You can't tell me this doesn't look cool.

You don't have to be a gamer in the least bit to have heard of World of Warcraft. It has destroyed marriages, slaughtered grades and flunked college students, created irresponsible parents and spawned an entire internet culture. It must be good then. Naturally, many in the gaming media play WoW, as we don't really have too much else going on other than finding raid groups. The game is picking up mentions again but in a more positive light. The second expansion of the core game, Wrath of the Lich King released and broke tons of sales records, opening up a new continent where virtual adventurers can explore and conquer.

I enjoy searching high and low for all kinds of interesting places and areas that the end-game raiders will most likely blow right past leaving a trail of dead NPCs in their wake. I'll do some instance runs and XP grinding to round out my experience but I'm not even close to maxing out my level on my main Paladin. That's because I've had a chump for an online gaming mouse all along. You see, I've had some time with the new World of Warcraft Mouse that has made my MMO life much easier.

It's not that my mouse is bad -- a Logitec G15 -- it's more for the twitch FPS gamer. When it comes to the complex MMO, games with all kinds of spells and abilities, two buttons plus a thumb button just doesn't cut it. I had to try the new WoW Gaming Mouse from Steeleseries. The package itself is quite striking and jumps off the shelf (I'm a sucker for cool boxes) and the product itself looks like a piece of armor right out of the game with tons of cool elements that make it stand out from the rest of the mice herd. What can you expect?



For starters the metallic surface looks nice and sleek next to any computer rig. There are some spaces on the main body that glow any color you want. The markings and logos all keep step with the entire theme of the game. In all, there are 15 buttons that you can fully program to do whatever you want for any character you have created. Being able to switch profiles for all the different classes is awesome because any WoW player knows that Warriors and Mages are not even close in play style.

The WoW Mouse is perfectly suited for playing MMO games. There are a lot of buttons to go with a lot of commands. Fiddling around with the settings and figuring out the best way to program macros takes some getting used to, but it will ultimately pay off in the end with all the control you'll have over your avatars. The default settings are fairly helpful for the more casual player. If you are an avid quester or can't get enough raids, you'll want to dive in to custom button mappings to get the most from all that is given to you.

I was slightly surprised at how light the mouse is. It feels slightly too light for my liking, as I'm used to heavier mice. The construction overall is great, it just feels light. It comes down to preference.



This is a professional mouse made for hardcore gamers. Everything about this package is quality, from the box it came in to the software used to customize button mappings. I must say that Steelseries did a fantastic job and did right by the millions and millions of WoW players by crafting this mouse. I imagine other WoW players will share my sentiments.

Everything considered, I can't go back to my old mouse when I play WoW, it wouldn't feel right having to go back to the keyboard for what I could accomplish on the mouse. This is really the best mouse I have seen for this kind of game. If you have been a good boy or girl, there is still time to send a letter to Santa telling him that you'd like a WoW Gaming Mouse for Christmas, because if you are into WoW, you'll never look back.