There's a pro being air freighted to Sydney by an operator and will arrive in 9 days :) a top Aussie player is going to do a video and review :) can't wait to see and hear there thoughts. A pinside guy played one at Stern see his review below:
Quick review:
Shots
The ramps were smooth as silk. They can both be hit from both flippers. The right ramp is tight (not Avengers tight, but tight enough). The Starman shot is tight as well, but very satisfying. It does not slow down the game as the ball does not spend a lot of time in there. Combos were not easy, but very make-able. The game flowed really well. In my first game, I hit 39 combos (and was proud to put my name on Stern's game as the Combo Champ). The shot through the pops is great and I was able to hit it two or three times in a row. There are no breaks in this game. It felt a little like an AC/DC Pro in that way - Quick and smooth, but not easy.
Art
The game is a stunner. You have all seen the pictures, but photos do not do it justice. The backglass fits perfectly with the theme and may be the nicest one Stern has ever made. It looks like something I would have tried to win at the carnival in 1979 as the top prize. The cabinet is HD and the playfield is bright, but nothing is a distraction. It all comes together beautifully.
Lighting
It is really too early to pass judgement here because many of the lighting effects have not been coded into the game. There are more color changing LED's in this game than I have ever seen in a pro. Even the pops are color changers.
Music
First thing I noticed was that this is not the "normal" Stern sound system. I could not turn it up, but the music was bright and clear. It had a little extra "oomph" coming from the low end as well.
Overall, I really think this game can be a huge winner for Stern. We all know that it will come down to code. I was still on version .54, but I couild see where it was going and can't wait to play this game again.
This is a great start. I stand by my thinking that this will be the best game Stern has ever released (& perhaps ever will). Very glad to hear about the ramp shots, the other shots, & from this review & what we saw in the vids the flow is certainly looking like a winner. Code will of course matter but if already satisfying then all should be good.
Codes always slow with stern probably because they release 3 games a year :) I'm hoping with the spike system code may be quicker but I'm certainly no expert but in the end they end up a fun well coded game look how good TWD is now but you need to be patient.
