Pinball FX (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.1 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 04/25/2007
• Released on: 04/25/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Pinball FX (Xbox 360) Review

Pinball FX is a three-table pinball simulator from Hungarian developer, Zen Studios. It offers a standard set of pinball-related features, but it also makes some interesting deviations from the old digital pinball formula. All the pieces are in place, but unfortunately, this Xbox Live Arcade game's most prominent components are its shoddy ball movement and lackluster table design.

Your control over the pinball machines in Pinball FX is the same across all tables. By default, the triggers are used for flipping your flippers, and the left analog stick is used to bump the table around. If you bump too much, you'll cause the machine to tilt and lose your ball. The table-nudging controls aren't precise enough to be useful and even a light bump will set off a danger message. Additionally, you can only bump the table left or right, preventing you from attempting a death save, which is where you hit the bottom of the table hard enough to send a draining ball back up through the flippers before it drains. You can toggle among five different camera angles, giving you some choices for how you view the action. While the static shot is the easiest to manage, the closer views give you a better line of sight when it comes to hitting side ramps with upper flippers. The game also has Xbox Live Vision support, which lets you flip the flippers by waving your hands in specific spots. It's a novelty that wears off quickly, but it's nice that there's a separate online leaderboard for camera players.

The three tables in Pinball FX each have their own rules and theme. Speed Machine is an auto-racing-themed table with a wide-open center and an upper playfield that gives you one quick shot at two upper ramps before heading back down. Agents has a secret agent theme and includes a big tanker at the top of the playfield, as well as a loop and a ramp that can only be hit using an upper-left flipper. Extreme has a skateboarding and extreme sports feel to it, but its two-level playfield is clearly inspired by Midway's arcade classic, Black Knight 2000. Each table has modes and the other basic things you'd expect to see on a late-'80s-to-mid-'90s pinball machine, but none of the machines stand out very much. They all end up feeling very generic, and playing them gets old fast. The action on the ball also feels really unrealistic. The ball ends up feeling too light, bouncing around way too quickly and freely. Additionally, it feels like the ball is affected by spin more than a pinball in a real game.

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