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Pinball FX2 MARS Review/Impressions

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If you’ve ever wanted to be in the shoes of Douglas Quaid and travel to MARS, now’s your chance. Zen Studios has seamlessly added another new table into Pinball FX2 on Xbox LIVE Arcade. How well does it stack against the others? Let’s just say it’s worth the trip.[nggtags gallery=MARSFX2a]

You may find yourself stating “I don’t even know anything about MARS!” That’s where we come in. The MARS table pits you in the year 2100 and humans have reached the surface of the red planet. It’s up to you to uncover the secrets of this mysterious planet, all while keeping your ship in one piece to return home. Packed in with the DLC you’ll get three new achievements for a total of 50 Gamerscore points.

The table is lined with multiple ramps and pathways on both sides and you’ll interact with a space shuttle, a MARS rover type craft, and an ancient pyramid. Ball save is activated by striking five targets using the ramps, and you’ll find it’s relatively easy to activate both kickbacks and the main ball save when compared to some other tables.

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Multiple missions such as Sun Storm, Refuel and others require quick action on your end and you’ll be required to hit specified ramps, pockets, or even projected hologram points throughout the table. If you complete the four missions for the shuttle you’ll have to battle the Ancient Martian Map, which by the way gives you one of those achievements included in the DLC. A zero gravity mini-game can be activated if you hit the slingshots twenty times, and in this mode you’ll enter the hectic multi-ball phase. If you manage to keep all three balls on the playing field despite the lack of gravity you can expect a steep high score to accompany your name on the leaderboard.

MARS is easily one of my favorite tables to be included in Pinball FX2. For comparisons’ sake a few other personal favorites include Pasha, Biolab, and Earth Defense. Outside of the Marvel Table pack it’s probably the best DLC table available. It’s a ton of fun even for beginners, and once you learn its secrets you can spend a couple solid hours per sitting with the game. For 240 :MSPoints: you can’t really go wrong. Play the demo version but make sure you’ve got the points stocked because you’re really going to want MARS in your collection.

For more information, please visit Zen Studios and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

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