Once a dog , always a dog ?
Dont think so !

It would appear that time has changed perspective on this most EXCELLENT game.
Have had around 6 other pinheads visit my home since owning this T3
ALL of them agree it is an outstanding game to play that gives good ball time, looks  GREAT , is superbly flowy and a challenge to get through at the same time.
2 of them have owned T2’s in the past and stated this is a superior game.
No it is NOT one of the ‘A’ titles – but it certainly isn’t a Z title either.

I always set my games on hard/extra hard settings and I have done so with this T3

The overall ‘feel’ of play is fantastic – superb flow from the 3 ramps as well as the ‘orbit’ shot(s) as well as 2 centre shots available, 1 for Multiball Locks and the other a Captive Ball to start RED mode.
Talk of this game being a ‘drain monster’ from a mis-hit LOCK shot , in my opinion are totally unjustified and has only happened once that I recall after many games.
The ‘heart-beat’ when hitting the RED mode captive ball sounds SICK and a Pinball Pro sub will become part of my T3 in order to enhance this further.
The plunger is , of course, a gun.



Modes – that go towards the FINAL Battle

This ‘dog’ has 5 modes to achieve in order to make it to the Final Battle and THEN onto a wizard mode.

One thing I like is that you MUST score a Super Jackpot in order to achieve that mode – if you start Multiball and DONT get 2 or 3 Jackpots and THEN the Super Jackpot then you must start Multiball again to try for SJ again – without this you WONT get to the Final Battle – it isn’t the hardest SJ shot in a game that I have ever come across, but regardless, the pressure is ON to get it.

The backbox game ( RPG ) in T3 at least works itself into the game nicely , I owned a CV a while back and while I LOVE CV as a game, the backbox game in CV is pretty useless compared to the one in T3
RPG plays out like a Hurry Up – the score starts at 10 million and counts down FAST – you have to hit the 5 x RPG targets before the score gets down to ONE million and RPG ends – there are 3 styles of the RPG game and again you MUST get all 3 before you will be awarded the RPG mode to progress through to the FINAL Battle.  To get into RPG you have to first hit the 3 right stand ups which light RPG in the right orbit shot.  RPG can be turned OFF in settings and you will automatically get 5 million and be awarded RPG – WHY would anyone do that?

Payback time is the same as on T2 – you have to hit the A & B ramps a total of 5 times in left / right order ( and vice versa ) to light Payback time and then score big points on the ramp shots for around 20 seconds after that.

Max Escape is achieved by ‘maxxing’ the escape scores from shots to the right orbit – with a game set on extra hard these reset after each ball, meaning you must get all the way through this ( 6 shots )  in the same ball in order to be awarded MAX ESCAPE – it is a sweet shot that takes you up to the rollover lanes, to the TX challenge VUK or a complete orbit loop back to the left flipper depending on the diverter and where you are up to in the game.

Assault – is a crazy 4 ball multiball mode – to get to Assault you have to spot ALL of the ( 6 ) Command Centre Levels on the left side of the playfield, EACH Command Centre Level is LIT by getting to the top 3 rollover lanes and completing them ( on the 2nd time around the game makes you include the 4 in/outlanes in order to achieve a Command Centre Level which is TOUGH ) – after you achieve a Command Centre Level you can then shoot the left orbit shot to obtain it – these are Spot ( collect ) Weapons, Extra Ball, Hurry Up and Video Mode and then finally Assault – these Security Levels stack.
There is a mode inside Assault where not only are you playing 4 balls but you ALSO have to use the RPG gun/ backbox game at the same time – I had read about this and have only had it happen once.



Theres more to do than that.

RED – now how cool is RED !
It is simple BUT there is ‘something’ about it- EVERYONE comments on it.
Hit the Captive Ball 3 times ( on moderate settings/ 5 on hard ) and you start RED.
The game goes into a Gorgar style heartbeat and you have 20 seconds to hit the flashing shots – all this time the playfield is predominantly flashing a deep red in colour.
During this ‘mode’ you can hit the centre ’B’ ramp and add 5 seconds ( continually ) to extend this mode.

Video Mode - Some like em – some hate em – I am right in the middle , I find video modes in pinball machines ‘OK’
Same mode as T2 essentially , where you use flipper buttons to move cross-hairs to shoot at things.

TX Challenge is a shot into the TX VUK and you have a a starting tally of 2.5 million and 5 seconds ( counts down in second increments and loses 500,000 each count ) to hit ANY major shot and be awarded the points – if your shot is into the TX ( lock ball ) lane then you get an additional TX xhallenge.

Mystery Points are available in the right orbit shot after hitting the ? target on the left of the playfield ‘X’ times. Like most DMD games Mystery will pick from a selection of around a dozen random awards and give you one of them – this can be X Bonus, Extra Ball, start RPG etc etc etc.

BLITZ is a mode that I haven’t achieved yet – but apparently it is scored from stacking the Command Centre awards on the left side and then starting 3 of them together – unsure how this works yet.

Bullet Holes and Collect Weapons – this is done to build points and achieved via the ‘skinny’ B lane and has some nice animations and sounds.

Quick Draw – in the middle of one game I get told by Arnie to “graaaaaab the gaaaaarn ( gun )”  and you have to shoot at a terminator on the DMD screen mid ball.

Plunger Choices -  there is no skill shot on this game oddly enough – you can however select different things to start when plunging the ball – you can Lock a Ball, Start RPG, start a TX Challenge and add Bonus X from memory.



Dots and Sounds

Ask yourself – can you get anything cooler than Arnie talking to you throughout a pinball game?
I really enjoy the absolute monotone deadpan Arnie quotes.
Have a bad ball in a certain mode and Arnie say’s ‘ You missed EVERATHIIIING !
Hilarious

Some of the animations are outstanding – the Ball Saved and Kick Back feature an image of Arnie firing gatling guns or machine guns – it is pretty frickin cool
Not sure if similar animations are used somewhere in T2 or not?




What could be improved.

Not a lot IMO.

The only thing that is slightly ‘disappointing’ ( for want of a better word ) is the overall appearance of the translate when this game sits amongst other machines – because it has the game in the backbox it isn’t as ‘lit up’ and ‘pretty’ as other pieces of artwork and looks a little dull – on its own I am sure this wouldn’t even stand out.

Some people think the Arnie head looks a little ‘cheesy’ but I don’t ( or maybe wont allow myself to ) see it.



I hope this gives some of you a better insight into this game