One of my major pet peeves in gaming is when companies try too hard to come across as made for gamers. There is a level of try-hardness to these products, that has a dated approach to what a gamer is and what they want. The Mad Catz Rat Pro 6+ mouse is an unfortunately perfect summation of this phenomenon.
Even before you get it out of the box the Mad Catz Rat 6+ makes an impression. It is covered with buttons, sliders, measurement tools and even has detachable weights. I have to give props to Mad Catz for going with a visually interesting mouse since most mice look rather similar and bland. It has RGB integration in three separate areas of the mouse and you can customize your settings in the Mad Catz app. There are 11 programmable buttons that provide a nice variety of configuration options. My favourite feature is the adjustable palm rest, which slides out nicely and feels premium.
On the flip side, the adjustable weights don’t feel like they do much in the overall picture. Even after removing the three weights, the Rat Pro+ is still heavy, and its various knobs add to the overall awkwardness of the device.
I’m a firm believer in less is more in terms of mouses. My go-to mouse is the Logitech G305, which is a no-fuss wireless mouse that performs well and is comfortable to use. I find that the best mouses are the ones that you don’t notice while using,which leaves you free to focus on the task that you’re doing. With the Rat 6+, I found myself constantly reminded that I was using it and how uncomfortable it is. It’s an in your face device that has some features that are interesting on paper but feel thrown together and disjointed in execution.
Price-wise the Rat 6+ is in the mid-tier range,clocking in at $104.99 CAD. While some might enjoy the GamerTM features, it’s still hard to imagine choosing it over its Razer or Logitech competition, especially since they have cheaper offerings.
The Mad Catz RAT 6+ is a slight-misfire of a mouse, that features some interesting customization options, in a stifling package that ultimately doesn’t feel good to use. It’s possible that Mad Catz can create a good mouse in the future, especially if they take a more focused approach, but for now I can’t recommend the Rat 6+.
