Planet Eclipse made its name in paintball by customizing and perfecting some of the most popular high performance production paintball guns in the sport. With the release of the Ego for the 2005 model year, Planet transitioned from high-end custom house to tournament paintgun manufacturer, and accomplished this with acumen and style. The Ego immediately gobbled up team after team in the top ranks and became a sensation. As 2005 became 2006, Planet's transition came full-circle when another of the great custom paintgun producers in the game, Warped Sportz, fixed their Dark sights on the Ego. The Dark Ego6 is the result of collaboration between Planet Eclipse and Warped Sportz, two of the most well known names in custom, high-end tournament markers.

The Ego, and more recently the Ego6, has been chosen by many top-tier paintball teams, including XSV in the NXL and NPPL professional ranks, Nexus and the Bushwackers, who left one of the longest-running sponsorship deals in paintball to move to Eclipse. The number of teams and players using the Ego on all levels of the game is due in no small part to the simplicity of function of the Ego, and the attractive package in which they chose to wrap it. A long list of standard, performance-enhancing features doesn't hurt either, as the Ego is stock with anti-chop eyes, a Delrin, quick pull bolt, Autococker barrel threads, a matching Eclipse Shaft one-piece barrel, vertical clamping feed neck, inline and low pressure regulators, magnetic blade double trigger, multiple tournament firing modes including ramp and a matching on/off bottle adapter pre-installed on the grip frame's integrated dovetail.

The Dark Ego adds features and style to the already lengthy list of standards on the Ego6. The milling of the Dark is busier and much more aggressive than the Ego6, but still flows attractively across the receiver. Receivers are available anodized to a dust finish in black, red, blue or platinum, with polished red, black, platinum or blue accessories added for a custom, two-tone look that is dead sexy. The standard clamping feed neck of the Ego6 is gone, replaced with a lever-locking Eclipse feed neck that makes installing or removing a hopper much easier, as an Allen wrench is not required. The Dark's inline regulator has been custom milled and a swivel has been added, helping players find the perfect hose position. A Dark Ego exclusive thus far, the metal bolt pull pin has been replaced with a Delrin pin, decreasing weight.

A custom Eclipse Star grip frame with very comfortable Ego6 grips has been added to the Dark Ego, fitted with a snatch grip that doubles as a bottle opener. Why any player would use their seventeen hundred dollar paintball gun to open a frosty beverage at the field I have no idea, but evidently beer was involved when the Dark Ego was in the planning stages. Anyone knows that a real paintball player would use their teeth to open a beer long before their sexy killing machine. An upgrade from the Ego6, the one-piece Eclipse Shaft Solo barrel has been replaced with a matching, two-piece Shaft barrel and the buttons at the rear of the grip frame now sport the Dark devil logo. As only 25 Dark Egos will be produced each month, players who choose one will enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they may never see another at their local field.

The Dark Ego is not a cheap paintball gun by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, its seventeen hundred dollar suggested retail price makes it one of the most expensive production tournament paintball guns in current manufacture, alongside its stablemates the XSV Ego and the Nexus Ego, and the fifteen hundred dollar Shocktech DM5. That the Dark Ego is so rare and used by the latest incarnation of Avalanche in the professional seven-man ranks are selling points to offset this, however.

What puzzles me about the Dark Ego is the choice to upgrade it entirely with Planet Eclipse parts. Warped Sportz lines include unique and quality Function hard parts like ASA's and feed necks, and the popular and attractive Lucky barrel sets, yet not a single part or piece on the Dark Ego is a Warped Sportz proprietary product. When Function parts and Lucky barrels are available on every other Warped Dark paintball gun, even the Ion, but not on the flagship of the line, I have to wonder why.

Once past the drooling and letting friends hold it when it's taken out of the box, the Dark Ego gets to do what it does best, shoot faces. The Dark Ego performs well and requires nothing out of the box to compete in the professional ranks save a very fast hopper and a quality, consistent compressed air bottle. For testing a Crossfire low pressure (blue regulator) bottle was used, along with a Boost Custom HALO B with Victory board. Light and comfortable in the hand, the Dark Ego's ergonomics enable any player to shoot accurately, snap shoot with skill and switch from the right to left hand easily after only a few minutes of field time.

In semiautomatic mode, the Dark Ego, like any other Ego6, is uncapped and therefore limited only by the shooter's fingers and the hopper's ability to feed. Other firing modes like ramp with adjustable rate of fire cap allow players to compete easily in leagues like the PSP and CFOA. Setting the Dark Ego to ramp is simple, requiring the grip panel to be removed and a few pushes of the buttons at the rear of the grip frame. Air efficiency is on-par with that of the Ego6, which is stellar, and accuracy is excellent thanks to the Eclipse Shaft two-piece barrel. Fresh Draxxus paintballs landed predictably onto targets, one on top of the other, out to even long ranges without fluctuation, a testament to the Ego's consistency. Requiring only simple regular maintenance to perform perfectly, a user need only lubricate the rammer and regulators and keep the breech clean to ensure flawless performance game after game.

Extremely attractive and very rare, the Dark Ego is an amazing paintball gun. While I'm perplexed by the decision not to use Function parts or a Lucky barrel, the parts and pieces used to create the Dark Ego are high quality Planet Eclipse, and therefore very good at what they do, if not all that different from the Ego6. An upgraded version of the already impressive Ego6, the Dark adds exclusivity and the Warped reputation to what is already a proven tournament-winner. Being the only one in the neighborhood to have one still means something, and if owning over five Ions-worth of custom Ego is your thing, some quality time with the Dark Ego is highly recommended.