Real-life Destiny-themed Nerf guns are nothing new, with Bungie previously releasing a giant replica of the Gjallar Horn rocket launcher. But the upcoming Ace of Spades Nerf blaster feels distinctly different, both in terms of usability and the fact that this particular gun choice resonates more deeply with Destiny 2’s story.
Bungie recently sent Ace of Spades, and I’ve been playing it for the past few days, much to the disdain and horror of my two cats respectively. I didn’t see any of the dimensions listed until the blaster showed up on my doorstep, and I was shocked when I opened the box: This thing was Big ones. It’s about 18 inches from the tip of the handle to the end of the barrel, which might not sound like a lot for something you’d display on a shelf, but as a pistol you’re actually going to hold and use, it’s hard not to When you first see it, you laugh at how big it is. I guess they didn’t call them hand cannons in Destiny for nothing.
That’s not to say size is a bad thing – quite the opposite. The proportions don’t feel too far removed from what it would feel like to use the Ace of Spades in a game, and at least to me, this is ultimately destined to be displayed on a shelf in my office, so the larger size ensures it doesn’t outshine what’s around it It seems dwarfed by comparison. Even though it’s large, it’s not uncomfortably heavy. It’s fairly hefty and doesn’t feel flimsy, although you wouldn’t be fooled into thinking it wasn’t plastic.
Visually speaking, Ace of Spades looks significantly better than Gjallarhorn in my opinion. While you still wouldn’t mistake it for any kind of actual weapon, it eschews the shiny look of Gjallarhorn’s plastic, which gives it an extremely children’s toy-esque appearance. Instead, it has more of a matte finish, with decals similar to the standard gaming version, although the color scheme changes to a white and orange design. (An exotic cosmetic is coming soon that lets you match the look of the in-game gun to the Nerf version.)
Overall it looks pretty good, but your expectations should be set accordingly: This is a $50 Nerf gun that also comes with a battery-powered launcher, which means it doesn’t look like a hundreds-dollar worthless gun. Functional collectibles. Some of the decals, possibly due to the textured surface, look a little imperfect, although this only becomes apparent upon closer inspection. The left side is adorned with many warnings and other icons that distract from the design, so it’s best to keep the right side visible, although I’d like to reposition the Destiny and Nerf logos to make them look as stylish as possible. Fortunately, the brief drama appears to have finally been resolved after a fan’s accusation of using a gun design without permission resulted in the fan being compensated and praised for his work, with TofuRabbit saying they were both ” Very grateful.”
The battery is used to fire 12 darts – each drum shell fires 6 darts, and the second drum shell allows you to quickly reload – another pleasant surprise area. I hadn’t used a Nerf gun in about twenty years, and had never used a gun that relied on batteries, so I was stunned by its shooting power. While firing the Galar Horn is like shooting a bunch of wet noodles, it’s a lot more powerful than I thought. To fire, you first hold down the trigger under your middle finger, which turns the firing mechanism (and produces an audible whirring sound), then pull the main trigger to fire.
This is likely to be the norm for battery-powered Nerf guns, but I’m glad to see the darts can go quite far. I thought they would move gently across a room, but the fact that they moved very quickly and up 40-50 feet made for a much more interesting experience than I imagined. The first time I fired a dart at an office wall from about seven feet away, I was surprised at how far the dart bounced off the wall, sometimes even landing behind me. Its impact is so powerful that the darts can bounce off multiple nearby surfaces, meaning they can easily be lost. Depending on how cluttered your room is, you’ll need to be prepared to hunt for darts, although orange tips make this slightly easier.
Of course, I had to know if these darts would hurt if they were hit, so I enlisted my wife, who was more than eager to take me up on the opportunity. She fired two shots at me from about 12 feet away, which was enough to confirm that it wouldn’t leave a mark, but still enough for the attacker to chop it down instantly, which was still unpleasant. As she walked out, I couldn’t help but return the favor. My wife’s comment? “That shit sting”, even though it was only a “brief sting.”
I expected the Ace of Spades to be the hottest hit for my cats, but so far they’ve been too alarmed – perhaps because of the noise of the launch – to engage in pursuit of the launched darts. That’s probably for the best, as any chewing on the darts seems to prevent them from fitting smoothly into the drum shell, although the chance of a viral video of my cat flying across the room after the darts showed themselves clearly isn’t going to go away.
Some other minor issues include the battery compartment (located on the left side of the barrel, which holds four AA batteries (not included)), which is difficult to open even after removing the screws. My fingernails weren’t long enough, which meant I had to pry off the lid with a small flat-blade screwdriver, which briefly reminded me of mistakenly trying to pry open the last Destiny collectible I got my hands on. Thankfully, things went much better this time. There are also very small plastic separators between the cells, and I bent one of them by mistake so that the cells didn’t have enough contact to function. This resulted in me shooting without battery power, which caused the gun to jam and be difficult to separate. Once I got the battery installed correctly, this was no longer an issue; when holding down the rev trigger makes a noise, you know it’s ready to fire. Pulling the hammer opens the drum holder, but if the gun is tilted back, the drum slides right out—good for quick reloading, but potentially prone to falling and hitting the ground. Fortunately, the drums are sturdy enough but don’t feel like they’ll break easily.
As mentioned above, I don’t know that I’ll be shooting for it long-term, but that’s okay. It looks beautiful on the shelf and serves as a promotional piece for Bungie’s best narrative effort yet, The Final Shape, and I really like that it honors Cayde-6, who was famous for wielding the Ace of Spades. . The initial news that Cade would be returning to the game after being killed off a few years ago initially set off alarm bells, but his story ultimately became central to both Final Form’s character-focused plot and its subsequent campaign content. Bungie somehow managed to give Cayde a worthy return, and while his character may now be truly complete, he will always be an important figure in Destiny’s history.
Like many fans, Bungie’s unfortunate layoffs have left me uncertain about the future of the series, though the studio continues to share more about what to expect. But as a way to remember Cade’s character – and to be associated with many of my favorite moments from the past decade of Destiny – it’s a much more meaningful one to me than a simpler statue of the character. of display works. The fact that I still get some cat videos out of it is a nice bonus.
The Ace of Spades Nerf blaster will initially be available for pre-order only for players who have unlocked the new legendary game in Destiny 2.