Plot: What’s it about?
Pinball FX was an excellent game, an addictive and wildly fun title with some remarkable tables to choose from. As good as that game is, Pinball FX 2 takes pinball to a whole new level. This sequel offers improved physics, dynamic new visuals, and a great interface to compete for top scores. You can track your progress against friends to determine who is the Pinball Wizard, or go for broke and compete with the entire world. The game tracks stats across individual tables and your total overall score, so there’s almost always a new challenge to undertake. Given that high score rights are crucial to the pinball experience, this new system is a great addition and really adds to the experience. The level of improvement in visuals is also impressive, as those older tables now sparkle and shine like never before. This is because you’re able to import your Pinball FX tables, so whichever tables you already own will be upgraded and added to your Pinball FX 2 collection.
Pinball FX 2 is a free download and includes trials of all available tables, but this works like a platform, so the free download won’t score you unlocked tables. The tables you own in Pinball FX will transfer over however and you can expand your collection via the marketplace. The tables are very reasonable in price and are simply gorgeous, well designed tables. Some of the tables are offered in packs, so you can score several new ones in one fell swoop. This includes two collections of Marvel licensed tables, a Mars themed table, an incredible Ms. Splosion table, and several others. The Marvel tables include Captain America, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and other high profile properties, all in faithful, insanely fun tables. You can also purchase all of the tables from Pinball FX, such as Rocky & Bullwinkle and Street Fighter 2 inspired tables. Pinball FX 2 is simply the best pinball game out there, with a selection of tables that is deep and impressive. So if you even have a minor interest in pinball, Pinball FX 2 is beyond highly recommended, it is a must own release.
Video: How does it look?
This game looks awesome. All of the elements we love about pinball are here, the bright lights, kinetic moving parts, and the lightning fast mechanics. These tables are loaded with visual details, so much so that you might find yourself losing balls because you’re checking out various elements of the tables. The lights pulse, the tables shift based on your performance, and the entire experience is just fantastic. I was dazzled by Pinball FX’s visuals, but Pinball FX 2 is flat out the best looking pinball game on the market.
Audio: How does it sound?
Just as the visuals provide an authentic pinball experience, so do the audio elements. The classic sound of the bumpers, voice samples, and of course pinball tunes are all here. Some of the tables sound better than others, but all of them sound great and the best of them sound incredible. The wonderful sounds just as you activate multi-ball or when you finish a challenge add so much to the realistic texture of the experience. Each table seems to have a unique, effective sound design that suits the tone of the table, simply amazing work all around.
Supplements: What are the extras?
N/A
