Lord Razorburn's Pinball FX "Excalibur" table JUDGEMENTS

The quick recap of my feeling on the base-game of Pinball FX for Live Arcade is: Big Fan. As thus, I end up buying every single damned table that comes out for the thing. Last week, Zen Studios quietly released a King Arthur-themed table, titled "Excalibur". Being true to form, I bought it & here is what I think, so you don't have to...

PASS!

After my slight disappointment with the Earth Defense table's "Over gaminess", I was glad to see a table that returned to a more real-life feel. That feeling evaporated entirely upon my first couple of plays on the table. The glaring deficiency of this table is that the left lane is far too open. Several of my initial shots bounced off something in the middle and went there, directly. First, to trigger the ball-save, second to lose a ball. Let me be clear, this happened REPEATEDLY. Enough to lead me to believe that the table is either flawed, or meant to be played with more of a Tilt-mentality. As that I am a Gentleman, I find the idea of playing with Tilt as a strategy, rather than a mistake just isn't Cricket. Also, to be honest, The Bullwinkle and Street Fighter II tables have kind of spoiled me. These public domain properties Zen's been using come off as kind of boring. I am now, hypocritically, jealous of Zen Pinball's Ninja Gaiden table.

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Pinball FX, at it's base, will set you back 800 MS points, or $10. I highly recommend it. The Excalibur table, will set you back 200pts, or $2.50. I recommend half an Arby's Roast Beef, instead.