Blasters like the Alternator make reviews hard to do. They’re specialty blasters that can do multiple things, so you have to do your best to judge the sum of the parts. Luckily, the Alternator performs well given its unique setup. That, combined with the cute junkyard aesthetic, makes for a fun blaster to start off the Zombie Strike line in 2020.
Not THAT Kind of Alternator
The handle itself is small, but open. It’s also comfortable wide, so most hands should fit it nicely. It’s not perfect, but it’s serviceable while keeping with the theme. Meanwhile, the spring is quite strong, but easy to prime thanks to the plastic loop at the end of the wrench…er, plunger rod.
Performance
A fully loaded Alternator will give you one shot every second, accounting for the time to switch barrels. Loading up the barrels fully may take some time. However, you don’t need to load all the darts if you’re in a hurry. Since every barrel has an air restrictor, it’s perfectly possible to load one dart by itself in the lower barrel assemblies and fire at full velocity. Sometimes, it’s best to load a single dart and tag a charging zombie out than to wait too long trying to load every barrel.
Internals
The Alternator has the expected setup for a spring-powered pistol. There’s a bit of dead space between the plunger tube and the dart barrels, due to the rotating design, but it apparently doesn’t hurt performance that much (It also accounts for the need to actually have a trigger and handle for basic function). Each half of the rotating barrel assembly slides on a series of push-in metal rivets, so you’ll have to remove ALL the screws before the blaster can split in half (one screw is reached via a strategically placed hole in the shell).
Once apart, you’ll find the barrels themselves are contained units that snap into place.
Conclusion
The Zombie Strike Alternator is a quirky pistol that does something new, and does it fairly well. Single shots have good power to them, but there’s enough oomph to do bursts as well. I personally love the look, and I appreciate the little touches. It’s a unique style of play, and one worth looking into because of that.