Nerf Modulus Mediator XL Review (8/10)

Pump it up.

Modulus is kind of a weird series. It's lineup basically prides itself on shelling out abominations of plastic with some semblance of functionality with anywhere from sub-par to solid performance figures. Usually the core blasters aren't bad, they just look and feel generally terrible with all their tacked on accessories that usually serve zero purpose other just to increase overall bulk. There really isn't much of reason to buy a Modulus blaster over any of their less expensive Elite counterparts, however this one right here might be worth considering. Say hello to the Mediator.

Size compared to a Strongarm.

The Mediator on paper seems like a pretty bog standard blaster, but it's $20 dollar price point makes it somewhat enticing for those looking for a multi-role blaster. It's a side loading, slam-fire capable pump action not much bigger than a Retaliator pistol, so in essence a compact Rampage. Sounds pretty damn cool to me. The Mediator is pretty typical looking as far as aesthetics but it's compact form factor makes it ridiculously simple and comfortable to use. Hell, it's so nice that I think lefties can adapt to the side mounted receiver pretty easily compared to the larger Rampage. Overall, high marks for usability.

Internals are pretty typical. Get's the job done well.

The blaster hits around 40 to 55 feet with somewhat interesting accuracy characteristics due to the lightweight Elite darts and short barrel. Slam-fire works smoothly although the lack of a stock and the piddly six dart magazine will definitely mean you're gonna have a bad time so throwing a drum on isn't a bad choice in the slightest. Inside is a set of pretty typical, Rampage-esque internals that can probably handle any one of the millions or so mods that exist for that blaster.

It's not good enough. We can make it better.

Honestly though, that's really all that's interesting about the Mediator core. It's just a solid all around blaster and the performance figures are what you'd expect from a largely Retaliator/Rampage based blaster. But I didn't come here just to write a short ass review about another pretty typical dart blaster, no way. The Mediator actually has a whole lot more up it's sleeve; it's got accessories baby! Yet in true Modulus fashion, it's not without throwing $30 bucks more at the thing in the form of two separate kits. Interestingly Nerf did something different and made these kits almost specifically geared toward the Mediator. Of course they work on other blasters as well but it's like they purposely made the core blaster as bland as possible to make you want to buy the two kits in order to make the blaster into something less cookie cutter. Good job Hasbro, that's exactly what I did.

Yeah I wouldn't want to use this either.

The first kit is the Mediator Barrel which at first glance brings back dark memories of the Tri-Strike's "oh my god why is this so bad" slew of push pull accessories that all universally sucked. I'll say this, holy shit am I glad I didn't forgo buying this thing. After Nerf has consistently failed to deliver good underbarrel attachments, they finally hit the nail on the head by using... GOOD OLD FASHIONED AIR PRESSURE! Bolded caps lock to accentuate the fact that I really was genuinely excited when I found this out. You get a slide operated pump and a firing button on the side, plus as a kind of hokey extra, the barrel attachment portion folds down into a grip so you can use it as a standalone, albeit very awkward pistol.

OH MY GOD.

The overpressure valve kicks in at around ten pumps and it fires a shotgun blast of three darts at ranges of around 35 to 50 feet. The spread is relatively  tight but it leaves a bit to be desired in terms of accuracy. That being said it's pretty solid at all and it should make for a solid holdout blaster if the main gun runs dry. Inside you find internals we haven't seen the likes of from Nerf for over a decade, a backpressure tank a bit smaller than the one found in a Secret Shot II. There seems to be about an inch of dead space between the tank and the ARs but I'd imagine you can ream some serious power out of this thing with a good barrel and pump setup. Hopefully Nerf will continue developing new air pressure blasters and put something full sized on the market. This is very promising.

Surprise!

The second kit is the Mediator Stock which also doubles a holster. Okay, hold on. Why the hell is Nerf so obsessed with these stupid plastic holsters? They're bulky as hell and don't feel all that secure, though I'll admit, this one is a lot better than some of the others I've tried. Inside you'll find what is basically a re-shelled Doublestrike, a blaster I scathed for it's numerous faults even though it was a pretty good shooter. This one is very similar although the grip is much nicer and the overdraw issue isn't present here, although the trigger feels a bit weird.

Yeah, not much to be done here as far as I can tell.

The pistol shoots at range of about 45 to 55 feet which is still in line with the Doublestrike although it rarely unintentionally ejects darts out of the bottom barrel on the trigger pull, which is usually a symptom of a weak smart-AR or loose fitting darts. That being said, it's far more consistent blaster than the Doublestrike and it feels much nicer in the hands despite it's still difficult one handed prime. There isn't much room for modding though as the smart-AR limits barrel options and the priming mechanism limits your choice in springs a bit. Overall it's a solid, fun little shooter.

Size compared to a Longstrike.

The fully assembled blaster is known as the Mediator XL and it's gone from the compact blaster it started life as to a rather lengthy blaster with a penchant for having "Nerf" printed on it one too many times. It's actually pretty slick looking and the stock is actually rather solid, even though it's mostly hollow. It's surprisingly functional in this form and nothing feels too out of reach or too weirdly positioned so essence, you get two solid holdout blasters mounted to a solid main. Nothing much to gripe about here although the lengthened barrel does increase drag on the darts a bit, increasing accuracy slightly but reducing range.

The Mediator is a pretty interesting blaster to say the least. It performs solidly and feels great to use but also on a more unexpected note, the optional extras don't actually suck. The return of air pressure power was a pleasant surprise to find in the underbarrel blaster and the pistol hidden in the stock is quite powerful as well. Downsides mainly stem from the few weird quirks I covered above and some people may balk that you have to pay extra to get the full package here, but personally I think it's kind of nice that Nerf is letting you pick and choose with the Mediator rather than cramming the box full of useless hunks of plastic as a means of justifying jacking the price up like previous Modulus blasters. As a result I think the Mediator XL is worthy of an 8 out of 10 for being an all around solid blaster and one of the most worthwhile in it's lineup.

The Verdict

Class- Pump Action Rifle

Range-  40 to 55 feet with the main gun, 35 to 50 with the underbarrel, 45 to 55 with the pistol.

Reliability- Main gun can be subject to jams, smart-AR is slightly weak in the pistol.

Ammo- 11 Elite Darts

Modding- Both the main and the underbarrel have plenty of potential, the pistol not so much.
Value- The Mediator core is great, albeit simple for $20 bucks. The kits cost $15 dollars each and how much merit they'll actually hold is entirely up to the end user.

Is It Better Than?

Tri-Strike- Yes, the Tri-Strike is what happens when you take a conceivably cool idea for a blaster and just water it down with half assed design choices just tacked onto an otherwise fine blaster like tumors. The Mediator XL is almost like a Tri-Strike but with attachments you might actually use. Which sucks because I really would have wanted to like this thing. Maybe if they had used air pressure for the attachments...

Rampage- Depends, the Rampage actually has competition for a change. The Mediator core is basically a smaller, less expensive Rampage that functions virtually just as well. The Rampage's packaged drum allows for far more darts to be shelled out and I personally found the action to be a little smoother either way, it's hard to go wrong.