StarCraft II Peripherals Review

Razer Marauder Review

Manufacturer: Razer
UK price (as reviewed): £90.95 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $99.99 (ex tax)

Despite costing close to £100, the Marauder keyboard in Razer's StarCraft II line-up isn't full-sized. The Insert and Home key area has been removed, as have the arrow keys, so you're only left with their counterparts on the numeric keypad.

This doesn't necessarily affect games, but it makes the Marauder frustrating to use in lots of other areas. For example, the '7' key of the numeric keypad is also assigned to the Delete key, meaning that working in spreadsheets requires you to regularly switch modes using the Num Mode (aka Num Lock) key at the top of the keyboard.


The Return key is smaller than usual too, and we were constantly pressing the Shift key below it by mistake. The other keys also feel small, and there's no wrist rest either. Otherwise, the keys are comfortable to use, with a slightly dampened feel and quiet keystrokes.

However, our fingers continued to feel cramped, despite this. Why Razer felt the need to reduce the size of the keyboard is beyond us - it isn't as though standard-sized keyboards are particularly large or heavy anyway, even if you're going to StarCraft II LAN events every weekend.

The keys are backlit, which we like, but far too much light spills out from between them, making the light effect look cheap. Thankfully, using the StarCraft II Configurator, you can adjust the response of several light clusters on the keyboard, the APM feature and even turn off all the lights, including the keyboard backlights. The StarCraft II Configurator also enables you to create profiles and record macros.

Conclusion

Despite its flashy looks and quality keys, the reduced size of the Marauder keyboard leads to frustrating compromises and makes it uncomfortable to use for long periods. The lighting effect also looks cheap, and you don’t even get a wrist rest for your cash.

Although it's not the worst of the three peripherals, the Maruader keyboard was the most disappointing to us, as it arguably had the most to gain from being designed specifically for use with StarCraft II, especially given the importance of keyboard shortcuts in competitive online play. Unfortunately, though, aside from looking the part, the Marauder does little to add to the StarCraft II gaming experience.

• Design
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 5/10

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 6/10

• Overall
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• x
• x
• x
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• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 6/10

Score Guide