Here at PC Gamer I review a bunch of peripherals and hardware all designed to make PC gaming sing. Peripherals especially have come a long way since the early days. There’s countless brands out there all pushing their own ideas, which is why it’s odd to me that most peripherals still come in the same boring combination of colours and styles. Those of us wanting more colourful accessories often have to rely on RGB lighting to get us through, but sometimes themed releases have our backs.
A perfect example is the Destiny 2 Lightfall SteelSeries collection (opens in new tab). Not being a Destiny 2 player, I was caught unaware by this beautiful set of peripherals, which fade from purple, through pink to a yellow highlight. Through the gradient are lovely white detailed swirls. The designs are inspired by Destiny 2’s megacity of Neomuna on the planet Neptune. That doesn’t mean much to me, and I still want these very badly.
The SteelSeries range includes a headset, mouse, and RGB-lit mouse pad that all match this glorious theme. There are also thumbsticks by KontrolFreek (opens in new tab) on offer for controller players, but they look a little less cool. Coming in solid purple or light green they appear to have a grippy texture with the Destiny logo embossed on the surface.
The headset featured in the collection is the Arctis 7+ Destiny 2: Lightfall edition (opens in new tab), which looks really nice in this theme. The bottom of the headset has a peachy gold hue that becomes purple by the time you get to the top band. It’s also likely to be a nice headset, even without the colours.
The 7+ is the next step up from the SteelSeries Arctis 7, which we called the headset to beat when it released several years back. The Lightfall Arctis 7+ will set you back $USD200, which is the same RRP as the regular model.
For the mouse, SteelSeries has given the Aerox 5 wireless (opens in new tab) the honour of being included. I reviewed the SteelSeries Aerox 5 Wireless mouse (opens in new tab) last November and found it to be a great lightweight all-rounder. The cut-out diamond design makes for a nice light mouse that really helps in trying for those headshots. My only real complaints were how far forward that side button is, and some battery communication issues with the SteelSeries GG app.
This mouse is going for $USD160 which is about $10 more than the RRP for the regular Aerox 5. It’s worth noting the Aerox 5 is on sale on the SteelSeries site for $90, so if you’re not as enamoured with this colourway as I am it might be the smarter choice.
To make sliding this mouse around effortless, SteelSeries is also offering its QCK PRISM XL (opens in new tab) powered RGB mouse mat in the Lightfall styling. I don’t often go in for mouse mats, especially ones that take up the whole desk. That being said, this might be the nicest one I’ve ever seen, so go off I guess.
SteelSeries have been bringing us solid RGB-lit mouse mats for years now, and with this being clearly the coolest one yet, all I can say is: I want it. For $USD70, this one is $10 more expensive than its usual variant which seems well worth the upgrade.
Since it’s for the release of the Destiny 2: Lightfall expansion, All this gear also includes in-game rewards. Buying anything from the Lightfall series will get you the Luminescent Precision emblem. The headset, mouse, and mousepad all come with the Viral Celebration emote as an additional bonus.
Unfortunately for me, these aren’t currently available in Australia so I’ll have to look and sigh loudly from afar. These peripherals are so nice I hope they sell a million, encouraging more colours in gaming tech. It might even makeup for the lukewarm reception the Lightfall expansion has received.