Pinball FX2 is an expansion pack for the Xbox 360 game Pinball FX. Pinball FX was de-listed after the release of this title, and its tables were made available as downloadable content (DLC) for the sequel. This is the first game in the series on PC and Xbox One. The game is a platform for gamers to buy and play downloaded tables. For a few minutes, all tables are free to play. They can be unlocked permanently or added by paying DLC. Pinball FX’s significant enhancements include a revamped physics engine and other graphical updates. Tables have six to eight view options and optional extras like floating point numbers, a ball trail, or a picture-in-picture skill shot camera that shows the next target on the table. The table’s active LED display is also displayed within a window. It may be relocated to one of the screen’s four corners when the player nears a specific milestone (such as a high score, beating a friend, or raising the leaderboard), separate windows display.
The left and right triggers are used to control the respective flippers. Balls are fired into play using a mechanical stimulus or an analog plunger. You may also pause the game and enter free look mode, in which they move a zoomed camera around the table to understand its structure better. When this option is enabled, high scores are not saved.
Each table has a rules sheet specifying each mini-game’s activation criteria and aims. An authentic operator’s menu (accessed via the LED display) allows for the loading of difficulty presets, the running of light and sound tests on the simulated circuits, the reset of each table’s local high scores, and the calibration of various features of each table (such as flipper strength and tilt sensitivity). While most tables are grounded in reality and based on physical pinball parts, the virtual nature is occasionally used to do things that physical tables cannot – figures on the table move and interact with the ball. Some tables have secondary modes (such as a day-to-night cycle or temporary zero gravity), and objects are occasionally flown into or out of the table.
Split-screen, simultaneous over the internet, and local hot seat modes are available for up to four players. Ranked multiplayer employs predefined rules in which players have infinite balls and compete to be the first to reach a target or highest score in a set amount of time. Customization is possible in unranked multiplayer. Superstores and Wizard Scores also influence leaderboards. The Superscore of a player is the highest score on each table, rounded to the nearest million. A player’s Wizard Score is the sum of their Superscore and the Superscores of everyone on their Friends list multiplied by the number of tables they possess. The structure fosters interaction, competition, and, of course, the purchase of additional tables.
On the Xbox 360, buying the game as a Core pack (800 MSP) unlocks four extra tables: Biolab, Pasha, Rome, and Secrets of the Deep. Players on the Xbox 360 and PC can download the free version, play every table in a limited-time trial mode, and pay and play DLC tables. The Pinball FX Classic pack for Xbox 360 includes Speed Machine, Agents, Buccaneer, and Extreme from the original game. Each table features three achievements frequently related to winning mini-games or objectives. None of the core tables from Pinball FX or Pinball FX2 are accessible for Zen Pinball on the PSN. However, many DLC tables are. The entire and unrestricted table Sorcerer’s Lair is included for free in the PC and Xbox One versions. Tables purchased for the Xbox 360 version can be imported for free into the Xbox One version. The Xbox One version features a new overview system in which tables (Marvel, Star Wars, etc.) are organized into individual tabs and a check for all purchased tables.
