Offering an incredible amount of customization, Mad Catz’latest keyboard provides gamers with loads of options to assist them in there long weekends of dungeon raiding, strafing, shooting, or whatever gaming experience they enjoy. Some gamers may already recognize the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5, as its big brother the S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 is one of the wildest keyboards created. Given that my last keyboard was a distant relative, the Saitek Eclipse, I had high expectations for the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. Mad Catz have really established themselves as a company that can produce high quality products that can compete with the best of them.
The unboxing and installing of the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 is fairly straightforward. The packaging used is very good. The box, along with all of the contents inside, looks great. Immediately, I noticed the comfortable palm rests for the keyboard, and the high quality braided cables. All of the content regarding installation of the keyboard is both informative and easy to interpret. The User Manual provides in depth instructions, along with helpful pictures; but in truth, the keyboard is so customizable one cannot necessarily set it up incorrectly. That being said, I went for the most standard set up displayed in the user manual. Initially I had trouble locating the software download that allowed me to program the keyboard, but with a bit of digging around on Mad Catz website I located the files. After all was said and done, the setup took about a half hour including both keyboard installation and software download. I should note the keyboard is compatible with Windows 9, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
The S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 has a design built with customization in mind, featuring five different components that can be assembled depending on your gaming needs. The central keyboard section has your standard QWERTY keyboard layout, along with backlighting offering 16 million colors to choose from. The number pad section of the keyboard is removable and has five macro keys that allow you to program multiple keystrokes to one button. As mentioned in the features section, the keyboard offers 21-programmable macro buttons over three modes to create 63 user-definable commands. The keyboard includes nine programmable buttons on the OLED “E.Y.E.” panel plus four more on the removable Function Strip, three controls on the palm rest, along with the previously mentioned five keys near the number pad section bringing the total to 21. It also comes equipped with two lengths of cable allowing you to have it closer or further from the main section of the keyboard.
For many PC gamers, a membrane keyboard might come as a bit of a disappointment to anyone hoping for mechanical keys. Mechanical keyboards are seen as the best kind of keyboard one can find for gaming currently. Mad Catz promised the “tactile feel and responsiveness expected by gamers” and I would agree with them. Being that I am a huge Guild Wars 2 fan, I jumped on programming many of the keys to suit my needs as a warrior in Tyria. I found the function strip along the side of the keyboard to be both useful and exciting to use during combat. The keys feel satisfying, and respond as quickly as I expected them too. The aforementioned back lighting looks great, and helps to see each key clearly. In regards to the modular number pad and three-point wrist rest, they can all be removed and rearranged individually, to create a custom setup to suit individual players.
The keyboard also features a Control Module with a tiny OLED display and extra macro recording keys for shortcuts. The OLED can also control media related functions. On top of that, the OLED allows gamers to program advanced macros, adjust backlighting, monitor respawn timers, and even take control of external functions while in game, such as balancing in game and microphone volumes, and launching apps and websites. Apart from the OLED display, The S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 also has a three-part active palm rest and two wrist rests for comfortable use. The palm rest has its own thumb wheel and an action button giving even more control over what setup you find the most comfortable.
All in all, the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 exudes both quality and a great design aesthetic. Though the keyboard is accompanied by a hefty price tag, the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 offers an incredible amount of customization that cannot be beat. Whether your game of choice is an RPG, FPS, RTS, MMO or any other genre, this keyboard gives you the tools to tinker with every single detail until you are completely satisfied. If the features and design of the S.T.R.I.K.E. 5 seem appealing to you, don’t hesitate to check it out because you won’t be disappointed.
