CAPS LOCK IS FUN! Jokes aside, XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION (which I’ll call also call XENOTILT, for brevity’s sake) is the sequel to the excellent DEMON’S TILT. It promises even more 16-bit style occult pinball action, and we’re all for it. This is XboxEra‘s review for XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION, tested on Xbox Series X!
16-bit ballin’
XENOTILT‘s story goes back; way back. Between 1988 and 1990, pinball classics called Alien Crush and Devil’s Crush released on the TurboGrafx-16 and the SEGA Genesis (or Mega Drive). Made by the now defunct Japanese developer Compile as part of the Crush Pinball series, they offered multi-layered and highly interactive digital pinball tables. Alien Crush had, well, an extraterrestrial aesthetic, while Devil’s Crush went for more satanic vibes. Great artstyle, a banging soundtrack, depth that really made even a lot of real-life pinball tables blush.
2019’s DEMON’S TILT, a game that launched on Game Pass day one and even became my favourite indie title of that year, was a spiritual successor to the Crush Pinball games. Made by solo American developer Adam Ferrando, also known as WIZNWAR it was an absolute blast. A massive, digital 3-story pinball table with countless innovative mechanics. Artstyle and music that evoked the 16-bit era, but with much higher resolution, wider camera, more complex designs, better lights and so forth. Possibly the most engaging and addictive pinball table ever made, I spent the launch weeks trading world records with the community at the time, to the tune of billions of points in marathon matches. What a game, DEMON’S TILT was. Still is!
2 Demon’s 2 Tilt
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION is effectively the sequel to that game. Released in Early Access on PC in 2023 and reaching 1.0 in 2024, it has finally arrived on consoles this year, with Xbox, PlayStation and Switch players all getting their hands on this new game. And after playing it on and off since 2023, I can confidently say it: XENOTILT is even better than DEMON’S TILT. It is a very similar game, just on a brand new table that is somehow even deeper, more varied and engaging than last time. If you never experienced DEMON’S TILT, or the Crush Pinball games of old, here’s what you should expect…
First of all, XENOTILT is a digital pinball table. This may seem like an obvious statement – it’s a videogame, of course it’s digital! But there is a distinction between digital pinball and “physical”, or real pinball. The latter’s videogame equivalent would be something like Pinball FX: a game that recreates existing pinball tables, or creates new ones with realistic physics models and behaviours. They sometimes apply some creative freedom when it comes to visuals, but in terms of in-game logic and ball behaviour, it needs to feel authentic. This is absolutely not the case for digital pinball.
Digital fireworks
XENOTILT is digital pinball to the extreme. A giant, multi-layered table with several flippers to move around. Countless events where projectiles are shot, lasers are activated and so forth. The player can even use turrets to shoot down enemies and projectiles. Clearly, this isn’t what happens on a pinball table normally, and there absolutely is no interest in providing a realistic affair. The player has to complete various missions in pure pinball style, usually hitting certain obstacles or ramps with the ball. The table’s 3-story structure is a safety net of sorts – the higher you are, the less chances there are for your ball to tumble down to a loss.
If you’re looking at these screens or seen a single video of this game, you get how majestic all of this looks and feels. The table’s depth is quite astonishing, with countless missions and events to unlock. There’s even a 3×3 multi-ball grid to fill in that activates new perks for the match, ultimately resulting in a bombastic 9-ball multiball. So many balls, often dozens of projectiles and explosions on screen, combined with all sorts of visual flair that lights up the whole table. It can become a bit excessive at times, visually speaking, but at least there’s many options to customize the clutter. You can even remove the HUD, go for a vertical view (in case you have a vertical monitor), or even turn off assists like auto-firing turrets and more.
Where do we go from here?
My only real complaint about XENOTILT, at this point, would be its relative predictability. The table’s visuals, structure, the mission’s logic and so forth are very reminiscent of DEMON’S TILT. A familiar look and setting, the same 3-story structure, somewhat similar boss battles. Even the bullet hell patterns feel predictable, with even most of the game’s ball-preserving tactics being quite identical. The game tries to sidestep the issue by adding a few new game modes. One of those is EX mode, where players have to find survivors in very unique sub-tables, each character with their own powers. The other would be the very fun Crisis Mode, a single ball variant where players need to gain time to play by completing tasks.
Ultimately, XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION is a great evolution of DEMON’S TILT sensational digital pinball formula. A table that looks and plays even better, various new modes and ideas, even though the general feel of the game has not changed much. Eye-popping 16-bit visuals, a banging 16-bit soundtrack and a brilliant gameplay loop. This is a pinball table with depth and replayability worth dozens of hours of gameplay, and anyone with even a passing interest in pinball should play it. XENOTILT may not be a transformative experience over the previous game, but does it really need to be?
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Yet another sensational and deep pinball table
- Fantastic artstyle and soundtrack
- Various new game modes
- Very customizable options
CONS
- Most of the table feels stuff already done in Demon's Tilt
- Sometimes the projectiles and particles can feel excessively distracing
