So there you are playing some (Insert game title) after a gruelling work day to unwind. Suddenly the left mouse button sticks, becoming too responsive or unresponsive. You ALT+TAB to your desktop to fire up a document, only to find that your mouse won’t highlight text properly. It isn’t a software glitch. It’s time for a new mouse. One you can play games on, as well as multitask with during your day job.
PROS: 8 buttons. A CPU for enhanced polling. Ergonomic.
CONS: Brittle plastics.
GIMMICKS: The backlit logo you won’t see with your hand covering it.
Logitech’s G402 is part of a line of gaming mice. Some of them focus on MMORPG players, and add a lot of macro keys, while others go more bare bones. There are some that are cordless, some with rechargeable batteries, or other features. The G402 settles itself in the middle of the line, trying to be a jack of all trades, master of none product. Actually, it does claim to be a master of First-Person Shooters. Right on the box. This is due to the fact that it is the one mouse in the line with an ARM processor in it. That’s right. Logitech went through the effort of putting a CPU into the mouse. This is supposed to help calculate the polling, and scanning of the optical sensor for added performance. Logitech calls this tracking technology the Fusion Engine. Which also explains the extremely long product name.
The mouse also has 8 buttons on it, which gives you easy access to functions for most games. Most modern titles will recognize all of the buttons, and allow you to bind commands. Two of the buttons are dpi switches. the other six are your traditional left, and right buttons. There is the wheel, which can also be pressed as a button. The remaining three are thumb buttons. The dpi buttons allow you to turn the sensitivity of the mouse up, and down on the fly. You do this by pressing the bottom thumb button, called the Dpi Switch. Once you do this three LEDs will light up. Pressing the dpi up, and down buttons then change the arrangements of the lights as you cycle through the settings. It maxes out at a rating of 4000. It’s a carry over from previous lines that can come in handy. Particularly in action games, where one moment you may need to spin 180 degrees on a dime. But in other sections slow things down so you can be a bit more steady.
As the box says, these are features geared toward FPS, and TPS games. But these features may prove useful in an MMO, or RTS as well. Dungeon Crawlers are also a good fit, thanks to the very fast response time. Clicking multiple times is recognized with little to no problem. The mouse is also fairly comfortable. The ergonomic design allows one to relax, and rest their hand as they play. One frill that makes for a flashy package, is the backlit logo on the top of the mouse. It looks cool. Until you realize that your hand will be over it when you’re playing games, or working on the computer. It’s fun for the initial “Wow!” factor, but fades quickly after that.
Logitech also has a specialized utility for the mouse called Logitech Gaming Software. It’s a completely optional software program that you can use to tweak the dpi settings of the mouse, test the movement speed of the cursor, as well as run a click test during a game or other program. The click test will show a grid measuring how often each button on the mouse is pressed. You can also go in under settings to use social media settings, update the firmware or save user profiles for the mouse. The core functionality of the mouse will work fine without the software. But you may find some of these program features useful. The mouse doesn’t include this software in the box though. So you will have to go to Logitech’s web site in order to download it.
I put mine through the paces, and overall it held up to all of the tasks. In Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, I had no troubles aiming bows. Some of the advanced techniques like steering swings came slightly easier. The mouse performed really well in retro games too. Rainbow Six 3, was generally responsive, and smooth. As were Unreal Tournament 3, and Quake Live. In some of these games, aiming was a big improvement over my old MX518 mouse which was already pretty good. XCOM: Enemy Unknown wasn’t a game that saw as large an improvement gap, but navigating the menus, and laying out strategies were seamless.
I also put the mouse to work when doing the screen caps for this article. The added sensitivity was nice for some of the clean up process. Working on individual pixels was a little bit easier than it was with the old mouse. The mouse does have one major shortcoming, along with the fact it doesn’t have certain features. The main problem I have with the mouse is the lower grade plastics in it compared with previous mice. The plastic on the right, and left buttons especially feel thin, and even a little brittle in places. If you take care of your electronics this will probably be a non issue. But if you’re the kind of player who slams their mouse on the desk when things get heated you might be replacing it sooner than later. That isn’t to say you have to treat this mouse like fine china. It can certainly hold up to a lot of clicking. But you also don’t want to beat on it. As for some of the features you might wish it had? Well, people who love to macro everything to their mouse may want to pay more for an MMO mouse, or an industrial performance mouse. If you’re not a fan of corded mice, you may want to spring for one of the many wireless gaming mice instead.
But if you’re looking for a good all around mouse that will sate most of your gaming needs, and work needs it fits the bill pretty well. It’s responsive, it’s comfortable, and does have enough buttons for the average player. Will it take your skills from beginner to pro? Probably not. But it will likely be a step up from your three-year old gaming mouse. It will be a flat-out leap for those of you on a stock mouse that likely shipped with your OEM PC. If you’re in the market for a gaming mouse, the G402 Hyperion Fury is worth a look.
Final Score: 8 out of 10
Comma Eight Comma One 