The Abyssus mouse is one among the many game-specific mice unveiled by Razer. An important highlight of these offerings that first catches our fancy is without doubt the spine tingling names endowed upon them by Razer. Some have been christened with deadly reptilian names while others bear the titles of arachnids and other creepy crawlies. These names only add to the eerie factor Razer wants to instill into gamers.
The title given to the mouse in question here is not only associated with a venomous pit viper but is in fact a Latin name, ‘Abyssus’. Looking at the fiery picture engulfing the mouse, it really reminded us of some dark games like Dante’s Inferno or God of War, It did indeed suit that repertoire.
As Razer always succeeds in getting kudos for its presentation, it seems like the company hasn’t failed to do so this time around. Once the fiery picture was pulled open, we could see the mouse sitting plush in its plastic case. The Razer Abyssus mouse was packed with the usual contents like the stickers, manuals and of course the mouse itself. Before diving into the intricate specs of the gaming accessory, we first take time to actually observe the complete look and feel of device. We realized that the hump on the back of the mouse was not too deep and hence offers a comfortable gaming experience while moving about, shooting or selecting options.
The fingers rested perfectly upon the long click and menu mouse buttons. The curve of the palm too snuggly rested on the rear end of the mouse. The surface of the mouse was also seen adorned with a non-slip matte finish. Like espied in other Razer devices, this too incorporated the company logo that immediately illuminated with an eerie blue light when plugged into the USB slot. The sides of the Abyssus are not cluttered with any buttons or sliders unlike observed in a few other Razer mice like the Razer Imperator. What it also lacked in appearance was the cloth cable cord that perfectly complimented the Razer products and gave it that extra edge when it came to looks and appearances.
We now sink further into the abyss of features it holds within its dark form factor. On the rear of the pointing device were zero-acoustic Ultraslick Teflon feet as well as the logo and product name once again to remind us just how deep we are into its captivating features. Also alongside that was a 3500dpi Razer precision 3.5G infrared sensor as well as hardware toggles for adjusting the dpi and polling rate. The Mechanical DPI switch was seen located on the right hand side which helped control the speed determining whether you want your mouse to crawl slowly or scurry along quickly. Through this option, the mouse speed could be set at 450dpi, 1800dpi or 3500dpi. On the left hand side was situated the polling rate which can be toggled between either 125Hz or 1000Hz.
We put the Razer Abyssus mouse to the test with Counter Strike to see just how well it worked with FPS titles. With this inclusion, we could alter the settings as per the requirements and weapon of choice. For sending a flurry of bullets into multiple enemies, a 3500 dpi is suggested while a 450 or 1800 dpi is apt for more precise, one-shot head kills. What’s more interesting was that we could play this type of games before even installing the driver software. Speaking of which, we did install the Razer Abyssus driver software v1.00 just to up our ante a little.
The driver software dealt to us included three main tabs namely Sensitivity, Scroll Wheel and Buttons. The fourth tab led us directly to the Razer support website. The sensitivity could be altered between 1 and 10 while we also had the option to keep the on-the-fly sensitivity button on or off when opting for the double click speed. The scroll wheel speed could also be changed while also setting the Universal scrolling on or off as required. Depending on whether users are left-handed or right-handed, the software allows them to assign the necessary functions.
The Final Word: The only downside to the Abyssus mouse was that the buttons were located on the under belly of the mouse which we found a bit inaccessible while needing to quickly change the preferences during gameplay. Other than that, the simple plug-and-play device didn’t have any hassles along for the ride. We simply had to insert the other end into the USB slot and voila, got right into shooting those bad guys in the leg or stomach and dishing out some more serious twitching damage with direct head shots. The Razer Abyssus mouse is priced at $49.99 (approx. Rs.2,219).
Looks: 7.2/10.
Functionality: 8.2/10.
Comfort: 9/10.
Overall (not an average): 8.4/10.