Recent reviews by ShelLuser

I'm serious: even if you're not into modding then having access to the Creation kit can be a huge gamechanger!

Ever had this happen to you? You're playing through a certain quest and... you're stuck. Sure: you could look things up on the Net but then you risk getting into major spoilers which could ruin the surprise(s) and/or game a little bit. Well, another thing which you could do is fire up the Creation kit, check the steps on the quest you're playing and then maybe... check the next step for a few hints?

What is this 'Creation kit' anyway?

The Creation Kit is the toolbox for getting access to the so called Creation engine. You see, games like Skyrim and Starfield are build upon a so called 'engine': this allows game developers to fully focus on game design vs. game development. For example.... say I want to add a new note to the game. Then I don't have to study API's or having to write dozens of lines of code. Instead... I just add a new note 'prop', then I customize its looks and contents after which I can then place it somewhere in the game by literally dragging and dropping it somewhere.

After that you save your changes (the 'mod' if you will) and then you have successfully expanded your game.

The fun part is that you can fully focus yourself on contents. Everything else (like: what sound will it make, how would it react when you drop it, would other NPC's be able to recognize it, etc.) ... all of those aspects are things which are handled by the engine.

So yah... your personal full access into the game mechanics of Starfield. And it's even free!

I can summarize my review for any impatient random readers: "If you enjoy playing Starfield, then you're going to appreciate this expansion, a lot".

So, brief context: I'm a relatively new Starfield player: picked up the game in December 2025 and even recommended it. Sure, the game has its issues and glitches, but then again: the same happened with Skyrim "back in the day". Not only did I live its release, I also still remember the massive bugs that were plaguing the game at first (dragons flying backwards, anyone?), and some still are! Anyway, I'm obviously not new to the Creation engine (= the engine powering games like Skyrim & Starfield).

First things first: this expansion is honest. I bought it before the latest Starfield update, and lo and behold: I got free (!) access to the latest DLC Terran Armada! That's being fair towards you players in my book, you know: us who upgraded their game? Of course that's also no guarantee that it will happen again if Bethesda releases another DLC, fair enough, but even so... I still think it should count.

What I like most about this expansion is that you get everything PLUS a little 'extras'. You get access to the all the DLC's, the soundtrack and also some Creations like a new cool spacesuit, extra (Constellation) textures, a cool prop for your outposts (if you want to build some), a nice powered vehicle and 1000 Creation credits to grab yourself even more stuff. Also: it's easy to actually spent those credits as well; you can (for example) pick up a new follower for 400 and another expansion for 600. No need for "left overs".

But most of all... even though you get some really useful gear it won't make you super OP or such. "Sorta" ;)

One small con (IMO) is that both DLC's are geared towards the mid / end-game (level 30 or 50) which I suppose can be annoying if you just started playing. But then again... there's nothing stopping you from heading out there anyway and make a name for yourself (or more likely: die trying). Not to mention... if you want more then there's also the spacesuit, textures and don't forget your 1000 Creation credits!

All in all... I can definitely recommend this. If you enjoy this game then this is some really good icing on your Starfield cake.

So, the Aliens table is an absolute favorite of mine; the moment I started a trial for the first time I knew that I was going to enjoy this, and well: I am! See, here's the thing: a lot of the pinball tables I enjoy the most provide many audible effects: solid music, strong dialogs and of course lots of cool sound effects.

The Aliens table otoh... provides a lot of silence. Not total silence, just no obvious music (at first) and no extensive (electronic) sounds.. just the noise of the ball, the bumpers and flippers. And this provides exactly the right eerie mood I think. The first time I (accidentally) started the first scene and suddenly see the movement detector come to life? It wasn't scary, but definitely surprising and I think also fully in line with the movie.

I mean... you do realize that one of the most tense scenes in the movie is us staring at some electronic counters going down, without showing all that many special effects?

And I can't help but grin at the scene where you have to drive the car through the tunnel. No, I'm not playing an action game, I'm enjoying pinball!

Aliens vs. Predator
I know not everyone enjoyed this movie, but I honestly never thought it to be that bad. Silly here and there, sure, but still entertaining. Well, I can say the same about the pinball machine. It has a nice creepy atmosphere but without overdoing it. And well, some of the mini games were quite entertaining (like "opening up" the pyramid). Nothing super special, but it definitely catches my nostalgia.

Both tables have nice (sometimes hidden) ramps, solid bumpers and very cool sound effects.

Like I said: I did a trial run on Aliens, and even before the time had ran out I knew I'd enjoy this. And I am.

The thing I don't always enjoy about some table collections is the fact that it's often one good table and some ... well, nice other ones but not as good as "that" special one. This pack is different, way different!

No good Gophers
This table is plain out hilarious, the dialogs are just super funny (and annoying sometimes). The take is simple: you're playing golf (or... try to) and there are these two gophers causing trouble. And they're just... SO funny... say you lose the ball, you might be hearing: "Hole in one!!! oh, wrong hole...", stuff like that. Locking a ball is now disguised as one of the gophers actually stealing it: "I got the ball!". Good music, funny dialogs, cool effects. Nice long ramps, 3rd flipper, movement effects, solid bumpers!

Tales of the Arabian nights
Banish the genie and save the beautifull princess! This tabe has everything... cool ramps, solid sound effects, awesome dialogs. And while it also has a bumper... it has something even better: an actual lamp which you can spin around and thus power up your 'attacks'. The game is simple: you need to shoot the ball into the righ holes (and ramps) and by doing so you start certain "tales", and each tale needs you to do something. Shooting the golden symbols (several targets on the table), hurling fireballs (= shooting at the genie) and there's even a bazar where you can get stuff, like a camel ;)

These two tables are absolute classics! And it only gets better!

Cirqus Voltaire
This one... is a very special table because it features a rather "new" mechanic: magnetism. You're in the circus but there's the evil ringmaster trying to make your life miserable. Shoot his area and his head will pop up, then you can 'attack' him... Apart from this mechanic there's of course also ball locking (for multiball), some solid bumpers and, well, the "balloons" at the left side of the table are also a very nice touch.

Honestly? I think this pack is a true must-have for pinball fans, all these tables are total classics.

First... all tables can be roughly summed up with: lame lanes. Just dumping a bunch of lanes on a table doesn't automatically make it a good pinball game.

But second.. the mechanics are overal just... bad. Locking a ball with magnetics right in the middle of the table and then sending it down exactly between the flippers... that's not challenging: that's just cheap and horribly bad table design.

And those same bad designs are noticeable with all of these tables. It just seems... lazy. As if they hope that with all the Star Wars music and quotes you will look past what is actually happening here: a bad game.

These are some of the worst tables I've played; and in my opinion the only thing these machines have going for themselves are the cheap nostalgic tricks, and even that doesn't always add up. Strip the whole Star Wars angle away and you're left with tables which are just.. nasty.

See, all tables have one thing in common: cheap lanes. Some tables are just that: 2 bend lanes which provide 4 entrances/exits yet which don't really "do" anything; basically the table heavily relies on CGI mechanics which - in my opinion anyway - doesn't really have much to do with pinball at all.

Sure, the music is nice, the sound effects fun and you'll be bombarded with a ton of quotes which... doesn't even sound genuine at all; very fake. Not to mention sometimes plain out wrong... why does the cantina sound play while you're being bombarded with "asteroid quotes" (from 'Empire'?) while you're playing the Solo table?

And once again: it's ramp galore.

If you want a quick nostalgic thrill... maybe this can be fun, but these aren't the pinball games you're looking for.

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.