Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. 7 review

The first Cyborg mouse we looked at, over two years ago, was quite well received despite the irrelevance of the motorised adjustable length.

Despite this pointless gimmick it was a functional, multi-buttoned rodent, though not in the same class as the Sidewinders or G9s. The R.A.T. though is a much more competitive beast.

There's no comparison at all with the previous Cyborg; sure there's still length adjustment, but that goes along with a host of other tweaks to suit your hand and your grip. And none of them need plugging into your PC to get it going.

Instead there's an Allen key screwed into the end of the chassis that allows you to adjust the shape of the mouse to suit. You can even replace a number of the grips to change the shape and tactile sense of the rodent.

Physically, this is a mouse that's bound to polarise opinion. It's all sharply angular shapes, cut-out plastic and exposed bare metal innards. As it sits on my desk it looks more like an exploded schematic of the Chris Nolan Batmobile than a functional control device.

But it's more than functional and the more I've been using it the more it's grown on me. With the supplied weights and the solid, rigid metal chassis, it's a heavy mouse, but I like that. It's reassuringly well designed and built, rather than moulded from the same ol' mouse chassis we've seen a thousand times before.

Frankenstein's ugly sister

When you first clap eyes on it you'd be forgiven for thinking it would feel like Sarah Jessica Parker's bizarrely-angled chin, but it's surprisingly comfortable in the hand.

My only real concern with the R.A.T. is the fact the back thumb button is located so close to the palm rest. Even with all the adjustments available you still can't move that button into a more comfortable position.

But then as a gamer you might be more interested in the precision aim button that sits perfectly under the thumb. This instantly cuts the DPI setting to a percentage of the full settings – ideal for those camping snipers, or for long-range exchanges in ArmA II.

The Cyborg profile manager is powerful too, allowing all the buttons to be changed, and macro'd up to within an inch of their lives. Sure it's a pricey mouse, but it works hard to justify that outlay.

The difficulty though, as ever with new mice, is that the Sidewinder and G9 are now far cheaper by comparison. The R.A.T. though offers more customisation for your cash, though unfortunately there aren't enough Allen keys in the world for all you sinister left-handers.

It's solid, responsive and has got more buttons than your finger-tips could possibly cope with. The only real downside is that freaky-ass robot rat on the box art.

Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview