Star Wars Pinball ReviewI am not the Star Wars geek that many (most) of my friends are, but I do respect the characters and the franchise as a whole, plus I had the O.G. Star Wars bed sheets when I was a kid. My own kids use them now, so we are still a Star Wars family to a degree. When I first learned of the Star Wars Pinball tables, I got pretty excited. But now that the first pack of tables is here, is it worth your credits?
Zen Studios has given us a steady stream of high quality, fun, and varied pinball tables over the last couple of years. Over time, the quality of design of the tables has improved greatly, which makes the recent (re)release of these classic tables a touch bittersweet.
The Zen Classics tables originally appeared as part of Zen Pinball on the PS3, making this their first appearance on the Xbox 360. Because these tables are remakes, albeit with improved graphics and physics, they don’t quite display the quality, flair, and balance that the more recently developed tables do. On the other hand, all four tables bring a retro vibe that fans of the early 90’s pinball era should be stoked for.
Whereas the more modern styled tables typically include a 3D model of a character or two, these classic tables are more “realistic” and you really get the sense that there are physical mechanisms at work here. The included tables are:
I have always loved playing pool. I can’t get enough of The Hustler, The Color of Money, and Pool Hall Junkies. So, it is with great anticipation that I await Pool Nation.
Chalk up your virtual cue sticks, from this announcement trailer, it looks to sink the 8 ball in billiards loving gamers’ corner pockets.
Zombie Driver HD giveaway details: Follow @Fizmarble on twitter and Retweet our post on this review to be entered to win one of 4 Xbox avatar award codes (skull shirt) or a full version of Zombie Driver HD for XBLA.
There may be some time in the future (whether near or far, no one knows for sure) where it will be boring to face wave after wave of various types of zombies, smashing them into pieces with your car and watching their mangled torsos roll off of the hood of your car. Now is not that time.
While many gamers people may be bothered by use of zombies in…everything, driving your car into innocents isn’t as accepted as it may have been when video games were less mainstream. Most folks are ok with killing zombies, so we won’t likely see the end of the zombie killing simulator soon. And that’s ok, because it means we get fun, if flawed, diversions like EXOR Studios’ Zombie Driver HD.
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. Simply based on the title alone, it sounds like we are going to have a good time. We’ve got an enthusiastic name, some anger, and a dead leporid. Throw them all together and it seems like you’ve got party central. Unfortunately, the sum of the parts doesn’t quite add up. While there are some fantastic elements to Hell Yeah! (HY!), a few persistent issues subtract from what could have been a brilliant package.
Realms of Ancient War (RAW) is a hack n’ slash/action RPG from French developer Wizarbox. It borrows elements of Diablo, Torchlight, and basically every other dungeon crawler ever made. We don’t expect these types of games to break new ground, it’s pretty much entirely iterative now, and that’s ok. But we do expect that if you are going make a dungeon crawler, you meet the standard set before us. It is unfortunate that I must tell you that RAW doesn’t meet the standard. I will however tell you where and how RAW fails to comply with the aforementioned standards.
| Xbox LIVE Arcade | Release Date | MS Points |
| Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior’s Rise | 5-Sep | 800 |
| Dogfight 1942 | 5-Sep | 1200 |
| Mark of the Ninja | 7-Sep | 1200 |
| Red Johnson’s Chronicles – One Against All | 12-Sep | 800 |
| Double Dragon NEON | 12-Sep | 800 |
| Add-ons | Release Date | MS Points |
| Skyrim: Hearthfire | 4-Sep | 400 |
| Pinball FX2: Plants vs. Zombies Table | 5-Sep | 240 |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: Collection 4 – Final Assault | 6-Sep | 1200 |
| Battlefield 3: Amored Kill Premium Members | 11-Sep | 1200 |
| Quantum Conundrum: IKE-aramba! | 12-Sep | 240 |
| Gold Exclusive Deal of the Week | Discount Dates | Price |
| 4-Sep to 10-Sep | ||
| Babel Rising | 400 | |
| Rayman 3D HD | 400 | |
| Mad Riders | 400 | |
| Alan Wake’s American Nightmare | 600 | |
| Limbo | 600 | |
| Sine Mora | 800 | |
| PopCap | 11-Sep to 17-Sep | |
| Plants vs. Zombies | 600 | |
| Peggle | 400 | |
| Peggle Nights | 200 | |
| Zuma | 200 | |
| Bejeweled 3 | 400 | |
| Heavy Weapon | 400 | |
| Astropop | 400 | |
| Feeding Frenzy 2 | 400 | |
| Bejeweled Blitz Live | 200 | |
| Feeding Frenzy | 200 | |
| Special Sales | Discount Dates | Price |
| Back to School Sale | 4-Sep to 10-Sep | varies |
| Kinect Central – Just Dance 3 Spring Break Pack | 4-Sep to 10-Sep | 320 |
| Kinect Central – Rhythm Party | 11-Sep to 17-Sep | 400 |
| Games on Demand | Release Date | |
| Street Fighter x Tekken | 4-Sep | |
| Sniper Elite V2 | 4-Sep | |
| Cabela’s Adventure Camp | 4-Sep | |
| Karaoke Revolution Glee: Volume 3 | 4-Sep | |
| Birds of Steel | 4-Sep | |
| Max Payne 3 | 11-Sep | |
| Kinect Sports: Season 2 | 11-Sep | |
| FIFA Street | 11-Sep | |
| PowerUp Heroes | 11-Sep | |
| Avatar | Release Date | |
| College Game Day Update | 4-Sep | |
| Rockband Blitz Update | 11-Sep |
Thanks Major Nelson!
When you look at the track record of quality that Harmonix has, you can hardly doubt that their next game in the rhythm genre will be a good time. Rock Band made playing plastic musical instruments a household phenomenon in America, and Dance Central showed us that the Kinect sensor could be used to teach us wallflowers how to dance (a little, anyway). Continue reading
I don’t want to wait until the end of the review to tell you I think this game is amazing and that you should buy it. I feel like it almost does an injustice to the efforts of it’s creators to pick it apart and tell you what I think of it’s elements. But I was selected to inform you, based on my opinion, if this game is worth your time and money. It is, and because it’s my job, I will tell you why.
Hybrid this week, Dust: An Elysian Tail next week. Online Multiplayer for Scott Pilgrim and some Quantum Condundrum DLC. With all of this good gaming going on, don’t forget to step outside every once in a while to catch the sun before summer’s over.
| Xbox LIVE Arcade | Release Date | MS Points |
| Hybrid (Microsoft Studios) | 8-Aug | 1200 |
| Dust: An Elysian Tail (Microsoft Studios) | 15-Aug | 1200 |
| Add-ons | Release Date | MS Points |
| Left 4 Dead 2: Cold Stream (Valve) | 3-Aug | 560 |
| Mass Effect 3: Firefight Pack (Electronic Arts) | 7-Aug | 160 |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: Collection 3 (Activision) | 9-Aug | 1200 |
| Rocksmith: Bass Expansion (Ubisoft) | 14-Aug | 2400 |
| Quantum Conundrum: The Desmond Debacle (Square Enix) | 15-Aug | 240 |
| Scott Pilgrim: Online Multiplayer+Wallace Pack (Ubisoft) | 19-Aug | 400 |
| Gold Exclusive Deal of the Week | Discount Dates | Price |
| Electronic Arts | 7-Aug to 13-Aug | |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Teeth of Naros | 400 (50% off) | |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Legend of Dead Kel | 400 (50% off) | |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Weapons & Armor Bundle | 200 (50% off) | |
| Family DOTW: Bejeweled 3 (PopCap) | 7-Aug to 13-Aug | 600 (50% off) |
| THQ | 14-Aug to 20-Aug | |
| Saints Row: The Third – Genkibowl VII | 280 (50% off) | |
| Saints Row: The Third – Gangstas in Space | 280 (50% off) | |
| Saints Row: The Third – The Trouble with Clones | 280 (50% off) | |
| Special Sales | Discount Dates | Price |
| Kinect Central: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 13 11 Course Pack (Electronic Arts) | 7-Aug to 13-Aug | 1920 (40% off) |
| Kinec Central: Carnival Games: MSMD – Coasterama Pack (2K Play) | 14-Aug to 20-Aug | 160 (50% off) |
| Square Enix | 14-Aug to 20-Aug | |
| Just Cause 2: Black Market Aerial Pack | 80 (50% off) | |
| Just Cause 2: Black Market ‘Boom’ Pack | 80 (50% off) | |
| Just Cause 2: Scorpion Animated Pet | 80 (50% off) | |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution Missing Link | 600 (50% off) | |
| Games on Demand | Release Date | |
| The Orange Box: Half Life 2 (Valve) | 7-Aug | |
| NASCAR® Unleashed (Activision) | 7-Aug | |
| King of Fighters XIII | 7-Aug |
Source: Major Nelson