Hardcore pinball fans are gonna tell you this game sucks, they're probably right but like...
if like me you just like pinball casually and have played more virtual pinball than real pinball in your life.

this game slaps
its so much fun
so many unique and interesting tables.

Gonna be real, I only really play this for the Williams licensed tables, which are always a good time. If you wait for the right sales, you get nice recreations of real-life tables that are dubiously optimized, have Sonic Pakistan McDonald's tier "remasters" (animated characters etc. pasted on), have comically unbalanced achievements that can take way too long or be nigh impossible due to some tables loving to always have the ball drain down an outlane (also, nudging does jack shit), and barely have the options that The Pinball Arcade had - the game itself barely has graphical options, even.

But, if you really have an urge to sign your soul aw- I mean, get into pinball, it's either this, attempting to pirate The Pinball Arcade (don't give Jay Obernolte money), the bullshit Fortnite-esque model they have going for the new Pinball FX, or [insert terrible 4th option here].

It's really not that bad. You can earn table mastery and special abilities by completing challenges on it. The physics can be hinky and true accuracy is a tricky affair, but that's half the appeal of real pinball. There are quite a few tables by now- and a decent selection of williams staples that are worth the asking price alone. The custom tables are hit-or-miss (Venom and Marvel's Avengers come to mind as having particularly unpleasant play-patterns, while I quite enjoy the campy Infinity Gauntlet and very unique Fear Itself tables.)

The multiplayer competition is a good time, too. It takes a match or two to calibrate but after that I found it did an exceptional job of putting me against player's scores that were within my reach. Victories feel like they give four steps forward, and losses feel like they give one step back. It's not discouraging to lose- not even a lot. That's nice.

It's a nice game.

absolutely goated game
Also


ball go brrrr

Addicting pinball game that regularly stays in my "Currently/Now Playing Lineup Rotation." The table model isn't that bad at all. You get one free table, but table bundles go on sale for a few bucks occasionally across various platforms, making it pretty easy and relatively cheap to build up a good collection. While there are a lot of tables, once you start playing on a few of them, you'll quickly gain some favorite tables that become a mainstay to play on.

I won't speak for how accurate the ball physics are since I am no pinball purist (lack of modern day arcades means I cannot compare this to a real pinball machine), but physics feel spot on. Two sets of tables exist. Real life recreations based of the actual Williams tables, and FX pinball tables featuring properties such as Marvel, Portal, Family Guy, Bethesda (Doom, Skyrim, Fallout), and other popular media franchises. Williams tables are quite standard, while the fantasy ones created specifically for Pinball FX have more arcade-like elements. The Aliens, Portal and Family Guy tables are my go-to tables to play on.

Every table can either be played in a classic mode, a standard mode allowing for bonuses to be used (extra score when hitting bumpers, multi-ball bonus score, double score, slow down time for a few seconds, etc.), or in a score attack challenge mode. Tournaments, multiple camera views, online leaderboards, high-scores and local multiplayer options exist as well.

Other cool features include being able to mark tables as your favorite, a quick play to jump right into a game of pinball (great if you have a large table collection and don't know what to play), and a 3 second countdown before unpausing a game of pinball.

No negatives I can think of, except that some of the table packs seem to rarely go on sale much anymore. I also would have liked to see some other current games get table recreations (Tomb Raider, Overwatch, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, etc.), but understand it may be down to licensing and various logistics.

Great on console or PC for the big screen, and just as great on Switch for handheld play. Perfect for a quick pick up and play session, or a lengthy solo, or party game. Highly entertaining and addicting pinball game for single player, online multiplayer and even offline local multiplayer!