The Deep Pinball Review

I’m a huge pinball enthusiast and have even spent many hours hanging out at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. I love the machines and even have two of them in my home. I’ve also spent a lot of time playing them on my iPhone and have seen a lot of good and bad when it comes to the offerings in the app store.

One of the best games in terms of pure pinball feel is  Gameprom’s Wild West Pinball. It is one game that seemed to really hit the physics (especially the bumpers) right on the button. I also liked that large middle field that allowed you to line up shots better.

So I was understandably excited when I heard that they were going to do a second machine. And then when I saw some of the advance video that showed the 3D elements and the camera zooming I was even more hooked.

Well, “The Deep Pinball” has finally surfaced to the App Store and fans of pinball can give a collective Hallelujah!

The look of this game is amazing. The board is true eye candy, but it’s more than that… it’s functional eye candy. I know that playfield isn’t all that big, but it would still be tough to describe it and do it any justice. There are just some very good moments on the screen. But things get more eye-popping when the camera zooms in at some elements with flawless, smooth transitions. I’ve seen some of the bits several times now while playing and it still looks as cool as it did the first time.

I mentioned above that it’s functional eye candy and that is what I really like. Every part about the board works just like a true pinball game. Once again I loved how the bumpers seemed to send the ball exactly like it would in real life.

The game has a nice tutorial at the beginning that tells you a bit of the board and some of the mission aspects that you’ll try to complete while playing. It’s a very, very good start, but not quite as concise as it could have been. And it has one of the worst voiced actors I’ve ever heard (more on that later).

Playing the game is a joy. Controls are simple and everything you’d expect from a pinball game. That’s one of the great things about pinball… playing the game is simple to do, but it’s in the aiming and ball control where the true masters are born.

Sound is one of the only down falls with the game. The effects and music are alright, but the voice acting is bad from the beginning and only gets worse with the constant reputation of things. It’s not done very often, but I’m hoping they make some changes in the voice work in upcoming updates. With as much polish as we have in this game, I’m amazed that the voice work is this bad.

Another element that will get to some is the fact that with the camera zooms you will occasionally lose sight of your flippers. This wasn’t much of an issue for me, but I know how much it means to others.

I also think that the board is a little “too close” to the Wild West board. There is even the “shooting” aspect to it. It’s odd as well that there is no multiplayer. A simple pass and play system would fix this.

I’m a big fan of multiball in pinball and I can see why it couldn’t be done here with the zooming, but it’s still something I’ll miss with The Deep.

But a few little glitches aside (and you can always turn the sound off) The Deep is the best pinball experience in the App Store. A great combination of pure pinball gaming with enough of the beautiful modern touches to really put it ahead of the competition. And best of all is the price is great. At a buck you wont have to dig deep for The Deep.

The Good

Great 3D Pinball Experience

Nice Camera Effects

Best Pinball & The Best Price

The Bad

Voice Acting Is Annoying

A Little Too Much Like Wild West

No Multiball Or Multiplay

Related posts:

1. The Deep: Discover the Glorious Riches of “The Deep”
2. Pinball Dreams Review
3. Galactic Gunner Review

Tags: iphone pinball, pinball apps, pinball games

Category: Games