Nerf™'s N-Strike Unity System: Duuude or Dud?

You're going through the toy store, past the Lego, past the Star Wars, past the Barbies, and suddenly you arrive at THE section. No, it's past the Super Soakers (as good as they may be). You have at last arrived at the altar... the altar of FOAM.

Suddenly there's this big huge honking Nerf™ system is looking at you in the face, in a crimson and gray motif. Powerful-looking sci-fi-styled ordnance. Could this be the ultimate blaster?

The Beavis and Butthead in you are going, "Huhhhh... uhuhuhuh... this is cool." Welcome to the N-Strike Unity system.

What is Unity? Hasbro's N-Strike line of Nerf blasters seeks to create sci-fi prop-looking blasters -- looking extremely cool without coming too closely to the appearance of actual firearms. They look more "real" and yet there is no mistaking them for the real thing. It evokes feelings of "Halo" and "Aliens" but without any direct resemblance.

The Unity System is actually three blasters that combine into one. And here they are:



First is the Titan (which may remind some of us 1990's Nerfers of the Ultimator) which fires one massive rocket.

Second is the Hornet, which attaches to the bottom of the Titan's grip.

Lastly is the scout, a single-shot pistol that attaches to the side of the Titan

First and foremost, the Unity System looks awesome when fully assembled. It inspires fear and exudes coolness at the same time. Even for an adult (which I claim to be, by the way) it looks like a manly-man sci-fi system. For a little kid, it might look overkill. Or overkid.

When combined, some of the buttons on the Titan fire darts out of the attached blasters (assuming it works and you didn't get a dud.)

The Titan

The Titan's shoulder stock is the pump. It required 20-25 pumps to prime. Once primed the rocket traveled a good 18-20 feet indoors (howbeit slowly). In short, this is not yesteryear's Ultimator where the rocket went blindingly fast and went 50 feet indoors (if you aim higher outdoors you might have been able to achieve greater distance.)

The Hornet

The Hornet requires considerable pumping; you can fire one dart at a time at full auto, or press a button and fire all six darts. Operating the Hornet is tricky. You have to cock the gun first by sliding the top gray part towards the front forward and then back, and then you have to pump it 8-15 times. I found that full auto sometimes only fired 4, and then perhaps after 5-8 second the last one or two might come out whenever it felt like it. The orange darts that ship with it sometimes don't seat all the way in and may bounce out -- possibly due to the orange air restrictor stems in each barrel. Sometimes the darts would slide out of the barrel if the blaster was tipped forward, but black Sonic darts (sold as refill ammo packs of 10) are 0.5mm wider and seem to fit more snugly.

The Scout

Last is the Scout, which is an effective one-shot blaster that can hold two extra rounds beneath where you'd normally mount a flashlight at the bottom of a real gun. This is not a magazine, mind you. You'd have to manually refeed each dart after firing.

Using the Unity System

So after playing with it a while, I encountered a few advantages and disadvantages. As an adult, I found the Titan's air pumping mechanism somewhat rediculous. Sure, the classic Ultimator had a little lever that needed 8-15 pumps but it was manageable. Pumping the Titan feels like pumping an accordion. Asking a little kid to pump a Titan is like asking him to jump on a pogostick -- it's just more effort than necessary. (Note of plea to Hasbro: Please bring back the Ultimator!) I cannot help but wonder if the rocket would have been compatable with the classic Ultimator.

Using the Hornet was a memorable experience. It was initially my secret weapon at the office. I'd ambush coworkers with my Maverick, and then when they came chasing me, I'd duck around a corner where I had stashed my Hornet, and when I came back around that corner, I'd launch all six darts and have them screaming. The first time around, that was fun. The second time around, it became more of a bother due to air management problems -- and if you forget to cock it before you pump it, it won't fire (further, darts would slide out of their barrels before I had a chance to fire them.) Fortunately, not too long after it was released, the RapidFire 20 was re-released, and so that solved my need for automatic fire. The Hornet now sits gathering dust as I use the Dart Tag and the Firefly much more.

Ironically, my favorite of all three was the Scout. The Scout was not only handsome but very effective. Whereas I had a problem with a NiteFinder EX-3 postol where a dart wouldn't stay all the way in but some spring action with the air restrictors kept pushing it out a little (so when you fire, they only go a few inches because air pressure has already disipated due to incorrect seating of the dart) I had no such problem with the Scout.

It has modification potential as air-restriction stems and vents can be removed to increase airflow. Modification might help the Hornet, but that's a lot of effort to improve something when you can purchase something off the shelf.

In conclusion, I feel that the Unity System is fun to have and own, but it has little quirks that demote it from its potential of being a hardcore Nerfing solution and ultimate foam weapon. It is more appearance than power, and some functionality and practicality is sacrificed for implication of effectiveness. It has the right kinds of buttons to make it function as a whole but what's "oooh!" and "aaah!" for younger kids may be gimmickry for older kids.

Considerable effort is required to pump, prime and prep the Hornet and the Titan, and during that time you are vulnerable to attack. In Nerf fights you rely on availability of ammo, easy of reloading, and ease of priming (pumping) or prepping a blaster for fire.

Yet it is so attractive you can easily forgive its shortcomings, and you do get a lot of gun for $39.99.

(If you're only interested in the Scout, at the time of this writing the Scout has been repackaged as a stadalone blaster: the N-Strike Tech Target. However it's in a less attractive blue, green and gray. There apparently is another Tech Target blaster by the same name but is cocked by a ring and which fires the larger classic-sized Nerf darts.)