On Our Desk - 13

Nova Gaming Killer 2 Mousemat

Manufacturer: Nova Gaming
UK Price (as reviewed): £16.99 (inc. Delivery)
US Price (as reviewed): TBA

Normally, it’s pretty hard to get excited over a mousemat and, to be totally honest, the Killer 2 from Nova Gaming is no real exception. What it is easy to get excited about though is huge boxes delivered to the office unexpectedly, so at least Nova got that bit right when the dropped a bulk of review samples on our desks.

In the box was Nova Gaming’s full range of gaming mousemats, as well as a LAN rucksack that we’ll get to looking at in a minute.

Although the mousemats (micemats?) that Nova sent to us run a full range of sizes, shapes and textures, they do all have one thing in common which is that they’re all floppy – so, if you want something more rigid you may well stop reading right here and look at something like the Steel Series SP instead.

Of all the mousemats we were sent, of which there was about nine, it was the Killer 2 we decided to focus on as it was the largest and we like to be sure we’re compensating to the fullest extent. All the mousemats in the Killer line measure in at 337x307mm at their widest points, though the unusual shape makes them a bit hard to judge.


The unusual shape of the Killer 2 mousemats is a little opinion-dividing too, though it’s clear that the designer has gone for that ‘pro-gamer’ look cultivated by exciting game non-entities like Jonathan Wendel, who occasionally goes by the name of FatalONEty.

The packaging for the Killer 2 makes some unusual boasts too, such as claiming a ‘four-star very fast surface’ and a two year warranty. The warranty is nice, but what exactly a four-star very fast surface entails and why Nova Gaming doesn’t offer a five-star surface is beyond us.

The packaging also claims that the precision offered by the mousemat is 8000 DPI, though that’s something we’d have expected to depend more on the mouse and in our experience the mousepad worked well with various DPI settings under a Razer Deathadder. It has to be said though that while the mousemat worked well with laser-mice, some of us did note issues when using optical mice instead.


Still, there are a lot of things to like about the mat – and if you’re the type of person who desperately needs a non-slip undersurface then this is definitely the mousemat for you, though you may also want to reassess your priorities. The underbelly of the Killer 2, and all Nova Gaming mousemats is a sort of a smooth plastic surface which proved capable of gripping to any desktop – we were even able to make it stick to the door of the office fridge!

Of course, the flip side is simple and that is that pretty much any mousemat is as good as any other within limits and in order for one to stand out then it has to be really comfortable and easy to clean. Though the flexible plastic means the Killer 2 succeeds on the latter front, the lack of wrist support and slightly course surface means it falters on the former.

The sheer level of adherence is also going to put some people off as, although having a mousemat that sticks to the desktop is a good thing most of the time, if you're the type of person who finds themselves often quickly needing to adjust the position of the mat then look elsewhere. Like I find myself doing - if a change in seat position or postures means a readjustment is in order, you’ll have to dismount the mouse and literally peel this off your desk like a piece of mouldy underwear.

Verdict: Though impressively sized and sticky, the unusual shape might not fit well on many desks and the extreme adherence should make this a second choice mousemat for many gamers.