Nerf Legends is something we didn’t expect to see: a first person shooter (FPS) based on and predominately featuring the real toys sold by toy giant Hasbro.

Published by GameMill Entertainment, Nerf Legends is an FPS with a somewhat generic neon science aesthetic. The look here, particularly the weird body proportions of the people, reminds us of Fortnite, and we can’t imagine that’s a mistake.

The main selling points of the game, according to a press release we received, are:

• “Pull off amazing trick shots with 15 authentic NERF blasters from the Mega, Ultra and Elite lines, including new releases from 2021!
• Intense single-player campaign featuring a variety of extreme enemies, boss battles and challenges across 19 out-of-this-world locations.
• Supercharge your blasting with power-ups like magnetic pull darts, push darts, seeker darts, and slow darts to change the tide of battle.
• Create your own custom character, and personalize your blasters with upgradeable perks and skins.
• Test your might against real players in 4v4 team-based and eight-player free-for-all online multiplayer matches featuring cross-platform play across consoles.”

What’s particularly confusing about Nerf Legends is that it doesn’t seem to have any connection at all to the way organised play with Nerf blasters is carried out.

For the uninitiated there are many ways to use the toy guns in structured play either competitively or just for fun, much like other similar hobbies. Similar to paintball and airsoft, those who prefer Nerf create what’s usually referred to as “Nerf wars” which can have point structures, ammo types, assigned roles, armour, zombies, flag capture and more.

Anything you could imagine in an FPS, or for paintball and airsoft, can also be done with Nerf in real life if you put some effort it.

It seems like a missed opportunity that Hasbro didn’t want that to be the core of this game, but maybe the company wanted to try and make this its own beast completely separate from real life.

Nerf Legends is planned for release in October 2021 for PC via Steam and just about every console – Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.  As mentioned above the consoles get to enjoy crossplay.

You can see some early gameplay in an announcement trailer below and, if you feel like playing with some real Nerf guns, see our guide to the surprisingly diverse world of ammo types for the toy blasters.