Adventure Force Lancer Review

I wasn’t really expecting to see a “mini” minigun on shelves, but here we are. The Adventure Force Lancer isn’t as powerful as other things on shelves, or as practical. But I’m not sure practical is always the point. It’s not the easier blaster to aim, but it’s hard to imagine the target audience using it as intended and successfully aiming anyway.

Perhaps it’s okay for a blaster to just be fun?

Try Before You Buy?

The Adventure Force Lancer is one of a few new blasters to hit shelves in minimalist packaging, letting potential consumers see the blaster in person or try firing it. In fact, there’s a tiny sign encouraging people to operate the handle and rotate the barrel, so in theory you could have kids using the blaster in the aisle (minus the darts, if they haven’t destroyed the box yet). The Lancer is possibly just as much about the play value as it is the gameplay value, so this is the best way to show it off.

Once it’s out of the package, everything else comes into play. Included are ten waffle tip darts, which go in the cylinder at the front of the blaster. Yep, as cute as this is, in reality it’s a revolver with extra steps. Pulling the handle back primes the blaster, then pulling the trigger fires it. Alternatively, you could hold down the trigger, then prime the blaster – this enables a slamfire mechanism, letting the dart loose at the very end of the initial priming motion. Either way, you’re rotating the cylinder to the next dart for firing.

The blaster is definitely sized for the 8+ crowd, but small to average adult hands should be able to use the blaster just fine.

Performance

On average, I’ve been hitting 78fps with the included darts. That’s certainly enough velocity to hit the claimed 80′ ranges when angled. It’s admittedly a bit underwhelming, especially when compared to something like the Adventure Force Spectrum, but it’s respectable.

Rate of fire is a different story, with four darts per second in slamfire being easily achievable.

You should keep in mind that aiming with the blaster is…a bit secondary to everything else, especially if you’re firing from the hip and reliving your action movie dreams. That said, hitting opponents is possible with a little practice. Just don’t expect miracles to begin with.

I’d have footage…but the one game I used it, I played and then realized my camera didn’t have an SD card. Whoops. In any case, it was a fun blaster to use, even if I was the only person with a stock blaster.

Internals

There are several things going on here. Of course, we have the main priming mechanism, with decently thick plastic pieces rotating in order to pull back the plunger. The final linkage is spring-loaded, and is the key to slamfire; if you’ve depressed the trigger to start with, then that spring-loaded lever will give way at the very end of the priming motion.

Interestingly, there’s what looks to be an unused catch of some kind behind the main catch. Or at least, I’m guessing that’s what it was, once upon a time? It’s spring loaded and moves when you pull the trigger, but it doesn’t actually interact with anything! Maybe Dart Zone can enlighten us on the design process at some point in the future.

Last Thoughts

The Adventure Force Lancer is equal parts style and substance. Admittedly, you can only have so much of either for $15, but what you do get is worth it for the kid who spots it and tries it in the blaster aisle.