A mouse is a mouse is a mouse. They are all basically the same other than the physical shape and the number of buttons they have. It is just a basic piece of hardware that we all use in our day to day lives. I agree with my comrade Mr. Pharisee’s assessment that a standard mouse “…serves all my functions, gaming and non-gaming alike, just fine”. Also, like Mr. Pharisee, I found out how wrong I was when I wrapped my right hand around the SteelSeries Diablo III mouse. A simple mouse, for a simple (to control) game, the SteelSeries Diablo III mouse will show you what you have been missing with the standard mouse that has been included with every PC you have ever bought.
So what is so different about this mouse over the standard mouse on your desk right now? The first thing you are going to notice is the beautiful eye candy. The mouse glows bright red on the wheel, which looks like a human spine, and on the back where you have the Diablo III logo. The next thing you will notice is that when you pick it up, its got some weight to it. The mouse feels solid and is silky smooth. I switch back and forth between my standard Dell mouse and this and there was a night and day difference. The buttons are equally as solid and are guaranteed for 10 million clicks. Thats a whole lot of Diablo III that before you have to think about replacing this bad boy. The other main physical difference between this mouse and every other mouse you have ever used is the cord. The standard SteelSeries braided fabric cord is present here. It doesn’t seem like it would be that big of a deal but it adds a level of professionalism to the package.
Now lets get down to business. How is this mouse going to hold up and help you out when you need it the most? Well since I don’t have a copy of Diablo III laying around at the time, I installed Diablo II and put it to the test. The seven button layout is done on purpose for two reasons here. First and foremost is that the mouse is designed to be used in either your left or right hand. It is a seven button mouse with two buttons and the scroll wheel on top and two more buttons on each side. This makes it the perfect mouse whether you use it in your right or left hand. I know seven buttons doesn’t seem like a whole lot when you look at other products in the SteelSeries mouse product line (such as the World of Warcraft MMO mouse) but Diablo is a simple game that doesn’t require a whole lot of extra buttons. After a quick download from SteelSeries.com, I was able to map the side buttons to my potions in Diablo II and it made for a much better experience as I could replenish my health and mana much faster.
Since this is a Blizzard licensed product, expect a fully integrated experience with this mouse and Diablo III when it launches later this year. So if you are going to play Diablo III, you need to pick this up. It is a solid piece of hardware that will improve your experience with the game. This is another solid piece of the SteelSeries product line that will work with your PC or Mac. The mouse is available for purchase now. Diablo III, will have to wait just a little bit longer.