advances to get from one drum to
the next. The upside of using drums, particularly the 35-dart Raider drum, is
you do not need to reload as often, and can fire off a longer stream of darts.
But I feel the potential drawbacks of weight, movement and then longer
reloading times does not justify the upsides.
The
key here is patience; push the handle ALL THE WAY forwards smoothly and wait
for the ammo rack to rotate to the half-way point. Wait for the clips to stop
rattling from the movement, and then pull back the handle smoothly to
completely advance the clips into place. This whole process takes around a
second and a half, but if you rush it you will end up wasting more time trying
to resolve it, or end up misfiring it if you pull the trigger while the clips
are still moving. Once they have stopped rotating and rattling, unleash all
your firepower upon your foes!
Although
having a massive clip carrying capability is an upside, on the other foot the
downside is when you have to swap out those empty clips. Removing or inserting
clips is easy to do; just slot the clips into the ammo rack with the darts
facing outwards until it ‘clicks’ into place, and simply pull it out away from
the ammo rack to remove. But doing this to remove clips eight times *and*
reinsert fresh ones… bottom line is it's time consuming and, unless you tip it
completely upside down and do it properly, it can be fiddly.
I’ve tried
different methods for quickly reloading empty clips, but the only two ways I’ve
come up with to ‘stay in the game’ in the heat of battle are as follows:
- When
all clips have expired, treat it just like a regular clip system blaster; only
load the front slot with freshly filled clips and avoid advancing the ammo
rack. Trying to load multiple clips can waste valuable seconds and make you
vulnerable to enemy fire
- If you
do have time, cover or adequate backup to load multiple clips, it is worth the
time flipping it completely upside-down to un-slot/re-slot the clips. Trying to
slot clips in on an angle or while holding the trigger grip is just
painstakingly fiddly, unless you have A LOT of practice or extremely good
dexterity… which quite obviously I don’t from being ‘Captain Sausage Fingers’
:P
Bearing
in mind though; this is still (generally) a quicker blaster to reload than a
Vulcan with ammo belts. The more ammo you try and fit onto one blaster, the
longer it will take to refill is a pretty standard rule of thumb. But by being
clip-system based, you have the flexibility to use different amounts and sizes
clips, plus you do not necessarily have to reload them all at once either.
On a
small note here it is also a little annoying they only supply you with four
6-dart clips instead of the full potential of eight. Sure, they sell the other
four and extra ammo in an ‘Upgrade’ kit… but it feels similar to the Rampage;
you don’t quite get the whole deal in one package. Kind of like not getting the
French Fries in a Happy-Meal box at McDonalds :(
Being
a semi-auto blaster means you can pull the trigger as fast as you like and for
each trigger pull a dart will spit out. The slower you fire, the further ranges
you will achieve. The faster you fire, the shorter the range. However unlike
the Rayven, you cannot really go "too fast" to the point that you
could cause a jam or the flywheel motors run out of puff. The Hail-Fire seems
to be a more efficient system than the Rayven that even when firing fast, you
will still get acceptable ranges. And this is where the Hail-Fire gets its
namesake from; you can spray darts like rain as if there were no tomorrow!
Unlike Slam-fire blasters which take a lot more energy and pump-action
movements, the Hail-Fire is much easier to unleash a torrent of darts quickly
simply by each pull of the trigger, coupled with the ammo rack holding multiple
clips with a quick reloading system means you can keep up the pressure for
longer.
…That's
the theory at least. I tried firing off eight 18-dart clips as fast as I could consecutively
but by the time I got to the fifth clip... I was struggling to keep my trigger
finger moving it was getting so tired! I feel the Hail-Fire is more suited for
long-term shootouts where you try to conserve your shots as best as you can,
unleashing small bursts of dart-rain when required. That being said if you’re a
trigger-happy fanatic who CAN and WILL fire rapidly and constantly, then you’ll
fall in love with the Hail-Fire even more >:D
As
much as I’ve mentioned all the negative points about its finicky handling and
design flaws, they really do wash away when you get some practice and see this
thing fired up and flinging out darts like no tomorrow. The semi-auto dart
pusher mechanism on this one is definitely the best Nerf have come up with so
far; it is so smooth, so efficient and solidly-built that every time I fire a
dart and it makes that satisfactory loud ‘clunk!’ noise… it really does feel
like a beast and you feel every shot getting hammered out, especially when
rapid firing :P
In
addition, this guy does shoot pretty far. Although on the box it states the
‘75ft’ ranges, unless you were aiming high and really slow in firing, you would
not often get that far. I’d estimate more like 50-60ft on an angle, and about
30-40ft when firing straight. However, I did a voltage mod on it (which I will
demonstrate at a later date when I set up my “Modding Corner” section) and my goodness
does it scare me how much further and more powerful it shoots! D: It didn’t
like running at 16v; the motors just kept cutting out after 30 seconds of
revving the flywheels, yet another surprise :S I instead wound it back to 12v
and it is now purring like a kitten… a very loud, vicious kitten :P
I give the Hail-Fire eight out of ten Elite darts; my only two real issues with it being;
- The
advancing ammo rack is a bit on the rattly and wobbly side *when heavily
loaded*; making it risky to advance the ammo rack too quickly, or frustrating
trying to fire when the clips are not aligned. The huge clip and dart capacity
was the whole point of what made the Hail-Fire what it is, but because of this
flaw its ‘in the heat of battle’ reliability is questionable. However if you
don't mind using eight 6-dart clips (smaller and ligher anyways) at the cost of
ammo capacity, then the rotating ammo rack becomes MUCH more forgiving.
- Not coming with a full set of eight 6-dart clips. Even the
Stampede came with bigger clips and more darts. The Hail-Fire by comparison
feels like you’re getting cut short unless you buy the ‘Upgrade kit’ or happen
to have heaps more clips lying around from other blasters (like I do :P).
The
best word that sums up what kind of blaster this is I feel would be ‘exotic’.
The Hail-Fire is a blaster that provides a new unique function in an original
design. I can see a few situations where it would be highly valued; team
battles such as Attack / Defend games, Humans vs Zombies, and especially at
indoor skirmishes! Although many people will have their own opinions on just
how successful they feel the Hail-Fire performs, I feel it has achieved worthy
recognition of being a ‘flagship’ model of the Elite line. (Unlike the Nitron
of the Vortex series… but that’s another story :S)
