Corsair Darkstar Wireless MMO Gaming Mouse Review

Let’s take a quick look at the Corsair Darkstar Wireless MMO gaming mouse, a new option in the niche of mice-with-way-more-buttons-than-you-have-fingers.

The Corsair Darkstar might sound like a craft ripped from a space-flight sim, it’s a gaming mouse designed for hardcore MMO and MOBA gamers. It’ll work fine in a first-person shooter but the button count and unique gesture controls make it suited to the demands of MOBA and MMO games.

Corsair Darkstar Wireless MMO Design

First off, let’s look at the design. The Darkstar is a mouse that wouldn’t look out of place in a dystopian sci-fi setting, with sharp angles and cut-outs. A plain black shell is lifted slightly by the RGB light strip across the top and ye olde world Corsair logo but it’s not the most inspiring of designs.

The large cluster of six buttons on the left side gives the Darkstar its MMO credentials. The cluster surrounds a textured rubber pad where your thumb rests, making them easily accessible. Once your muscle memory has remembered what you programmed each to do. It’s a more intuitive layout than that of the Razer Naga, whose optional 12-button layout I always found to be overkill.

That side cluster takes the Darkstar’s count to an impressive 15 programmable buttons. It will take time to get used to, but once you do, you’ll appreciate the level of control they offer. This is enhanced by the iCUE software. This allows you to define multiple button profiles that can be linked to whatever apps you have running on the desktop. It can be a boost to not just games but serious software too.

And let’s not forget about the gesture-based movement feature, which allows you to assign in-game actions to specific mouse tilts. It’s a neat feature that adds a layer of immersion to your gaming experience. The default angle of 20 degrees may be a little too easy to trigger by accident. Increase that to 25 to 30 degrees using iCUE and you have another way of quickly launching in-game actions. Even simple actions such as scrolling back and forth in a browser can be enhanced.

Corsair Marksman

Under the hood, the Darkstar is powered by the Corsair Marksman sensor. This supports a maximum resolution of 26,000 dpi and up to 50g of acceleration. That’s a lot of sensitivity, perfect for those quick, precise movements in-game. With a 2.4GHz wireless connection via the bundled USB dongle, you can expect low-latency gameplay, which is always a plus. There’s also Bluetooth available.

In action, the main buttons have good tactile feedback thanks to their Omron Optical switches. The other buttons are light to the touch and offer a slight click to confirm you’ve pressed them hard enough. Having said that, the mouse-wheel click required more force to activate than I liked.

Battery Blues

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The Darkstar’s battery life leaves much to be desired, lasting only about 20 hours with the RGB lighting on. Corsair claims 60 hours on wireless and 80 hours on Bluetooth if you switch off the RGB but I didn’t spend long enough with the mouse to verify those claims.

And while the mouse’s unique design and features are impressive, they come with a hefty price tag of $169.99. That puts it firmly into top-tier territory alongside the likes of Razer and Logitech. The Darkstar can certainly match them on technical specifications and quality but does the Corsair name hold enough sway to tempt gamers from the more obvious choices?

Conclusion

Is the Corsair Darkstar Wireless worth it? If you’re an MMO or MOBA gamer looking for a mouse that offers a high level of customization and control, then maybe. If you’re just a casual gamer the price might be too steep and the customisation more than you’ll ever need. You might gain some benefit from the flexibility of the programmable buttons and the ability to match them to different software profiles but that’s going to be very user-specific.

The Corsair Darkstar Wireless MMO mouse is a unique gaming mouse that offers a lot of features and customization options. It’s a bit pricey and the battery life could be better, but if you’re looking for a mouse that can handle the demands of MMO and MOBA gaming, it’s definitely worth considering.