Dart Zone Liberator Review

The Dart Zone Liberator isn’t exactly new. The model itself first came out in 2019, and was a fun if flawed addition to the ball blaster genre. Six years later, with an initial sale on their website and a new listing on Amazon, Dart Zone has re-released the Liberator, with updated velocity claims and a galaxy-themed paint scheme. But is it worth the new price point? Perhaps. Let’s take a peek!

Adding Form to Function

The updated Liberator, of course, comes with its own wrap, featuring a pink/purple galaxy paint job in addition to the orange and light blue bits. It’s really pretty, and the paint is a great addition to the somewhat bland original. I’m a function over form person when it comes to blasters, but I can appreciate good looks!

Beyond that, however, the functional bits themselves are all the same. There’s a loading door under the priming grip – once exposed, you can load ten balls into the blaster, close the door to reset the internal magazine, push the priming grip forward, and fire.

Speaking of firing, the Liberator still features a trigger safety. You have to depress the smaller trigger before you can engage the main trigger. Depending on your preferences, this might be good or bad – or worth opening up the blaster just to remove it. Don’t worry, plenty of people have done that before. The existing 3d printed files to fill in the safety trigger area still fits.

In terms of usability, it remains the same as before. Reloading the blaster tends to be a chore if you don’t use all of the ammo first, due to the design of the ammo-loading door. If you manage to make it happen, you’ll likely double feed your next shot due to pushing balls out of the way (and into the barrel). It’s a design shortcoming compared to the Nerf Rival blasters…but in fairness, I’m not sure we’re seeing new Rival blasters at this stage, either.

Performance

Where the updated Liberator shines, however, is in power. It claims up to 120fps velocities, and with the included ammo, I was hitting 123fps average. I know, because I had to switch ammo to get *under* 120fps for a recent Humans v Zombies game! Your mileage will vary depending on the ammo you have on hand, but this blaster hits much harder than the previous version, which was quite weak in comparison.

Rate of fire is a solid two balls per second (no slam-fire). Not exceptional by any means, but still acceptable.

In terms of use, I don’t appear to have an original stock Liberator for comparison, but it doesn’t seem like it’s harder to prime (between spring strength and the original plain-but-grippy priming grip). I’ll see if I can unearth one from my basement for a better comparison.

Internals and Modification

Refer back to the original review in 2019 for internal pics, they appear largely the same. Admittedly, I think the plunger seal is better with this blaster, and the air safety valve isn’t as sensitive, but I’ll need testing to make sure. At the very least, the mold is identical, so I’m not expecting any surprises.

Last Thoughts

If you missed the Liberator the first time around (it was admittedly less than ideal), you may be interested in this version. Even with the quirks present, it performs so much better. The price, though…$40? When the original was $18? Times really do change, it seems. I don’t know if this is a matter of batch size, inflation, tariffs, or what else, but that one is hard to swallow.

At the very least, make sure you’re going to use it before pulling the metaphorical trigger. And perhaps take advantage of any holiday sales Dart Zone offers?