Balls of Glory Pinball FX3 (PC/PS4) - Is it worth the 5-10 dollars?

The Zen Pinball tables are nothing new to gaming (particularly for PC gamers) as they are pretty much the only players in the game. There are a few others out there, but Zen seems to get all the copyright stuff and that tends to make their games more enjoyable.

The initial download is free and most tables have a demo that you can play a little bit of before making a decision.

I am always apprehensive of these "packs" because normally they throw one good table in with some garbage and the "Balls of Glory" pack - which includes tables for Family Guy, American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, and Archer - seems to be exactly that.

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These add-on packs are all part of the FX3 game and there are an absolute TON of tables, many of which can be picked up for like $2 or even at a bigger discount if you buy the packs.

I caught a 50% off special and was able to get the entire pack for less than $5, so i figured "what the hell" because even if it sucks it is only $5.

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There are a lot of pluses and minuses about all of these, or just digital pinball in general. For one thing, the Zen pinball games tend to focus on making the pinball realistic, as in, it looks like you are actually standing at a pinball table, which is good in a way and kind of crap in another.

The downside of this simulation is the fact that sometimes the angles make it very difficult to see what you are supposed to be aiming at (i use the static one where your point-of-view is as if you were standing at the end.) For example on the Family Guy table, the top flipper, which is the only way you can access the "Chris" ramp is very difficult to see at all. After 2 hours I only successfully hit the Chris ramp once.

You can change the camera angle to follow the ball, but good grief, who's gonna do that?

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There are certain things you can do in order to activate side games, which likely wouldn't be possible on a real pinball table such as when you take to the skies as Stewie to have a showdown with his ginger brother "Bertram." While this is initially complicated because you still only use the flipper buttons to control the helicopter, it is a nice little break from the normal pinball action.

The rest of the game is filled with various comedic statements made by all your favorite Family Guy characters and this is where Zen shines over pretty much everyone else in the digital pinball realm. Zen acquires the copyright for most of their tables and the voices and characters are really from the shows (or movies.) The music, the characters, and even some custom voice-work designed specifically for this game are all included.

I'm a big fan of Family Guy, so this alone made it worth continuing to play just to what sort of ludicrous stuff was going to happen next.

_{From the official Playstation channel}

As that trailer shows, there are 3-D things that happen on the table that wouldn't be possible with an actual pinball machine and that is kind of fun although watching it can actually result in you losing the ball.

The games are somewhat realistic as far as pinball physics are concerned and this includes the fact that you are occasionally going to get completely screwed over as the ball heads down those dreaded side lanes for a loss.

Another interesting feature that is built into the game is that you can actually "level up" the table with increased play, which will increase your ability to have more balls and prolong gameplay. Therefore, there is a lot of replay value because the game becomes easier as time goes by.

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Bob's Burgers was a pretty good table, but since I have never watched a single episode of this show, a lot of the jokes are lost on me. However, it was pretty funny and has inspired me to have a look at the show.

I only played the Archer table for a few rounds because it is terrible, just as I expected anytime i buy a package table game. If you look online almost everyone complains that Archer appears rushed and unfinished and was simply a cash grab. Basically, it was thrown in because it is also a cartoon and the table sucks and they know it.

For $5, this package has already been worth it in my book as I played just Family Guy for around 2.5 hours last night and at no point was I bored. I only stopped because my hand was cramping on the X-box controller since those are the only buttons you use in the game.

I don't think i would be very happy about having paid $10 for this package, but seeing as how there are specials on Zen tables pretty much all the time, I think at 50% off it is a good value. Of course you would need to be interested in pinball for any of this advice to be applicable.