Hi All
First of all I want to try and give you a fair and honest review of this machine. I know Cavey reviewed this machine but I wanted to give another view without hijacking his thread. I am by no means a pinball expert of many many years as have only been in this for 18 months playing only a small limited number of games but felt the need to share with others tempted to buy an AC/DC. My apologies if I do repeat anything from any other reviews but this is what I experienced.
I played one of the first 4 or 5 that are in Australia in Newcastle today at Pizza and Pinball. I am not a AC/DC fan - I do know some of their music and like a few of the classics. I also apologise for some minor comparisons to a Iron Man.
This machine is one of Luke's (specialwhenlit - here on AP) machines who I bought my Iron Man off. Since it is one of his machines nothing is just left normal, in which he modified this one within a few days and sited asap. I will post some photos and one video trying to capture the leds ???? try.
This machine is the Pro model but with:
- red pincab protectors
- mirror blades
- sub speaker kit
- shaker motor
- full led kit installed.
Looks
- The machine looks great and is eye catching amongst a line up of old and new (6 machines in the shop side by side) even with the T2 right next to it - as this is the machine that I have read somewhere that it is compared to as being very similar in layout.
- Some photos on the net make the face in the centre of the playfield look very bad but in the flesh I must say not as bad as I originally thought - almost suits the machine design style.
- I have seen on the net a AC/DC train model, which as it seems does not exist on the Pro as it has a perspex panel at a angle with the image on it, a little tacky and you can see some fixtures behind it but not a big issue, more one that you notice if looking around.
- the cannon is a little tacky as well, a shame they couldn't have covered the hole facing the player (top end part of the cannon) as you can see the mechanisms, so hopefully a premium or LE has this changed but again not a big issue rather one you notice if looking.
- on the net you see the sub playfield and the inserts used around the eyes and mouth look odd, this appears to be the same in the main playfield with a subtle lighting affect so the odd shapes of the inserts does not represent the actual light coming through the design - so looks good.
- the new led dmd looks good but 1 vertical line roughly in the centre had a issue being permanently dimly lit so maybe a few bugs to sort out or just an unfortunately bad one to be replaced. Iron Man comparision - luke installed a red lens over the dmd and has very very similar effect to this new dmd. I think the new dmd is great - looks clear, bright and grabs your attention especially in the attract mode.
- the figure at the back of the playfield looks good but didn't move, not sure if is supposed to ????
Sound
- sounds awesome and since this was near the front counter of the pizza shop it couldn't be concert loud, but it sounded very impressive and I was enjoying the music.
- when you start a game you can select a song from the list and only once you have achieved some goals during the game can you change from that song. Otherwise on the next game you can select a new song at the start. The good thing about this game is that it plays the entire song not snippets like GnR. When hitting targets it sounds off the classic "OI" and instrument noises and blends in fairly well. To be honest I did not notice much speaking at all so more a music game. The guys in the shop said that the game has different goals and scoring based on what song is selected.
- in sync with the sound is the shaker, this is affective but subtle in comparison to a Iron /Man (sorry) and to note I don't know what level this has been set out.
- the sound of the train and especially the bell is awesome, very real and symbolic of ac/dc
- the sub kit is a awesome extra and you should definitely invest in this and with this style of music it is a must
Gameplay
- very fast due to the type of targets that are used, those who have played a iron man know when you hit one of the drone targets direct from the flipper, it just shoots the ball off at the very same pace that it hit the target so it can fly at you very fast. I think the game play will change once drop targets are introduced which I think will improve the game play personally as there are alot of these targets mid field and close to the slingshots on this playfield.
- the ramps are cool and easily achievable so not impossible to achieve
- surprisingly after hitting the bell it isn't a drain monster as suggested by someone I read somewhere???, '''relief''' as there is a small spring wire that sticks out from the pop bumpers into the bell lane which directs the ball slightly off centre so it does not drain between the flippers. I am sure this isn't a mod and a standard thing ????
- it is a fun game to play as out of the 6 games there - Mati Hari, LOTR, T2, RFM, TOTAN and AC/DC I played an equal amount of games on the AC/DC to all the other games together - $20 gone playing all these games.
- In the 6 games on AC/DC that I played I still couldn't work out the goals that had to be achieved and just spent the time keeping the ball alive.
Layout
- I have read somewhere (sorry for the vagueness) that some people were comparing it to a T2 in layout - well today having not played either game before - I did the comparison. I can see some similarities to layout with some items swapped to opposite sites, but pops in a similar place and layout but flipped to opposite side, ramp entries similar including style (but different plastic versus wire) but when playing the games I could not feel the similarities - totally different. Even both games have a cannon to shoot at a similar bank of targets - same designer......Theme probably has something to do with making it a bit different. Even the guys in the shop who have had T2 for a long time thought yeah I will practise on T2 and then rip it up on AC/DC - not so they confirmed. So for those who like the layout of T2 will most probably like this game. For those who don't like T2 (theme and layout) you will probably like this layout and game also. So a win win there I believe.
- It has a nice clear layout which I prefer in a game so that was good also.
- you can do the loop in one direction but not in the other as it gets caught in a ball catcher thingy and then shoots it into the pops which is a nice touch.
Mods
- red pin cabs - a definite, just helps it if you like that look. I have yellow ones on the iron man with the candy red legs. I think the yellow may look better on the ac/dc as the red is a slightly different shade - personal thing.
- leds throughout - some machines look good with them and some don't - this looked awesome - a definite mod I believe.
- shaker - it was good, though the setting may either have been tamed to suit the pizza shop or is not uterlising the same features eg a iron man / transformer has battles - a good excuse for explosions, but definitely could notice it in some of the game play and shooting the cannon.
- sub kit - a definite, just helps it kick arse - adds that rumble.
- mirror blades on the sides of the playfield. I have these on the Iron Man and I like them. I reckon you could play this game in the dark with no lights and still to be able to clear have a game as the light and images bounce off the mirror blades and gives the perception that the playfield is a bit bigger - a goer for me.
Overall
If I was a AC/DC fan I would buy this in a blink of a eye
If I was a operator I would buy this in a blink of an eye.
As for me I just bought my Iron Man so funds are short and even though last week after Cavey's review had me tempted and wondering, there are just a few game play features that don't do it for me. But in saying that this is a great looking machine and it does come down to personal taste. Today I played 9 machines that I have never played before - Dracula, Scared Stiff, Dr Who, Mati Hari, LOTR, T2, RFM, TOTAN and I liked this twice as much over any of these other machines and I would go back and throw more money into it - already booked in my birthday in 2 weeks time at the Pizza and Pinball - great pizzas as well.
If tempted but unsure, find it somewhere and try it, as it is a good game and I am sure the Premium and LE's is going to step it up even more - bling and features.
I will attach some photos in a few minutes.
