Game Reviews

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD

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AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD

You wouldn't expect there to be a lot of overlap between the hard-rocking Australian supergroup AC/DC and a humble pinball table.

The former helped define modern heavy metal music and arena rock as we know them, and the latter beeps and boops along to a metal ball as it's slapped about by a pair of flippers.

Yet AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD proves that the music of Malcolm and Angus Young can make anything rock harder - even pinball.

She was a fast machine

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD is the successor to Sony BMG's 2011 release of Slayer Pinball Rocks HD. What it delivers in terms of new content over Slayer Pinball is admittedly slim but that doesn't mean that AC/DC Rocks Pinball HD is a game that you should skip over.

Like Slayer Pinball, AC/DC Pinball puts a rock-themed skin on a pinball table and sets the action to some of the group's best known music. The ability to choose between camera styles is retained as well, so you may choose to keep the entire table in view or follow the ball in close-up, flying mode.

Also like Slayer Pinball, and pretty much every other pinball-themed game or app ever created, the point of AC/DC Pinball is to keep the ball from going down the drain while amassing as high a score as possible.

This all combines to create an intense - and intensely pleasing - pinball game that looks as good as it plays.

She kept her motor clean

There are plenty of 'missions' on the table that involve hitting three or five of a given target, and completing each mission unlocks a special effect for the table. In keeping with the tradition of AC/DC's stage shows, gratuitous amounts of pyrotechnics accompany each of these effects.

Happily, in spite of the impressive animations in AC/DC Pinball, the app remained crisp and responsive throughout lengthy play sessions, with no lag or skips.

If there's one complaint to be levelled against AC/DC Pinball it's that the music used as the soundtrack to the game is purely instrumental.

While it's still great fun to hear 'You Shook Me All Night Long', 'Whole Lotta Rosie', and other standards accompanying the action on the table, it'd be even greater to hear the lyrics that go along with the songs.

This is ultimately a minor complaint, as any AC/DC fan worth his salt will be singing along anyway.

Shook me all night long

If you're not a fan of AC/DC, chances are good that the music, voiceovers, and explosive nature of this game will wear thin after awhile.

But for hardcore or casual fans of the group - or anyone who rocked out to Robert Downey Jnr's entrances in either Iron Man movie - the game is a solid investment.

AC/DC Pinball Rocks HD

Great fun with plenty of explosions, rock music, and pageantry. It goes over the top in all the right ways
Score
Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.