Pinball M Review

Pinball M is the latest release from video pinball masters, ZEN Studios. The biggest difference between Pinball M and ZEN Studios’ last pinball game, Pinball FX, is the change from the “FX” postfix to an “M”. That “M” is for mature and reflects the game’s ESRB M rating. Pinball FX’s ESRB T rating limited what ZEN Studios could do with their tables and some of the licenses that they could use for their tables. With the new M rating, ZEN Studios is free to explore mote mature themes and franchises for their tables. Initially, the table that comes with the game for free, and the first set of additional tables available for purchase, skew heavily towards horror franchises from literature, film, and games, but the availability of a Duke Nuke’m inspired table would seem to indicate that the game will look beyond the horror genre for inspiration for its mature-themed tables.

If you’ve never played a ZEN Studios pinball game before, and if you’ve ever played an actual meatspace pinball table before, you’re in for a treat. ZEN Studios has perfected the physics of a metal ball bouncing around a sloped wooden surface. I’ve played plenty of real-world pinball machines over the years, and am always up for a game when I come across one. I’ve also played plenty of videogame versions of pinball, and none of them come close to a ZEN Studios pinball game. The virtual ball feels like it has actual weight, and comes off of bumpers, targets and pins realistically rather than taking predefined routes. The flippers give you as much control over the game as they do in the real world, allowing for live and drop catches, and precise shots at targets and lanes. And the game perfectly captures those times when you’ve built-up so much speed in the ball that you can whip it around the lanes as fast as your fingers can keep up. Video pinball will never replace the real thing, but Pinball M comes close.

The free table that comes with Pinball M is Wrath of the Elders, a table inspired by Lovecraftian lore. Like all ZEN Studios pinball games, this and the other DLC tables available with Pinball M take advantage of the fact that this is a video games to add 3D animated elements that aren’t possible in the real world. This table draws upon its source of inspiration by having you battle tentacled elder gods while trying to maintain your sanity. In this and the other tables, there are a number of missions to unlock and complete, so spending a little time with the table instructions first is always a good idea.

The other initially available tables for purchase indicate that ZEN Studios will draw upon a wide-array of mature-themed entertainment sources for Pinball M. Suspense horror moves from literature to film with The Thing, inspired by the John Carpenter movie. Sound bites are taken directly from the film, and you’ll see clips from it playing on the backboard. The snow falling on the table adds to the foreboding and isolated atmosphere.

The next film-inspired table moves things to the slasher realm. Chucky’s Killer Pinball also uses clips and sound bites from the film franchise and features Chucky himself sitting in one corner of the table staring at you ominously. Missions are inspired by iconic scenes from the movies. There will be blood.

The first of two videogame-inspired tables is Dead by Daylight. The table draws upon the game’s asymmetrical multiplayer gameplay by casting you in one of the player roles. Depending on which role you’re playing, you’ll either need to make your escape and survive the hunt, or pursue and eliminate the victims.

Lastly, we have Duke Nukem. This table draws heavily on Duke’s signature quips and personality, and its surface features recreations of some of the level locations from the iconic shooter. The table also pays homage to its inspiration by including video-based mini games that will have you blasting aliens just as Duke did back in the day.

In addition to being able to play the tables straight-up, you can also play various challenge modes to see how high you can score with different game variants such as a single ball, a set time limit, or a finite number of flipper flips. Weekly tournaments let you put your best scores up against other gamers. You can also work your way through goals for each table that will allow you to unlock cosmetics, both for the tables and for your virtual game room.

Overall, the core of Pinball M is not that much different from that of Pinball FX. If you’ve played that game, once you spend a minute or two adjusting to the new menu layout you’ll be right at home. It would have been nice if you could have kept your collection of tables all in one place, but at least this separation allows the skilled designers at ZEN Studios to explore more themes – although the studio has toned down mature licenses in the past such as Borderlands. You can take it out for a test spin for free, and if you like what you see you can pick up another table or two, or go all in for about $20 at the time of this writing. ZEN Studios has consistently been providing new content based on new franchises to Pinball FX, so it’s likely that you’ll see Pinball M’s selection of tables continue to grow in the future.