OXCGN’s Pinball FX 2 XBLA Review

A Multi-Pinball Multi-Mania Fun Feast

by : Belgavion

©2010 Gav Ross

When Hungarian development house Zen Studios released the original Pinball FX in early 2007, it seemed the title was the perfect platform for ongoing DLC.

While the extra tables that did eventually come out were very good (Rocky & Bullwinkle in particular), they dribbled onto the Live Marketplace so sporadically, that players were left wondering whether Zen were even continuing with work on content.

It’s clear now however that they were busily ‘flicking’ away and putting together Pinball FX 2 – a game that is not just a sequel, but a pleasing upgrade to the original.

Pinball FX 2 is unique in that the core game itself is a free download. If the purchaser has owned the original and bought any extra DLC content for that, then they’re automatically ported into FX 2 and receive an upgrade in both physics and graphics.

There’s no purchase necessary: if you want to use the FX 2 engine (and you pretty much have to, because the original Pinball FX has been deleted from Marketplace) to play your much-loved tables then that’s the cheap option available.

For just 800 points, however, you’re able to also get four brand new tables that are all significantly unique and worth the investment.

1. ‘Secrets Of The Deep’ uses muffled deep-sea sound effects to make the player feel like they’re submerged in a submarine;
2. ‘Biolab’ is an interesting and complex adventure that sees you evolving alien-like creatures with physical and mental upgrades;
3. Pasha relives the spirit of Ancient Persia and brings back memories of Disney’s Aladdin and, finally
4. ‘Rome’ is, as you’d expect, an empirical experience that appears to be the simplest (and most boring) of tables to begin with but reveals multiple layers of depth with each play.

These four new offerings alone bring Pinball FX to a new level of sophistication in terms of mini-game options, combo possibilities and skill needed to hit the high-score big leagues.

And it’s your score that matters much more this time around. Pinball FX 2 uses an ongoing leaderboard update system with friends that flashes up in a box on the top right of the screen, telling you whether you’re about to beat someone’s weekly best or even your own personal all-time maximum.

This, coupled with the fact you can send challenge requests to friends after you’ve just nudged past their high score, gives the game some competitive longevity. There have been times when I’ve been sent a challenge after a friend has just pipped me, only to find myself playing a certain table over and over again, not satisfied until I’m in front of them once more.

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There are also a few new additions to the scoring system. ‘Superscore’ adds up the player’s performance on all tables combined, while the ‘Wizard Score’ is the total of the player’s Superscore along with the Superscore of everyone on their friends list.

Upon completion of this, it unlocks Avatar rewards and other goodies and, unsurprisingly, has messageboards swamped with friend request offers as you’ll need at least 15-20 friends to get that Wizard Score to a respectable level.

Turn-based multiplayer remains a welcome inclusion, but it’s the online ranked matches that are the most hectic and enjoyable.

Up to four players can compete at a time either by all plugging away at tables at the same time or taking turns with each ball and seeing who can achieve the highest score.

There’s even video chat available for those still holding onto a vision camera (maybe the next iteration of the game will include Kinect functionality).

A pinball video game is nothing without control, and this is where Pinball FX 2′s greatest strength lies. The ball has a realistic weight to it that outdoes any pinball game in memory and it’s difficult to imagine it could be improved upon.

What many players will struggle with at first is the choice of views. There are a total of 7 different camera views available, with most zooming in to either follow the ball precisely or lean back a short way.

Personally, opting for the ‘full table view’ is the only way I can play this game, although that also means it can be hard to make out some of each table’s features.

The game looks far more impressive when seeing things close up, but if I can’t see the flippers at all times I feel like my control over the table has diminished. To each their own, really. Experimenting with each view is the best way to lock in what you’re most comfortable with.

A lot of genuine love for pinball has been put into this game by Zen. Each table is so meticulously crafted and different that it makes Pinball FX 2 one of the best value prospects on the Live Marketplace.

It also must have the highest max gamerscore for any XBLA game to date – a whopping 650 gamerscore can be accomplished and there’s no doubt this will be added to. With a selection of Marvel superhero-based tables promised for early 2011, pinball’s future on the 360 is looking bright.

“9/10

©2010 Gav Ross

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Joystiq, Marvel Universe, Pinball, Pinball FX, Pinball FX 2, Pinball FX 2 Reviews, Pinball fx 2 screenshots., pinball fx2 review, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Video game, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade, Zen Studios