BOOMco. Halo Covenant Needler Review (8/10)

Nothing survives the pink mist.

New guns! About damn time you might say. Mattel has been going absolutely nuts with their BOOMco. line lately and thanks to a sweet licencing deal with Halo, we can have dart firing versions of everything from the Plasma Pistol to the SMG. Then of course the line wouldn't be complete without what is probably Halo's most infamous weapon, the Needler. No, it's rounds won't follow your target and make them violently explode when a dozen needles get stuck in their arse but it makes for a cool blaster, not a bad performing one at that.

Size compared to an Apollo XV-700.

The Needler is the biggest and most expensive gun out of the Halo line so far and it's not all that surprising why. Mattel did a fairly good job of keeping the blaster looking true to the "real" Needler while making it functional as a dart blaster. It's pretty well built and it's actually pretty comfortable, which is good thing because I would rather not have them model the grip exactly like the one in the video game. That would be painful to hold for even five minutes.

The "Needles" light up and pulsate. 

What I would really cool was that the spare darts on the top light up and pulsate like the needles do in the game. While they don't get sucked into the blaster when you fire, each light turns off one by one as each dart is fired so they clearly put some thought into this. I will gripe slightly about the prime. The entire bottom of the gun cocks back and while it's not that bad in single fire, slam firing with this thing makes you accuracy insanely terrible and it takes some skill and well positioned hand to keep it a little steady while doing so.

Internals are identical to the Twisted Spinner.

The reason for this erratic slam firing? Remember that semi loathed blaster called the Twisted Spinner? Well this is it! The internals of the Needler are exactly the same as the Twisted Spinner, but there's a catch... no really there's a catch, for a trigger. One of the biggest complaints about that blaster was the lack of a trigger and this rectifies that issue completely. It is a bit loud operating but it's understandable with how beefy the spring is in this thing. As a result it's clocking in at around 40 to 55 feet which is pretty normal by today's range standards. Ranges will decrease in slam fire mostly because of how inaccurate it is while doing so. I would expect the same mods a Twisted Spinner can take to work here, maybe even slightly better.

The Needler is a unique blaster. It has absolutely iconic looks it performs pretty well, Twisted Spinner re-tweak and all. I however don't see this thing as being very war practical due to it's odd form factor and strange priming mechanism, plus in slam fire you have a better shot at hitting the guy standing right next to you than anything in front of you. All of this can be excused with the fact that it's a Needler that actually shoots darts, something I and many others have dreamt of for years, for that and it's solid performance it's worthy of an 8 out of 10. Again it's more of a novelty piece than a war worthy blaster but if you like Halo, this is a must get. Supercombine away.

The Verdict

Class- What is this... I don't even...

Range- Good, 40 to 55 feet.

Size- Comparable to an Apollo, but it's just so oddly shaped there isn't really anything like it.

Reliability- Might encounter the same issues as the Twisted Spinner but so far so good.

Ammo- 16 Smart Stick Darts

Modding- Similar mod potential to the Twisted Spinner, if not more.
Value- At $40, it's a bit pricey but for the Halo fan, worth every penny.

Is It Better Than?

Twisted Spinner- Yes, while they are identical internally the Needler performs better in all aspects. It's more accurate, slightly more powerful, and above all, it has a trigger. That's enough for most people to but anything over a Twisted Spinner. They are cheap though.