Once we had the Liquiforce out in the wild, it’s more humble roots as a value-priced model began to become apparent in its ergonomics and design. Though the mid-sized model in the X2O line-up, the Liquiforce is actually on the large side of things compared to many water blasters it competes against, and though the handles and trigger are comfortable, we could see smaller children having a hard time holding the blaster properly. This last point is especially true given the fact that for some reason, the manufacturer decided to mount the water reservoir as far forward in the blaster as possible (using none of the blaster body itself for water holding, even though it looks and feels as though the bulk of the blaster chassis is hollow). The Liquiforce is, therefore, very heavy in the front, and incredibly unbalanced–this is in contrast to how most other water blasters are designed, such as the Buzz Bee Outlaw, which spreads the weight of the water across the body of the blaster. We also found the short draw of the priming handle to be less than optimal, since successive, rapid pumps feel far more tiring than long, slower ones.
Design-wise, however, we like the Liquiforce reasonably well. Unlike the bulbous, cartoony lines of some water blasters, the X2O series is considerably more mil-sim looking, with tactical elements like the collapsible (but non-removable) shoulder stock and flip-up target sight, and darker color tones that look aggressive. It’s a little chunkier in places than we would like, but the clean lines are definitely on the right track.