Nerf Rival Zeus MXV-1200 Review (10/10)

This kind of thunder breaks walls and window panes.

My last post covered my trip to Toys R Us to look for these things and while I found the Apollo, I couldn't find the Zeus but as it turned out, they were tucked away on the bottom shelf behind me where all the Air Zone stuff was. This is the bigger of the two Rival blasters and much like the Apollo, it's performance is pretty outstanding.

Size compared to a Rapidstrike.

The Zeus is a pretty unique blaster. It's a semi-auto assault rifle type blaster laid out in bullpup configuration so it's notably shorter than most other rifle type blasters while still being fairly comfortable for most people. I will note it's weight though, it feels like it weighs notably more than other C battery powered blasters and especially for it's size, but it feels well built and sturdy. There are flip up iron sights but they are pretty dreadful, luckily you don't need them. There are three tactical rails and two need to be manually installed for god knows what reason. They take any regular attachments and I think they might be able to fit actual optics, although I haven't tested this. You can also use the rail clips the come with extra mags and use them to store them on the side of the blaster, which can be very helpful.

Magazine loads horizontally through the side.

The most unique feature about the Zeus is that it loads it's 12 round mags(9 rounders don't work, they are too short) horizontally from the side, sort of like a P90. This greatly helps make the blaster more compact compared to traditional bottom feeders. Loading is a little finicky at first but one you get it down, popping mags out and loading new ones in can be quite quick. I will note that the mag release is absolute crap but luckily you don't really need to use it. It's much easier just to push the empty mag out with your hand instead to trying to use this poorly located switch. This also has a safety switch but like the Apollo and again I'm not too certain why, it won't terminally injure anyone unless maybe you shoot them in the eye(Don't test this). Unlike the Apollo, this has a jam door, and jams are pretty easy to clear on the Zeus, luckily so far I've only had one. 

Bigger motors for more POWAH!

So good ergonomics and a good loading system once you get the hang of it, now how does it shoot? Savagely. Like, no joke. It does live up to it's 100 FPS claim and firing while letting the flywheels spin up in between shots will land around the 60- 70 foot mark with great accuracy, and obviously spamming the trigger in full retard mode will get you lesser ranges but that what you expect when you use flywheel blasters. I'm seeing this thing doing pretty good in all situations provided you got extra mags to back it up, otherwise it's pretty much useless. Internally, this has got bigger motors than most flywheel blasters we're used to seeing and they are notably louder and create a solid amount of vibration. I do see it being more open to mods compared to the Apollo though as it has pretty massive battery space to chuck LiPos, nuclear reactors, or whatever in there. I've seen from some people who have upped the voltage that the motors do seem to hold up a lot better than those in the Stryfe or Rapidstrike so you can get a little more crazy with this. I've also witnessed a full auto modification on reddit by removing part of the ammo gate before the flywheel, and it shoots ungodly fast. Basically the Zeus is pretty open to ideas, and it seems to be pretty nasty when the right stuff is done to it.

Overall the Zeus is a massively fun blaster. It packs good comfort with a massive amount of power for a stock blaster and with the semi auto firing system, it can easily hold it's own against it's dart blasting counterparts. Yes you're going to need more mags to use it effectively and some may find the horizontal loading system a little weird at first but that probably can be overlooked, also considering it's great mod potential. This honestly has to be the best stock blaster I've used to date and it's worthy of a solid 10 out of 10. It's price tag may be a bit high but it's definitely worth a look, especially if you want to try something completely different.

The Verdict

Class- Semi-Auto Bullpup Assault Rifle

Range- Excellent, around 60 to 70 feet although range will reduce with fast firing.

Size- Notably shorter than a Rapidstrike and it packs some weight.

Reliability- Jams are possible but so far I've only dealt with one.

Ammo- 12 High Impact Rounds

Modding- Loads of potential for a flywheel, can be converted to full auto.
Value- At $50, this is an expensive piece of kit, but you get a lot of blaster for the money.

Is It Better Than?

Nitron- Yes, this was the closest thing to the Zeus back when Vortex was still relevant. It may be full auto out of the box but it shoots so slow you wouldn't even notice. It's also less powerful than the Zeus and it's much bigger. Plus the HI Rounds seem to be more stable than XLR Discs in flight. Zeus is ultimate.

Rapidstrike- Depends, respectable full auto performance out of the box but the Zeus still beats it in all aspects except ammo capacity as this can take drums if you want. A well modded Rapidstrike can be remarkably fast in full auto and pull off great ranges, rivaling a Zeus. (I did it again, didn't I?)

Modulus- Yes, I would put the Stryfe here but it isn't "rifle" enough and if it was a Stryfe I would have said it depends based entirely on mod potential, which is the exact same as this one. But the Modulus costs as much as the Zeus, performs worse out of the box, and most of it's stock accessories, namely the stock are complete crap. $50 bucks not well spent, that's why it's on sale now.