Nerf Elite Hyperfire Review (7/10)

Speed kills.

Flywheel blasters seem to be becoming the new norm among Jolts and bows. When Nerf isn't busy reshelling the Stryfe a million times, they actually come up with something interesting like the Khaos and of course this; the Hyperfire. Related to the Dart Tag revolver only in name, the new Hyperfire is marketed as the fastest motorized dart blaster on the shelves. So how well does it live up to that claim? Sort of.

Size compared to a Retaliator.

The Hyperfire can almost be seen as a compliment, maybe even a possible replacement for the rather excellent Rapidstrike. The blaster has a very unorthodox look to it and it almost reminds me of an FN P90 in terms of it's ridiculous thumb-hole stock style grip and the comically bulky front end. That being said, the grip feels a little cramped around the back and probably more so in the front if you have larger hands. Despite this the blaster feels very balanced weightwise and shoulders quite nicely.

Belt feeder is located in the jam door.

The rather heavy duty jam door is held on by a release tab that's more likely to break your fingernails than actually unlock the door. Underneath you'll find a belt feeder system that's similar to the one on the Khaos but slightly smaller. This was probably implemented as a more reliable high rate of fire alternative to using a pusher mechanism like on the Rapidstrike. However, seeing as many modded Rapidstrikes have been capable of 15 DPS using the stock mechanism with upgraded motors, it makes you wonder why the Hyperfire went this route to begin with.

Rate of fire bogs down after prolonged firing.

That being said, compared to the Rapidstrike the Hyperfire is considerably more inconsistent in firing. While it does shell out darts at about 5 DPS, the accuracy is all over the place and the ranges in full auto only top out at about 30 to 35 feet. This is because the flywheels can't keep up with the speed of the belt feeder; the blaster will actually bog down and suffer a drastic decrease in rate of fire and range after prolonged firing. Single firing the Hyperfire actually warrants ranges of around 45 to 50 feet which is considerably more acceptable. That pretty much only relegates the Hyperfire to a spray and pray close quarters blaster versus the Rapidstrike's more consistent all around performance.

Relatively standard flywheel internals.

I wasn't really expecting to find much under the hood of the Hyperfire seeing as the only real different part of it is the belt feeder compared to other automatic flywheels. Apart from that, the internals are at least comparable to a Rapidstrike in terms of the wiring setup meaning you can gut and replace the whole mess with micro-switches and whatnot in about the same manner as the Rapidstrike, substituting the pusher mechanism for the belt feeder. However, there is more work potentially involved because of this other problem.

Seriously, what the hell is this?

If you decided to go about and rewire the Hyperfire only to find that the darts fishtail like absolute crazy, this may be the culprit. If you bust open the flywheel cage you will find that both flywheels are canted at a pretty significant angle in opposite directions of each other. This has purpose in some cases but in the Hyperfire, it's pretty excessive. The iffy stock accuracy may be a result of this and it might possibly be a form of mod prevention in that the flywheels are canted at just the right angle that if the flywheels spin up faster than their intended RPM, the blaster will shoot like shit. There are two solutions to this; one is to make a brass dart guide with slots cut for the flywheels to try and tighten up the erratic exit pattern caused by the flywheels, no idea if this works by the way. Two: throw that crap into the garbage, sacrifice the cage out of a Stryfe or one of it's brethren, cut to fit and drop it in.

The Hyperfire, despite it's big promises, is a bit of a mess. It isn't a terrible blaster by any means; it's relatively comfortable absurd grip design aside, can hit respectable ranges with timed trigger pulls, and it can definitely hose down targets with darts at close range with the trigger held down. The problem is that it's pretty much unusable in in full auto; the whole purpose of this blaster. The belt feeder causes the flywheels to get bogged down and it kills performance severely after several shots, it's also reportedly finicky when it comes to worn darts. Overall it's expensive but not bad, unfortunately not as good as you hoped it would be. 7 out of 10, get a Rapidstrike instead.

The Verdict

Class- Flywheel Assault Rifle

Range- Below average in full auto, 30- 35 feet tops. Good 45- 50 feet with timed shots.

Size- Similar to a Rapidstrike or Retaliator but with more general bulk.

Reliability- Jams are quite possible, rate of fire and ranges drop with prolonged automatic fire.

Ammo- 25 Elite Darts

Modding- Voltage and motor upgrades are in the cards, flywheels might need fixing.
Value- At $50, this is an expensive blaster that isn't as good as you would have hoped.

Is It Better Than?

Zeus- No, the Zeus is an extremely good blaster and can fit the bill in a lot of situations. The Hyperfire may shred it in terms of rate of fire and ammo capacity but the Zeus is a more manageable package even though it too has a good amount of weight to it. The more controllable semi auto fire paired with the significant power and accuracy bump over can give it an upper hand over the spray happy Hyperfire. Being a little less expensive, it's a worthy substitute.


Rapidstrike- No, the Rapidstrike has cemented itself as one of the best primaries to grace foam warfare since the Longshot. It has a controllable yet decent rate of fire and it's considerably more consistent performing than the Hyperfire due in part to it's mechanical pusher mechanism that doesn't slip unlike the Hyperfire's belt feeder. If modded properly, the Rapidstrike can fire at over 100 FPS at around 15 DPS making it as nasty of close quarters blaster as it is capable of medium to long range. Everyone should own several.

Rapid Madness- Depends, the Rapid Madness is quite different in that it is an air pressure blaster packed into a rather lovely shell. It's rate of fire destroys the Hyperfire and it's capable of slightly better ranges. However it's downsides come in the form of the numerous gremlins that plague air powered blasters, the lengthy reload/pumping time, and the unconventional ammo type. It's a good blaster for hosing down targets with darts as well but you might want the convenience of  battery power.