World of Warcraft is big business with over eleven million people around the world paying a monthly subscription and for hardcore players, anything that enhances the game experience is a must have, especially if it saves previous seconds mid-raid typing in commands to switch from different channels and which is exactly where the Zboard comes in.

Packaged in a box which prominently displays Blizzard’s gorgeous artwork, the keyboard actually has three elements: a base, a normal keyset and a special Lich King themed version which features special keys just for playing WoW, this includes emotes, buttons to jump between chat channels and ones just for PVP. The keys are simple to change; just unclip it from the right hand side and gently remove; divided into three both keysets fold together neatly for easy storage. You can also add a rest to make using the keyboard a bit more comfortable for long periods of usage.

Installation is insanely simple; plug in the keyboard and off you go. However if customisation is your middle name, just pop in the software CD and you can change key assignments, add macros and generally tinker to your heart’s delight. This is where the keyboard comes into it’s own, it’s focused at gamers who don’t have time for all the short cuts – such as mid raid – and need to communicate quickly or fire off attacks and spells very quickly. The same goes for emotes, just press a button and your character will /laugh or /cry or /spit on command.

The only weird thing is the space bar; it’s split because of the fold running through the keysets but, oddly, the two sections are not exactly level. Indeed, I find it easier to use the smaller right hand section to jump around. Either way, it’s an oddity that you will soon get used to. The same goes for the right hand side of the key set which completely different to a normal keyboard; there’s no numeric pad and all the pleasingly round keys are devoted to specific macros and shortcuts that will really save time when you’re killing critters.

But of course, the beauty of the Zboard is that it also functions as a regular keyboard so there is no need to find extra space to store it during working hours; just switch keysets and off you go. The ‘regular’ keyset is just like any normal keyboard, albeit with the split space bar and the keys make a pleasing noise when you type on them. The quality of the board on the whole is incredibly good and it’s versatility means it can be used with World of Warcraft, searching on the net or, indeed, with other PC titles.

SteelSeries also sent me their mouse mat and gaming surface which are designed to compliment the Zboard. The surface, with its gorgeous artwork of the Queen of frost wryms, Sindragosa, is designed to keep your Zboard still as you play while the mouse mat, with it’s familiar Lich King artwork, creatures the perfect amount of response in a mouse – ideally SteelSeries’ own World of Warcraft gaming mouse, which I hope to be reviewing shortly.

All these items are available now from SteelSeries official website.