The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Adventure Pinball: Forgotten Island takes a familiar style of game--pinball--and pushes it beyond its ordinary limitations by incorporating colorful 3D graphics and innovative level design. The game uses the powerful Unreal engine, which was originally developed for use in first-person shooters, and the engine's roots shine through in Adventure Pinball's fast-paced action. The game's levels make good use of the freedom provided by the engine, and they include a number of creative gameplay elements. While the game at times relies too heavily on its frantic pace, and its graphics aren't very interesting, it does provide a fun new perspective on the traditional pinball game.
The game includes both a story mode and a single-table mode. The story mode lets you progress through the nine main levels featured in the game, while the single-table mode lets between one and four players compete for the highest score on any one of the tables that have been unlocked in the story mode. Each level has an objective that will unlock the next level in the story. These objectives often require the player to progress through a specific series of areas in the level, and occasionally they require a somewhat discouraging and difficult sequence of events in order to access the next level. While the game does include three difficulty settings, these settings only adjust the initial number of balls you have--the logic being, if you have more chances to accomplish a goal, the game is easier. This may work well for players that are familiar with pinball games or other kinds of fast-paced games, but it could prove frustrating for novice players even on the easiest setting.
Though sometimes convoluted, the game's level design is creative
The level design in the game is creative and often surprising. Most of the main levels include a number of hidden areas and other secrets, and they are often made up of several "tables" between which the ball can travel in a number of ways, including railways, blowholes, and even pterodactyls. Sometimes the level sequences can be somewhat convoluted, but they are enjoyable on the whole.
The most noticeable feature of the game is the fast camera movement. The game's third-person view is usually fixed in one direction (facing the table from behind the flippers) but keeps the ball in the center of the screen by scrolling around to follow the ball. This movement gives a great sense of action, but at times can be annoying, particularly when the ball hits a power-up that accelerates its movement and the movement of the camera along with it.
