Pinball FX (XBL Arcade)

[Uli]

i downloaded this after finding the demo table "Speed Machine" quite enjoyable. then i found "Agents" is even better because it plays a lot slower and is designed for long ball-in play rounds. the table "Extreme" i found somewhat unexciting - but maybe it's beacuse i don't like its design.

the game features great pinball table physics (as far as i can judge), great controller vibration support and decent sound FX. but it lacks in the department of game modes and customization. thers's no 2 player mode (!!!) and only a single MP online mode, a simultaneous score hunt, which not even let's you have a view on the other players table. although there's live vision cam support this is ultimately a little cheap and disappointing!

[ChrisField]

Think this should be in the Xbox Marketplace thread...

I wasn't a fan of Extreme either. Feels like the ball is in the lower half of the table a lot of the time where not a great deal happens. That may be down to my lack of skill though :)

NTSC-UK score challenge here: http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=73660

[MartyG]

I find the Agent table to be the best of the three also; there are some more tables coming apparently, so I'll keep an eye out for that DLC.

The tables remind me of the early 90s jobbies, like Addams Family and one of my favs, Star Trek: TNG in terms of play and layout. Not quite as featured as they seem lacking on stuff like LED minigames. I've only seen dual ball mode rather than multi-ball so far, but I really haven't explored the tables enough yet.

The ball physics seem to pretty good to me, if perhaps with a little too much momentum for my tastes - metal rails behave like metal rails and mushrooms behave like mushrooms. The flippers feel good with the pad rumble, and connect well with the ball. The only thing I disliked, and something I've never really felt a pinball sim has gotten right, is tilting. Physically shifting a table doesn't translate well to the pad for me.

I'd like to have seen the ability to tweak some of the parameters, like table angle, ball weight, tilt sensitivity etc, I'm sure this wouldn't be too tricky to enable given it runs on a physics engine and they'd just be parameters in there.

However, I reckon this is a decent pinball game overall, which plays very nicely.

[Paulos G]

New Bucaneer Table available for free download today.

[Yoshimax]

Awesome - I'll have that - not switched this on for a while I should really do a purge of me XBLA titles and keep only those I'll play again but the hoarder in me won't allow it.

[Paulos G]

Just had a crack on it and I think it's up to the same standard as the other tables. What really surprised me though was getting an achievement! Yup, that's right. There's just the one for ten points that's been added though. That would suggest more tables and more achievements on the way...

[Ratso]

I'm really not complaining, but given how certain things on the MarketPlace are so heinously overpriced - why on Earth is this free?!

I just had a quick go (not long enough to assess the true quality of the table) but I got the Achievement (10GP) I think simply for playing it...

[Dazzyman]

Ooh have to try this I miss my STNG and Medieval Madness machines :(

[Paulos G]

New table available to download: Nightmare Mansion. 200 points. 20MB.

[peeveen]

Great to see this game still getting worked on, and 200pts is a very good price for a whole new table (providing it's not garbage). And a new achievement too.

[Kubrick]

Yeah, was a nice surprise to see the new table. It's pretty good, but "Agents" still reigns supreme. :)

With the new achievement being worth 20G and not 10G like the last one, it makes me think there will only be one more table released for it.