Author - Jerry Paxton

Design / Construction: The Wolfking Warrior XXtreme is a very sweet-looking keyboard. Designed in a figure eight-ish pattern, the keyboard is separated into two key areas. On the left is the Warrior gaming pad, arguably Wolfking’s finest achievement to date. On the right side is a 40-key QWERTY keypad which is said to promote single-handed typing. The Warrior XXtreme is a small keyboard in contract to most on the market, measuring 16.4” inches long compared to the Logitech G15 which is 20.2” inches long. This small size helps promote mobility and will definitely save desk space for other peripherals if needed. Wolfking has built the Warrior XXtreme to rigorous standards and it shows, as the keyboard is very sturdy and solid. In addition, its rounded shape is very pleasing, making this one of the best-looking keyboards we have seen.

The unit comes with no additional software and does not have native macro or programmable key ability whatsoever. This is a shame as macro capability is almost standard on gaming keyboards these days and is sorely missed in this case.

On the top of the keyboard are additional controls mainly for media apps. However, the most interesting of these top-area keys is the ‘K-lock’ button. This control basically sends the ‘k’ key continuously to the current game. This is handy for games that use the ‘k’ key in order to send voice chat. Essentially, using this key is like constantly holding the push-to-talk button down.

The backlighting on the XXtreme is somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand you have this VERY intense blue light that makes the device look like TRON should have been typing on it at the IO Tower. High marks for aesthetics all around. However, the backlighting does not cut-through the keys in order to illuminate each key’s label. The lighting ends up creating a silhouette effect on the keys, and it is not easy to see the name of the button you are pressing.

The Warrior XXtreme does have two USB ports on the back-side of the keyboard, which I always rate high on my keyboard-wants list. Having the two USB pass-through ports decreases the amount of wires going to the back of the PC and increases your mobility during LAN tournaments.

Warrior Keypad: The 52-key Warrior gamepad area on the XXtreme is truly a thing of beauty. The most-used keys in FPS games have been all aligned together in a circular formation. The keys spaced much closer than they are on a standard keyboard layout, my fingers were able to hit all the important keys much more quickly. Usually my pinky has to work a bit to get to the left ctrl button. However, on the Warrior gamepad it is effortless. There is also a vertical space bar on the right side of the Warrior keypad for easier reaching with your thumb than the standard horizontal equivalent.

QWERTY Keypad: The 40-key QWERTY keypad on the XXtreme is a bit more daunting. Basically, Wolfking took the standard QWERTY keyboard and divided it in half. Then, the first half was stacked on top of the second half and the whole merged entity was cut into a circular formation. This keypad is not as comfortable to use as the Warrior side. The idea behind this layout is that it will be useful for one-handed typing. After getting over the learning-curve of learning the new layout, it is not bad. When playing FPS games, though, I usually have my right hand on the mouse anyway making it difficult to type with one-hand regardless of key layout.

Conclusion: The Wolfking Warrior XXtreme is a mixed bag of sorts. On one side of the coin you have this amazing Warrior keypad which is very useful in keeping stress off one’s left hand while at the same time increasing response time by keeping the important gaming keys close by. On the other side of the coin the user has to deal with a QWERTY pad that is not all that user-friendly and no macro ability. In short, the keyboard is a good gaming solution but it could have been absolutely incredible if its shortcomings were addressed.

The Warboard is Cyber Snipa’s flagship gaming keyboard. Here are the advertised features from Cyber Snipa’s Site

• Unique ‘Macro Force’ Software
• Anti-ghosting key architecture
• 104 keys
• 10 dual mode (20x) macro programmable buttons
• 10 multimedia keys
• 17 replaceable custom combat keys
• System: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME
• Connection: USB

Design/Construction:
The Warboard features a very solid plastic outer shell, with a slick ‘armor plate’ graphic finish. There are five vertical macro keys on each side of the unit, and the outer casing around the macro-key areas is rubberized. It also comes with a rubberized wrist rest which we really found to be very comfortable in comparison to standard, plastic rests. It is also detachable for those of you who do not like using keyboard wrist rests. The ‘lock’, macro, and ‘bullseye’ keys all illuminate pretty blue led lights in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard. We really like the looks of the Warboard. Aesthetically, it is very pleasing. Many gaming keyboards today tend to just go with an all black or silver finish. The Warboard’s design has style. Also, for as sturdy as the device feels, it is fairly light, making it easy to transport.

Usage:
Its action while gaming is very nice. The keys have a slight softness to them but are not so squishy as to have no spring-back. In addition, the 17 interchangeable keys have little gaming icons on them in case you want to make remembering what key does what a heck of a lot easier. Cyber Snipa’s provided tool makes swapping them out very simple.

The macro program allows gamers to record two different macros to each macro button via a very well-done GUI, making the total number of macro keys come to 20. It cannot record mouse movements as of yet, however. The control array at the top of the Warboard features a center key with the Cyber Snipa ‘Bullseye’ on it as well as media controls. The center key disables the Windows keys on each side of the space bar.

Thanks to the Warboard’s Anti-Ghosting technology, the cavalcade of button mashes we rained down on the keyboard during our Call of Duty IV trials went splendidly. Each key receives its own channel of communication to the computer, making it so that the dreaded Windows Sticky-Keys is not activated and also avoids a PC lock-up while it tries to figure out what keys were pressed in which order.

Function in the desktop environment was more than good enough with the keys providing a good amount of shock absorption if you have to stay up for hours typing out your homework…or a gaming keyboard review. I found myself actually using the media keys on this board unlike many others which feature small buttons. The media controls on the Warboard are robust in size with large, easy-to-understand diagrams on them of their function.

Our Druthers:
As solid as the Warboard is, there are a couple things that it could feature which would push it out in front of the saturated gaming keyboard crowd. Most notably – internal lighting. Many gaming keyboards feature some sort of internal lighting for dark-condition gaming these days. Without it, the Warboard needs an external light source. Also, the the keyboard could do with a USB and headset pass-through.

Summary:
Overall, the Cyber Snipa Warboard is a very solid keyboard with many nice features. Its lack of internal lighting does hurt it slightly in the ratings, but with a price point as low as $50 depending on the retailer, it is an excellent mid-range keyboard that performs like a keyboard selling for $30 dollars more.

You can find the Cyber Snipa homepage here.