Max Force Shadow Hawk review!

In my hot, not-so-little hands today, is the Shadow Hawk, part of the Max force line by Jakks Pacific. It's a blaster I've been keeping my eye on the release of since it was first starting to appear on blogs and other sites. It's not a foam dart shooter, instead, it shoots a kind of water soaked paper bullet called "soft splat ammo", which is claimed to reach ranges of 100 feet, much further than any stock foam dart blaster available at the moment, which is a big claim.

So, how did this spit-ball sniper rifle turn out? Well, when I got the Shadow Hawk out of the box and set it up, my first impression was that this is a seriously good looking piece of tagging awesomeness. Before I put some test shots through it, I took the time to check out the build quality, and found that it is very well built. It feels nice and solid, has no excessive plastic squeaks and no rattles. Everything fits together quite well and stays in place. The only part I found to be a little flimsy was the bipod legs, but these are designed to come off their mount if they are knocked to prevent them from snapping if they get snagged up, so not too much of an issue there.

Max Force Shadow Hawk: The spit-ball sniper

In the box, you get mission glasses, 120 paper pellets, a clip and an ammo container. It also comes a removable barrel extension, stock, and scope. I think this makes room for more customization options later on, a big plus in my books, after all, that's one of the things that makes the Nerf N-strike line so great. The scope is essentially a plastic tube with cross-hairs inside, and while it sounds as useless as a Nerf scope, It's actually kind of useful. I found myself lining up shots with it and usually hitting what I aimed for. The scope can fit on a  Nerf rail, but it's a bit of a tight squeeze. Likewise the other way around, you can't really slide Nerf accessories on to the rail, you have to wriggle it on to the rail until the sides lock in. This could be solved by shaving down the locking pin on the base of the Nerf accessory.

The first tagger to be deserving of a scope?

Now, to the good stuff, loading and firing. The way I loaded my ammo was by first pushing the ammo into the clip and then soaking the clip in water for 10 seconds or so, but you can also pre-soak the ammo. Once soaked, you push the clip in from the left, then push the bolt forward and down to lock in the first paper bullet ready for firing. Then, you pull back the pump handle, and let it go to fire. The next pellet is loaded by lifting the bolt up, back, forward, then down, just like a real bolt action gun. To be honest, I love this feature. It feels very solid, and just like real bolt action. Another massive plus for me. Performance wise, It fulfills the 100 foot claim, and it's much, much harder to dodge than a Nerf dart. Accuracy is pretty good, but beyond about 60 feet, wind and the spin or tumble of the ammo mid flight can sometimes take over. That said, the paper bullets are still more accurate than Nerf darts at comparable ranges.

The bolt loading mechanism feels perfect!

As a long range blaster it fares really well, and even at short range without the extended barrel, the Max Force Shadow Hawk is a force to be reckoned with, though the process of using the bolt then pulling back the pump handle and letting go repeatedly is a bit slow, so if you were caught off guard  by someone with a slam-fire or full auto Nerf blaster, you would be in a tough spot for sure. Luckily, the optional flex ammo belt (sold separately) also fits this blaster, so digging in for a long time in a tagging war is certainly an option (and is an option I'll totally go for).

Even fantastic as a marksman tagger

In summary, the Max Force Shadow Hawk is a brilliant piece of work, I was impressed right from the start with this blaster, I looked forward to it's release, and was not disappointed at all. There are so many good things about this very powerful spit-ball launcher, and many promising signs for the progression of Max Force. The build quality is brilliant, the range and accuracy is amazing, the Shadow Hawk even has it right in the looks department. In fact, the only drawback I can think of is the fact it does not feature a trigger mechanism, however, this is most likely due to the strength of the spring powering this bad boy. Still, that doesn't stop me from being really happy with the Shadow Hawk. I would definitely recommend this blaster, and though I haven't yet had the chance to use it in tagger wars yet, I have a feeling this blaster will do really well. Than you very much to Jakks Pacific for giving me the opportunity to review this great piece of kit. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Max Force line grows, and I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the Max Force line when I can. for more on the Max Force line, including the online store, go to the Max Force home page.