Although I’ve been a fan of many Microsoft business keyboards, I am not enamored of the $69 Reclusa gaming keyboard. Its best features are its heavy weight designed to keep it in place during heavy game action, and the blue backlighting of the keyboard. However, other “features” were drove me to distraction. First, the keyboard has five ‘extra” keys on either side of the straight line keyboard. Three of each set are “standard” keycaps. The other two are surface mount keys that are not backlit and that fade into the molding of the keyboard. In their default configuration the keys on the left launch applications such as email or media player or functions like cut and paste. Using the included software they are reconfigurable. On the downside, the backlighting can’t be turned off or dimmed, and oddly, more light came through the “cracks” between the keys than illuminated the keycaps themselves. This was particularly true of the function keys which are barely distinguishable one from another in a dimly lit room. Of more concern was the fact that the Windows key can’t be disabled using the included software. This means that in the heat of battle you may find the game disrupted.
But, in a keyboard designed for gamers, the Reclusa’s layout seemed particularly inept. The bumper buttons are not illuminated and not clearly different from each other by touch. They are also very far away from the WSD keys. I’m not sure how you would use the extra keys on the right side of the keyboard, as to reach them you’d need to take your hand off the mouse.
Finally, the keyboard’s two built-in USB ports seem to have been designed without at Microsoft having looked to see if they were compatable with other products in the company’s gaming line. When I attempted to plug my Microsoft Habu mouse into the keyboard I got a message that the USB hub’s power had been exceeded. Give me a break.
The Reculsa gets some points for style, but, it just doesn’t add enough to the gaming experience to justify its fancy price.
