The great thing about digital pinball is that there is
plenty of room in the marketplace for anyone that wants to get their feet wet.
Whether that means authentic reproductions of real tables or, in the case of
Zen Studios’ Pinball FX series, fantasy tables that don’t have to adhere to the
physical and technical limitations that their real world counterparts do,
pinball is still pinball and it’s always a total blast. Zen Studios’ latest
pinball platform, Pinball FX3, delivers not just fantastic pinball but a number
of social and quality of life features that really enhance the experience.
Check out all of the details here in our full review of the Xbox One version of
Pinball FX3.Game Details
- Publisher: Zen Studios
- Developer: Zen Studios
- ESRB Rating: “E10” for Everybody 10+
- Genre: Pinball
- Pros: Very solid gameplay; licensed tables; “fantasy” pinball at its best
- Cons: Can be expensive
- MSRP: Varies – $3 for one table up to $20+ for bundles
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Pinball FX3 is the continuation of Zen Studios’ Zen Pinball
and Pinball FX franchise. Previously, Zen Pinball was a PlayStation series,
while Pinball FX was Xbox and Windows, but now all platforms, including
Nintendo Switch, will feature a unified Pinball FX3 platform going forward. It
is also worth noting that a big push with Pinball FX3 is on multiplayer duels
and online tournaments with Switch and Xbox One featuring cross-platform online
play (along with PC players) while PS4 fans can only play with Steam users.
The core of Pinball FX3 is a free download that lets you buy
and launch paid premium pinball tables. The free core download does include one
table you can play, Sorcerer’s Lair, but the rest of the tables start at $3 for
a single table and up to $30 for larger bundles of multiple tables. If you
bought tables for previous Zen Pinball or Pinball FX games you can also import
most of those tables over to PFX3 for free (with a couple of exceptions for
licensing reasons).
There are several dozen tables currently available for
Pinball FX3 including several Zen Studios originals along with a growing number
of licensed tables. Licenses include Marvel Comics, Star Wars, The Walking
Dead, Portal, Universal Studios, Bethesda Games, and many more including the
newly released Jurassic World three pack (which is what prompted this review in
the first place because I couldn’t resist tables based on “Jurassic World” and
“Jurassic Park”). The licensed tables have really become the star attractions
in Pinball FX and it is amazing how faithful they are by featuring real music
and sound effects from the games or movies as well as story beats and special
gameplay features based on the license. Zen does a really good job with this
stuff.
The main thing that sets Pinball FX3 apart from its direct
competition, The Pinball Arcade, is that Pinball FX3 features tables that are
purely videogame fantasy rather than digital versions of real world tables.
This means that the tables in Pinball FX3 can feature intricate special
features, unique gameplay twists, and visual effects that would be impossible
on a real pinball table. I won’t say one style is better than the other,
though, as they’re both fun and worthwhile in their own ways.
One thing to remember about pinball is that real world
tables were, frankly, meant to be a bit unfair to keep you pumping quarters
into them. Wide gaps between the flippers or bumpers and other obstacles in the
field designed to always bounce the ball into extra unforgiving gutters were
designed just to eat quarters. The tables in Pinball FX3, on the other hand,
don’t need you to keep pumping quarters into them and, because they’re 100%
digital, were designed to be more playable and “videogame-y” and fun. The
tables are generally pretty forgiving and accessible which means you can take
your time to really dig into their finer nuances and gameplay features.
Pinball FX3 embraces this accessibility and videogame-y-ness
even more by featuring unlockable table upgrades that do things like let you
earn more points in specific scenarios or give you special powers like being
able to slow down time. Each table has several upgrades that can level up and
get more powerful as you continue to play. The upgrades and powers are totally
optional, of course, and you can play by standard pinball rules instead if you
want, but I really like seeing fun extra features like this.
And, of course, the pinball gameplay itself is absolutely
rock solid regardless of what table you play. The physics are kind of
exaggerated and not really realistic, but they are consistent across all
tables, which is important. It doesn’t quite feel like real pinball, but you
get used to it. I didn’t experience any notable bouts of slowdown, though I
only played a handful of Star Wars and Jurassic World tables. The performance
was smooth and didn’t affect my gameplay at all.
Presentation-wise, the tables in Pinball FX3 are all sharp,
highly detailed, and look and sound great. Using real sound clips from the
licenses really makes the tables feel authentic, but the tables also use plenty
of traditional oldschool pinball sound effects too. The menu that ties the
whole Pinball FX3 experience together is fairly clean and easy to navigate, but
doesn’t have much personality compared to The Pinball Arcade or Stern Pinball.
All in all, there’s plenty to love with Pinball FX3 for
pinball fans. The core content platform is clean and consistent and accessing
the huge number of tables is easy. The variety in the licenses, as well as the
original tables, is also greatly appreciated as there can really be something
for everyone here. If you’re a big pinball fan it can be expensive buying all
of them, of course, but if you’re more selective you can build a nice
collection of tables without breaking the bank. I also want to say that I’m
glad that we have two distinct pinball platforms available on consoles these
days that offer different types of pinball. More pinball is always good, so if
you’re any sort of pinball fan at all you should definitely check out Pinball
FX3.
