One
game that has stood out the phase of time if pinball. They date way back and
somehow people always keep on playing them if they are always making the
machines. Game companies have also made Pinball games for home consoles and up
to date I have never played a pinball game on a Home console. This is my first
attempt to play a pinball game on the Xbox 360 via the Live arcade. The game is
Pinball FX.
Pinball
FX is available on the Xbox live arcade market place. It offers 3 different
pinball tables as well as new ones which can be downloaded. There are a total
of 4 pinball tables up to date. 3 are available when you first purchase the
game and the other one can be downloaded for free with an extra achievement
point. The levels are: Speed Machine, Extreme, Agents and Buccaneer. Each level
is uniquely design to fit the environment and the title.
Speed
Machine is similar to that of a Race way with the environment featuring Race
track pavements. Extreme is more of an Urban environment that that of extreme.
Yes it does have people doing all sorts of sports in an Urban environment that
seems to take place in an early 90’s Chicago. Agent features an environment
similar to that of Miami or Vice city in the present. Buccaneer has a pirate environment
where the ball launcher is in the shape of a cannon.
The
main goal of any pinball game is to get the highest score. Which means try to
keep the ball on the table as much as possible. The ball physics make the game
feel like a real pinball game. You need to have a fast eye in order to keep up
with the ball. But even if you have a fast eye to keep up, you cannot control
where the ball is going. Most of the time you will lose the ball because it
will just go straight through the center out of reach from the flippers.
While
the levels are design to fit the title, they do seem a little short. They seem
smaller than normal pinball tables that I have played in the past. I would
probably say that the ball makes up 5% of the table and 40% is just wasted
space. What I mean by wasted space is the sides, the bottom side of the
flippers and where the ball is launched. Everything Just seems cramped up into
a small space making your chances of loosing even greater.
The
game features a total of 13 achievement points that can be unlocked throughout
all 4 tables. With a few extra achievement points every time there are extra tables
on Xbox live market place. If you want to unlock all achievements it is best to
read all the achievements and research them online because you will not be able
to find them on your own and the description is not enough for you to figure
out what should be done.
Graphics
wise the game is probably one of the better games out there that have great graphics.
It supports up to 720P. The environments do match the feel of the table and are
nicely designed. Each table only has 1 song which loops continuously. The songs
also match the feel of the table but I suggest listening to your own soundtrack
if you don’t do so already. As for the sound effects they are clean, sharp and
very accurate. It actually sounds like a real pinball machine.
Pinball
FX will not last for a long time. The most you can get out of it is 2 to 3
hours of game play. Since it is a pinball game it offers a replay value but
only to people who like to play pinball however for the rest of us we would get
bored so fast we wouldn’t even bother to beat our own score. In the future
there will be more tables so if you love this game it will keep you coming back
especially if they are free.
Closing Comments:
Pinball
FX is a very easy game to pick up and play. However the ball physics can be a
little off. You can feel that the ball is heavy and sometimes heck most of the
time the ball will go straight through the middle of the flippers causing you
to lose the game. So far there are only 4 tables with more on the way but until
then, once you have unlocked all achievements there is no reason to go back and
play it again.
Game Play: Real Pinball environment but the physics can be a
little off. 7.5/10
Graphics: Probably one of the few games that have great
graphics. 720P support. 10/10
Sound: Songs match the feel of the table and the sound
effects match those of a real pinball table. 7.5/10
Controls: All you have to do is press the L and R triggers. It
can’t be that hard. 10/10
Life Span: Only 4 tables and not a lot of achievements. At
this moment it will only offer a few hours of game play. 4/10
