Review: Pinball FX2 ‘Portal’ DLC table

In my couple of hours with Zen Studio’s Portal-themed table, I was insulted, harassed, ridiculed, threatened, and in some cases, flat out abused. Oddly enough, I loved every minute of it. These things are a part of what made the Portal series quirky, fun, and addictive. Of course, it was all largely due to GLaDOS.

Therein lies the beauty of this table. Portal fans expect a certain level of frustration and repetition, of doing over and over again until you can master it. When gamers talk about Portal we know exactly what we are going to get. The question is, can Zen Studios deliver a true Portal experience?

The table itself has the look of an authentic testing chamber, complete with moving platforms for the initial skill shot, light bridges, sentry turrets, and portals. Getting a little deeper into the table you can also find Atlas and P-Body and activate their very own multi-ball. There’s a hidden mini playfield called Ratman’s Den for those skilled enough to find it. Be warned, it may appear easy, but if Portal has taught you anything, it’s that looks can be deceiving. Ratman’s Den is fast and chaotic and will challenge the reflexes of even the most hardcore pinball players.

Visually the table couldn’t be any more true to the series. The lower left area, behind the flipper, is small and reminiscent of where Chell wakes up for the first time. The colour scheme is perfect too; all sterilized whites along with blue and orange. Not only does it look like Portal, it also sounds like it. Wheatley guides you, encouraging you, while GLaDOS seeks only to belittle you and root for your failure… in the name of science of course.

I’m not being a smartass when I say it gets easier as you play. That’s the essence of Portal. You struggle at first, learn what’s required and then do much better. That’s very much case with this DLC. The first couple of times I played, I struggled. The elevated right back flipper took a lot of practice to use effectively, and correctly. Learning which shots are required when and stringing them together to complete a mission took some trial an error. Yet, once all those things click it’s almost like it becomes a completely different table. I went from just trying to survive to attacking the table to go after missions and high scores. My first play I scored 4 million points total. After learning the table, I went on attack mode and as of writing this my high score is 494 million. It’s just a matter of executing the shots required. There is a learning curve to the missions and shots, but it’s not insurmountable, it simply requires practice.

Zen studios has released two tables in the last month, so it’s hard not to compare them to each other. While I enjoyed all three, the Star Wars Rebels one is fun, but lacks a certain depth to it. Conversely the Avengers Age of Ultron table quickly found itself in my top three favorite tables list. The Portal table, at least in my opinion, falls between them. It’s not as easy as Rebels, but misses the depth of story of Ultron. It will have a broad appeal, but initially I think there will be some frustrated people as they struggle to learn the table.

The most important lesson learned is do everything you can to keep the left and right ball save active. They are invaluable when you try to make a shot and miss. Don’t expect to master this one right away. Give it time, learn the missions and try to ignore GLaDOS as she seeks to beat you down and call you a failure. It’s early yet, but I think this table will find itself in my top 5 as well. The Portal references alone are worth giving this a shot.

Pinball FX2’s “Portal” DLC table was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher.

Review: Pinball FX2’s ‘Portal’ DLC table

The good GLaDOS. All the easter eggs. A genuine Portal experience.	The bad Fairly high learning curve. Tricky upper right flipper.

Want to know more about our scoring scale?