Recent reviews by ShelLuser

Errrr, sorry about that ;) I'm gonna be honest.. this is a copy/paste of my review of the FX3 version, but more about that later.

In my opinion there's only 1 reason to consider purchasing this pack, and that's the Williams classic Funhouse!

That table has everything... skill shot, flippers, bumpers, fun music, solid sound effects and plenty of ramps to use and discover. And then there's Rudy: the talking head on the table. Oh dear, where do I even begin....

Rudy constantly talks about stuff that's going on and it's sometimes just way too funny (and silly!). First, simple things like the moment when you enable "hot dog" mode Rudy will tell you to get yourself a hotdog, and if you hit the bump he'll go "yum yum!". Or... if you don't manage to get a hotdog shot in he'll mention how he's still hungry. Still like that. If you manage to hit him with a ball he'll yell "ow!!" and yes... you can sometimes even manage to have him swallow a ball (eew!).

At first Rudy is all buddy buddy with you, but when you manage to move the clock to 11:30 then he'll become annoyed, because it's getting late and he doesn't like that... "I thought we were pals", and now he'll even start calling you out if you manage to hit him with a ball: "that was no accident!" (lol).

Push the clock even further (by shooting the ramp, of course) and Rudy will fall asleep. NOW... try to shoot the ball in his mouth and enjoy pure multiball chaos! And beware of the ramp... my gf sometimes still looses if in giggles by the way Rudy yells at you: "You don't know what's down there!".

This table... is a total classic, if you're into pinball then this should be part of your collection.

So... I own both versions and both are well worth it. And both have their pro's and con's... FX3 has the Zen classic tables and I also enjoy how I can play "against" my Steam friends. While FX provides better ("fuller") sound and of course also some specific tables that are only available on FX.

My take? Play FX3 for its specials, and FX for the tables dedicated to here. Thanks to the "Legacy pack" bundles you could grab the tables you already owe on FX3 with a 50% discount (give or take) because you already have one of the products in the bundle.

But honestly? I wouldn't do that for all your tables. The differences between FX3 and FX aren't all that many and ... yah, I'd only "upgrade" those tables you really like but not all of 'm.

Errrr, sorry about that ;)

In my opinion there's only 1 reason to consider purchasing this pack, and that's the Williams classic Funhouse!

That table has everything... skill shot, flippers, bumpers, fun music, solid sound effects and plenty of ramps to use and discover. And then there's Rudy: the talking head on the table. Oh dear, where do I even begin....

Rudy constantly talks about stuff that's going on and it's sometimes just way too funny (and silly!). First, simple things like the moment when you enable "hot dog" mode Rudy will tell you to get yourself a hotdog, and if you hit the bump he'll go "yum yum!". Or... if you don't manage to get a hotdog shot in he'll mention how he's still hungry. Still like that. If you manage to hit him with a ball he'll yell "ow!!" and yes... you can sometimes even manage to have him swallow a ball (eew!).

At first Rudy is all buddy buddy with you, but when you manage to move the clock to 11:30 then he'll become annoyed, because it's getting late and he doesn't like that... "I thought we were pals", and now he'll even start calling you out if you manage to hit him with a ball: "that was no accident!" (lol).

Push the clock even further (by shooting the ramp, of course) and Rudy will fall asleep. NOW... try to shoot the ball in his mouth and enjoy pure multiball chaos! And beware of the ramp... my gf sometimes still looses if in giggles by the way Rudy yells at you: "You don't know what's down there!".

This table... is a total classic, if you're into pinball then this should be part of your collection.

I'm gonna be honest... as much as I enjoy this game, I can't help point your attention to the existence of a previous version called Pinball FX3. I'm not claiming that one game is better (or worse) than the other, it doesn't work this way, but... FX3 does have some machines I don't want to part with.

But having said that... this game then has better sound quality (IMO!). And if you play your cards right and check for "Zen bundles" you may even be able to get your old tables within this game with a major discount.

Oh, right... sorry: I can't tell you what free tables are provided out of the box, I honestly don't know. Picked up on this title quite some time ago and well, there are two main reasons, aka 2 machines, which I think are complete must-have's => Bride of Pinbot and the master classic Funhouse! (ha, ha, haaaa!). errr, sorry about that, dunno what got over me ;)

But yah, totally recommend this game because... duh, the base game is free!

If you're into pinball and really want to push the envelope a bit and experience a total classic then you're missing out big time without this total and absolute Williams classic.

Oh my word... the moment I saw this title it was an insta-buy for me. I'm just glad I discovered this during the Holliday season (I know I'm "a little" late) but trust me: if I had discovered this one outside of any sale period I would have nabbed it regardless; the table is that good.

This machine... pushed some boundaries and I loved every bit of it. You're standing before.. the machine, a feminine machine: the bride of Pinbot! With 2 red lights placed in rather, well... "specific" locations ;) Errr, anyway, so, your task is to activate the machine and get her operational. This is done by enabling her audio & visual circuitry ("shoot the ramp") and when done you activate the circuit by ... shooting the ramp again.

First the ball will fall into her mouth ("I can speak!") and once you got that sorted out you then need to enable her optics, and activate them by locking in 2 balls; this eventually engages multiball.

This machine is brutal!

It's sometimes easy to lose a ball and the machine isn't very forgiving about it. Sometimes you may get another but usually not. But at the same time I'm also talking about the somewhat, well, crude jokes that are being thrown around. "I can speak", says the bride which is immediately followed by Pinbot letting out an: "Oh. No!", lol!

Electronic CGI visuals can be disabled!

So... as much as I love "electronic pinball" aka: playing with a machine which adds a bit of CGI graphics to enhance the experience... I just can't get used to it on some of the classics, like this one. I don't want to see a rocket take off, I don't need to see a real image of the bride walking around... I don't want any of that.

Fortunately for me.. these effects can be disabled, leaving me to enjoy the machine just as I remembered playing it during my teens.

But this table... has everything.. skill shot, bumpers, flippers, ramps to shoot and some seriously good sounding sound effects.. the heart ramp never gets old for me, and that goes double if I enable my subwoofer... "bom, bom" indeed!

This machine... is an absolute classic, and you're missing out big time without it.

I've been enjoying the virtual 'electronic' tables of Zen Studios for a long time already, I discovered them all the way back on PS3; so when I finally hopped over to Steam and also discovered them here? Yah... I'm a fan.

I'm gonna be honest with you lot: I have no idea what tables are included with the free version, for the simple reason that it's been quite a while since I "purchased" this critter. So... in my opinion you'll be better off if you also grab some of their paid DLC; some of those tables are ... just totally awesome, my personal favorites being the Williams machines. Funhouse, No good gophers, Medieval madness or what to think of the Arabian Nights?

Still... if you truly want to get the "full Zen experience" as I envision this (!) then... I'd start with grabbing yourself the Zen Classics. Virtual electronic pinball at its finest in my opinion.

But yah.. I can highly recommend this title because... it's free (duh!).

I already played these machines roughly 10 or so years ago, all the way back to PS3 and honestly? => IMO (!) you never really played "electronic pinball" before if you never experienced the likes of Shaman and/or Tesla; not to mention El Dorado: those three are my absolute favorites here.

The (loud) music, the hardware noises, the sound effects.. blasting over my speakers while I try to steer the ball on ramps, through flippers, avoid (sorta) bumpers... magnetic effects, visual effects, awesome voice acting.. it's all here.

Extra balls, ball protection, multiball, locking of balls... Now, I do need to mention that with these tables Zen Studios heavily relies on "virtual realistic electronic mechanics", in other words: they happily rely on mechanics which can be easily pulled off on a computer v.s. an actual machine, however.. they do this without making the whole thing look too unrealistic.

...did I already mention the awesome sound effects?

I've been playing these for 10+ years already and I'm still not tired of them... take that as you will.

This game is a lot better than I would have given it credit for, and I'm honestly enjoying myself quite a bit. Now, don't get me wrong here: I'll be the first to state that this definitely isn't a perfect game or such. Heck, I've already experienced a few glitches myself.

Thing is... games don't have to be perfect in order to be perceived as such.

Maybe too high expectations?

Each to their own (!) but I think that one of the issues with people not enjoying this game is setting your expectations too high. See, this isn't "Skyrim in space"; space travel is simply an added game mechanic which exists within the way you normally play most Bethesda games.

So... no, you can't use your spaceship to sour over the surface of a planet in order to map out the location of most structures. Nor can you decide where you're going to land your ship. All of that is a bit static. However... the game does compensate for all that, because once you discovered a location on a planet you can tell the game to go there after which you won't have to go through the whole routine of landing and walking again.

And honestly? I like it this way. Despite the fact that I already discovered quite a few locations I still more than often just refuse to fast travel and instead get into my spaceship, close the door(s), take a seat in the cockpit and then I take off. Only to do the test of the navigation once I'm in orbit. I even perform a (semi-) manual jump into the next system.

No, I'm not "wasting my time", I'm roleplaying. Ever heard of it?

There are a lot of NPC's for you to meet and missions for you to complete, and I really love it. Sometimes small, sometimes silly and sometimes you also need to make a bit of your own fun. And what I love the most here is that not everything gets presented to you or is made obvious.

For example... early on in the game you'll discover the city of New Atlantis and a lot of of the game will be done here or from here. Plenty of missions for you to pick up. And it seems like the perfect playing map... huge city, citizens everywhere and plenty of NPC's to talk with. Dare I say that the layout even gives me "Kotor" and "Mass Effect" vibes?

So [i[then[/i] I wondered... ey... the game also talks about vegetation, fauna and minerals ("resources"). Is there more to all this than the game is showing me? So I decided to hop over a fence, slide my way down and... oh dear: all of a sudden I'm in a whole new (dangerous!) part of the world. And I'm loving every moment of it. I even met other NPC's which got me laughing quite a bit: "I'm sorry, can't you see I'm busy dying? ugh... ", and sure enough; that's exactly what happened (not by my doing btw!).

Experiences like these make me convinced that sometimes... it's also what you make of things. And this game puts plenty of attention into detail.

Destructive tools are also weapons!

I've seen this so many times: you have this powerful tool which is strong enough to tear through rocks, but as soon as you point it to some hostile creature then... "of course" it doesn't work, why would it? This isn't a weapon you silly player!

Starfield does that "a little" different and I was quite surprised when I discovered it. To me it simply adds up to the complexity and vastness of this game.

No, like I said before it isn't perfect... but I'm sure am having a lot of fun so far!

Get the editor too!

Starfield, just like Skyrim before it, is a game that runs on its own so called "game engine". Studios often rely on such 'engines' to help them separate between the process of game design and actual game development. For example.... say I want to add a new datapack ("note")... thanks to the engine I don't have to worry about adding the right textures or having to make my own opening effects: all of that is something the engine can handle for me. So.. I just tell it that I want to add a new datapack ("Book" / "DataSlate") and the engine will handle all the details like the way it looks, how it'll sound when I pick it up, whether I can actually pick it up or not, etc. All I have to do is select what I want to use, add the text I want to add and eventually I also need to place this new item somewhere in the world.

No coding, no making new graphics, just design. And that's what the Starfield creation kit can help you with. If you're going to play Starfield then I highly suggest that you also pick up the editor. Heck... if you're stuck in a mission... you could consider to check it out in the editor to see what you might be missing.

Look, if you were expecting a whole new game with lots of different new mechanics and such.. maybe even secretly hoping for an actual spacesim (?) then sorry to say but you may end up disappointed. But if you can enjoy the idea of being able to travel through space and visit all sorts of strange planets and explore weird locations, meet new NPC's and such then you might be in for a treat.

The world is pretty big, and there's a lot of stuff to discover & do, plenty to keep you busy for dozens of hours to come. The voice acting is very well done I think and although some characters look a bit weird... look, didn't we say the exact same thing for those in Tamriel? Here I was thinking that elves would be the most beautiful beings in the world, not some bizarre looking hags.

Yes, there are loading screens and yes: your spaceship only gets used when you're actually out in space (so: in orbit), as soon as you're on a planet it basically becomes your (static) base of operations. Extra storage space to take with you wherever you go! ;)

But the vibes of old are all here... exploring a planet, using your scanner and seeing "unknown" somewhere in the distance? Let's go check it out! Oh wait, there's another one! Being able to find new loot, upgrade and customize your stuff, meet up with new friends (and enemies) ...

Each to their own, but I'm having a great time with this game, and can definitely recommend it because of that.

So... little bit of context: despite living in the Netherlands (Europe?) I love watching NFL football, courtesy of my NFL (international) gamepass (powered by Dazn; enjoying the Eagles taking on the Commanders at the time of writing). And as you can probably guess: I also enjoy some awesome football gaming moments, courtesy of Madden. I've been playing Madden since '22 and I usually had a really good time. Except for last year (Madden '25): so many bugs and issues plagued that game, it was just bad; really bad....

As you can imagine I wasn't planning on buying Madden this year, but the Steam winter sale got to me and honestly? I'm glad it did!

The presentation is awesome (as always)!
Look, if you enjoy watching football and never played a Madden game before then I don't think you can go wrong with this one. The presentation, the audio, the commentators, the game highlights (and quick replays) not to mention the stadium announcers... it truly feels as if you're out there on the field yourself. If you enjoy watching NFL and you want more out of the experience then you'll feel right at home, I'm sure of that.

If you're a returning player then I can happily announce that all of the crappy bugs from last year are gone. That's not saying the game is without flaws, but I am honestly having a great time so far.

They added some serious improvements to the game, and it really shows!

• Improved loading times => The game responds and behaves a lot faster than last year, and it shows. I think this is noteworthy because so many gaming studios take the easy ("lazy") way out by just assuming (or worse: demanding!) than you use an SSD vs. a harddrive.
  
• Better skills trainer => It's no longer a mini challenge inside the game; either you pass a challenge or you don't. I also appreciate the clear presentation: offense, defense, special teams or 'featured'. They'll even specifically help you to become more familiar with all the new features in the game.
  
• Settings are easier to access => Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny the fact that Madden has always provided a ton of options for us to customize and finetune. From the chances of a false start right to injuries, foul play or just your QB messing up his passes. This season it's even easier to customize the in-game music.
  
• OMG that stadium announcer!

Once again... I'm not trying to make it sound as if Madden has suddenly become the perfect game; because it's not. But even so, they really managed to move away from the - in my opinion (!) - => total disaster from last year.

Also... even though you'd "step in" in the middle of the season (we're nearing the NFL playoffs?) you don't have to worry about "having missed out" on things. For example: Ultimate Team is one of my favorite game modes because I love collecting those virtual cards and the Madden community never just gives up. I already managed to make some really cool trades.

Summing up: if you enjoy watching football and you'd like to get something "more" out of the whole experience... then this can become the perfect addition.

Two thumbs up from me, this game is a lot of fun!

Seriously, "Space Invaders" in 3D with lots of "fan service", what's there not to like here?

Ok, ok... let's start from the beginning... Earth is under attack from waves and waves of hostile aliens, but fortunately for us there's this cute, but also badass, anime girl who got herself a railed turret installation (aka "turret on rails"?), set up behind three deployed energy generators which will try to keep her and the installation as safe as possible.

Unfortunately the aliens are well aware, so they try to swarm & destroy the generator(s) in order to get to the girl and to put a stop to Earth's final defense. Can you stop them before they stop us?

Awesome fanservice: naughty, but not over the top

Hey, don't get me wrong: I can enjoy Anime n00dies too from time to time, just many others, but at the same time I can also enjoy a bit of subtlety, which is what we have here ... when the aliens attack they'll try and take out the power generators, but they also take shots at our heroine. And when she gets hit... then her clothing may suffer for it. Sometimes resulting in her loosing specific items. If you're un(?)-lucky then you may start with this bad ass girl wearing a military coat and a miniskirt, only to end up with her wearing nothing more but her undies. And it doesn't even have to stop there....

However... this is not the main focus of the game, and I can appreciate that. Stop staring at our heroines butt, there are aliens to kill!

Upgrades!
Every time you finish a wave you'll earn some credits, which you can then immediately use to purchase new upgrades. And as one could expect: some are better than others. But as you clear waves and earn some extra rewards you may also earn yourself some extra, different, pieces of clothing which you can then apply to the girl from the main menu; several items will grant her extra bonusses, next to changing her looks a bit.

It's nothing too serious and also nothing fully over the top, but it has some very cool action scenes, a cute female protagonist who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and... why are we wasting time here people? => there are aliens that need killing!

Ikuzo! 行くぞ!

Two thumbs up from me, this game is awesome!

This is an awesome expansion!

Sure, it's "only" 16 character portraits but those 16 images are of good quality, show some really fun characters and it provides a better variety in choices. And normally for a mere 3 bucks? Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I think that the people who recommend against this have never made any artwork of their own and thus don't realize the effort that goes into it.

Not to mention... it's not as if the game is forcing you to use these. Meaning? It's actualy quite easy to add your own portraits to the game if you want to, all it takes is one console command: "ConvertPortrait".

So yah, I can definitely recommend this. While I do agree that grabbing this together with one of the available Steam packages is the best of ideas (it gets you the best for your money) I also believe that the expansion as-is is also well worth it.