Playstation Move shooting attachments aren’t so much saturating the market as drowning it these days. It may be surprising to hear, then, that Prodagen’s Flex Fire peripheral manages to bring something new and innovative to the lightgun market.
The Flex Fire, which seems to have been modelled after some sort of shotgun, locks the Move into the foremost part of the barrel and the navigation controller into a specialized holder that is suspended between the clip and the barrel. Once in place, users can access all of the Move’s functions through buttons mapped along the grip and base of the gun. The X, Square, Circle and Triangle buttons can all be accessed from the top of the gun along with the action button, while the Select and Start buttons can be pressed via plastic buttons on either side of the barrel. A hole in the bottom of the barrel allows access to the trigger.
The navigation controller, meanwhile, sits in the gun’s handle. This positioning feels extremely comfortable, much more so than on similar peripherals such as the Sharp Shooter, and allows the player to slide the navigation stick using their thumb with ease – you’ll find no uncomfortable digit stretching or finger straining here.
The accessory’s most impressive feature is undoubtedly the flex function for which it’s named. This allows the front section of the gun to be rotated 360 degrees in any direction with one hand while still holding the rest of the peripheral still with the other, allowing the player to make anything from sweeping movements to tiny adjustments to their aim without having to move their upper body. It may sound unusual but this control method allows for a level of acuracy unmatched by any other gun accessory on the market today. We tested it with three different Playstation Move compatible first person shooters – Time Crisis 4, Resistance 3 and Killzone 3 – and each one benefited from the Flex Fire’s increased acuracy, especially when shooting at enemies who hide or pop up from behind scenery.
The flex function, as seen here, is surprisingly effective at increasing user accuracy
That’s not to say you have to use it, however – a sliding plastic bolt on the side of the peripheral allows the flex function to be turned on or off at will so those looking for a more traditional lightgun shooting experience are also catered for.
Flexibility is a big part of the gun’s design and one that filters down into the rest of its design. A small button on the side of the gun’s handle can be pressed in and the handle adjusted to several different positions (or folded up completely for easy storage) while the stock can be adjusted to different lengths for optimum comfort.
THE VERDICT
It’s a unique and daring take on the lightgun formula, but is it worth your hard-earned pennies? In short, yes – if you’re a series FPS fan. It’s not enough to create a new generation of lightgun users, but for anyone wanting to play a Move enabled FPS with a gun peripheral, the Flex Fire is one of the best options out there.
