After the launch of the Quest Pro, Kobra VR got right to work on a new gunstock
specifically for the Quest Pro controllers and here's what Falandorn has come up with.
This is the MagLock Pro and holy crap is it a sexy looking stock. It's modeled after the
M4 carbine, or 'carbean' depending on which persuasion of pronunciation you subscribe to,
which is one of the most recognizable and popular style of rifles in the world. But
of course what a VR gun stock looks like isn't important. What is important is how it performs
in game and just how does the MagLock Pro perform? Well, let's jump into some games and try it out.
Ok, so using the MagLock Pro is a dream. I used it to play matches in Onward,
Pavlov and Contractors and had a ton of fun. It feels great in your hands and plays great too.
Tracking was absolutely perfect; the stock didn't hinder the Pro controllers ability
to track themselves at all and I was able to engage and take down targets with ease. It's
a little heavier than my favorite stock, the Kobra Wolverine, but at the same time,
not too heavy. It's just the right amount of weight in my opinion. It has just enough mass to
feel like you're holding a formidable weapon but also light enough it isn't cumbersome.
So who is this stock for? The most obvious answer is
of course it's for someone who owns and uses the Quest Pro controllers.
Your dominant hand controller is designed to fit snuggly into this handle like so and while
a Quest 2 controller will fit in here the stock is not designed to work with the Quest 2 controllers.
Secondly, this stock is for someone looking for more of a simulation experience. In my
opinion this stock is not the best choice for fast paced, competitive online play. You can
use it in fast paced games like Contractors and Pavlov and it works quite well but I feel
the Kobra Wolverine suits those games style of play better than the MagLock Pro does.
The MagLock Pro is designed for you to be able to disconnect your dominant hand from the stock to
more accurately simulate switching to a side arm or to throw grenades and stuff. To disengage your
hand from the stock you just press forward with the heel of your hand and the magnets will release
freeing up your dominant hand to wield a pistol, to throw grenades or to cycle bolt action rifles.
When it comes to using this for cycling a bolt on a sniper rifle though I feel it's
pretty slow and a bit clunky. This is not unique to this stock though. This
is how I feel about all stocks that use magnetic attachments like this.
It's much quicker to simply turn the rifle on it's side and use your non-dominant hand.
But if you're wanting more of a simulation experience, you want to able to disconnect
your dominant hand from the stock. While clipping in and out isn't exactly realistic either using
your dominant hand to cycle the bolt does just feel right and I do have to say the feeling of
the grip clipping back in and audible clack that comes along with it is actually quite satisfying.
Personally I'm a fan of the grip handles that Kobra VR uses. They allow you to grab
on and let go like you would in real life. They're way quicker than magnetic docking
and make cycling a bolt in VR a lot of fun. But that's just my opinion and personal preference;
I'm not trying to take anything away from the MagLock Pro. In fact one thing I feel I have to
mention is how good this grip feels when using a pistol. The way the grip is molded makes it feel
more like you're holding an actual handgun rather than a controller and the added weight out front,
of the trigger guard and the magnets, helps trick your brain all that much more. Not
to mention simply feeling the trigger guard there also helps with the level of immersion.
To clip back in you simply get the handle near the
lower receiver and the magnets take care of the rest for you.
I think Falandorn did a fantastic job with this design because clipping in and out requires a
minimal amount of effort but at the same time the magnets are strong enough you
get a good amount of pull with your dominant hand without it disconnecting from the stock.
Like the Wolverine before it the MagLock Pro has really good adjustability allowing it to
accurately simulate a wide variety of guns in different games. The front grip handle doesn't
have much adjustment but the design of the new shoulder stock adjustment is next level!
I thought the way the shoulder stock on the Wolverine adjusted
was awesome but I feel like this new design blows that one away.
You just use this little trigger to quickly and easily adjust the shoulder stock to one
of six different lengths. This allows you to make the stock extremely compact
to simulate different sub-machine guns or lengthen it out for a sniper rifle
or set it anywhere in between to match up with whatever gun you're using in game.
There is also an adjustable cheek rest to help dial in the level of immersion that much more.
One of the things I love about Kobra VR's stocks is the ability to add additional
modules to their stocks. The current designs of all their stocks have picatinny rails on
them which allow you to add things like this holosite, which is purely aesthetic and does
nothing to improve the user experience but they also have their shotgun module which allows you
to simulate the action of a pump shotgun and is incredibly satisfying to use I might add.
Then there's this bi-pod for the hard core snipers out there who are looking
for that added stability using a bi-pod provides. And for those who already own a
DMR Wolverine and aren't all that excited to pay full price for a whole new MagLock Pro,
Kobra VR offers the MagLock Pro module allowing you to convert your DMR into a MagLock Pro.
My MagLock Pro arrived in I think seven different pieces but assembly was super easy. The upper
receiver piece arrived like you see here so you just put the barrel on to the front end
like so and then tighten down this screw to secure it in place. You can then slide the
front grip handle on to the lower picatinny rail and secure it using the included Phillips head
screw. I then placed the front site on like this and secured it in place with it's screw.
Oh, and just FYI Falandorn does include the proper sized Allan key for these screws with your stock.
Next I slid the shoulder stock onto the back end of the stock,
pressed in the length adjustment trigger to get it past this screw and into it's
proper position and then all that was left was to connect the pistol grip
to the lower receiver like so, insert the magazine and clip on the shoulder sling.
The magazine can be left out if you prefer as it doesn't serve any useful purpose in game
but it definitely does complete the look of the stock. And if you're worried about the magazine
getting in the way; in all my play testing I never had any issues with it getting in the
way while reloading or doing anything else no matter which gun I was using in game.
That's not to say I didn't encounter any problems with the stock when using certain
guns though. Most notably is the lack of compatibility with the P90. The P90 is a
weird little SMG that places your front and rear hands super close together so the front
grip on the MagLock Pro is a little too far out in front to use it with the P90.
At first I thought I could just move the front grip back on the picatinny rail but
there's a little stop right here on the mount that prevents the grip from moving
back any further and for good reason. The controller would collide with the
barrel so you can't really move it back much further than it already is anyway.
When using the P90 I found the gap here between the grip and the magazine is just
the right placement for your front hand so while not ideal you can use the P90
with the MagLock Pro. One other problem I ran into was while loading shells into the SPAS
12 and M1014 shotguns in Contractors my left controller would collide with the front grip
handle preventing me from loading shells into the gun. I was able to find a work
around by bringing the shells in from the top and passing through the gun but it's always a
bit disappointing when you have something like this breaking the immersion. I checked to see if
this was a problem in Pavlov and Onward as well but as far as I can tell this issue only exists
in Contractors with the two automatic shotguns. The pump action shotguns did not have this issue.
The MagLock Pro is another fantastic addition to the Kobra VR family and if you're currently
rocking the Quest Pro controllers and looking for a stock to help you improve your aim and more
fully immerse you in games like Onward and others the MagLock Pro is definitely worth checking out.