Nerf Modulus Recon MK-II Review (7/10)

Nobody asked for this.

Remember that time when asked for another Retaliator? Me neither, but apparently Nerf decided we should have one and it's not just a Retaliator reshell, it's the direct successor, the blockbuster part two of the old Nerf Recon. It's called the Recon MK-II but wait, isn't the Retaliator technically the Recon MK-II? Has Nerf lost the concept of continuity or are they now just shit at naming? Perhaps, but naming dispute aside, it won't tear your face off like the old Recon but it's not without it's issues either.

Size compared to a Retaliator.

Once again, I have no idea why Nerf found it necessary to make this thing, I always thought the whole concept of Modulus was one big cash grab and the ECS-10 was a prime example of half assing the entire thing. But apparently the rest of the new lineup is following suit, because you know, screw originality. Let's just cram a Retaliator into a shell that's a total love of hate design and name it after a blaster which we already technically replaced with the said Retaliator. Okay, rant aside the shell isn't bad feeling at all. Yeah it's a bit fugly but it's rather comfortable and compact. The stock feels alright too, even though it's roughly the same length as the Retaliator stock but it works well, at least on the MK-II. So you can stow it away a lot easier than a fully assembled Retaliator, cool. However not all is well.

Absolute crap.

Once you start trying to customize your blaster, everything just hits the fan. The shell design, while it may feel fine, is actually fucking terrible. The blaster itself completely lacks the ability to accept high capacity magazines which leaves you stuck with the six rounders or the twelve rounders. This is remediable by some shell trimming but whats the point? The Retaliator takes hi-caps just fine! Also the blaster lacks the little hole in the front where barrel attachments lock into place. This means non-Modulus barrel attachments just fall off with some movement, again remediable but not a problem on the Retaliator. Also the rail on the stock barrel attachment is so small you can't even secure a foregrip on it, and with the terrible barrel attachment problem, there's no way around it. Nerf is releasing a new wave of MK-IIs that have the receiver issue fixed at least but still, what a load of garbage.

All decked out.

That being said, with Modulus attachments, it does look pretty wicked. You can actually prime it without the scope coming loose too which is a nice touch if you care. Note how I have the ECS-10 barrel attachment on the blaster. You may think this would work to mount other barrels but nope. It too has the same exact problem. 

Internals; not much to see here.

As for performance it's about the same as the Retaliator. It fires at around 40 to 60 feet with varying consistency. It's not the most accurate either but with Elite darts, it's a little expected. Internally it's much the same too with only slight improvements in the priming mechanism to make it smoother and the redesigned breech. This new breech has a V-shaped taper in it that helps eliminate the dart smashing issue the Retaliator had but that's about it. You can cut and sand one into a Retaliator and get the same results. Mod potential between the two should be pretty much the same as well.

The Recon MK-II isn't a bad blaster by any means. It performs solidly just like the Retaliator and feels compact and well built. However it's plagued by numerous design flaws that completely ruin this blaster's customizability and while they are all fixable, the Retaliator works just fine for the exact same price. It really does feel like a half assed, poorly thought out cash grab that isn't any better than it's counterpart which is a shame because it's a solid blaster at it's core. For that, the Recon MK-II deserves a 7 out of 10. It works fine as it stands but it's too flawed for me to recommend it over the Retaliator.

The Verdict

Class- Spring Powered Carbine

Range- Good, 40 to 60 feet.

Size- Comparable to a Retaliator with half the barrel length.

Reliability- Can jam like most clip systems but this has not been an issue yet.

Ammo- 6 Elite Darts

Modding- Same as the Retaliator.
Value- At $25, the Retaliator is the same price and less problematic.

Is It Better Than?

Retaliator- No, the Retaliator is one of the most versatile springers ever made. While the Recon MK-II performs virtually the same, it's design flaws and lower ammo capacity out of the box make it a less viable blaster than the Retaliator. It especially stings that both blaster's are the same price. Ouch.

Recon- Yes, well no kidding. The Recon was a pretty sub par blaster. Okay, it's the same as the Retaliator in terms of it's shell but it packs the oh so hated reverse plunger system we were all familiar with prior to 2012 and as a result it's performance was pretty sorry. The MK-II blows it out of the water, shell issues aside.