So this came up in another thread, my initial reaction to ACDC was one of distaste, with the earlier software on the machine there were so many things wrong. It felt more like it was just about the music and not about the pinball and the only thing to do was keep piling on and collecting the jackpot value.
Fast forward to today and the latest revision of the software has turned a mediocre game into a spectacular game. As far as I'm concerned ACDC is the best, and most balanced game when it comes to risk vs reward.
First and foremost let me take care of one thing in this post, yes the right side inlane/outlane is completely obscured by the cannon, this would be the games one flaw I'd have to say. If you own the game, you can get used to losing site of the ball over there and still know what you need to do to keep the ball from heading down the outlane. But I can understand how if you are stepping up to the game and you don't play it regularly that not being able to see over there is very jarring.
That being said, what they have done with ACDC with the software is nothing short of a master piece, I'd put it up there with the likes of TSPP and LOTR from the way the software integrates with the machine, it's perfect and works so well.
I'm sure you are wondering WTF am I talking about, at is' core ACDC sounds simplistic, pick a song, shot the shoots, build a jackpot value and collect it. Simple right, sure, but that's where it starts, it' starts simple then you start to get into the meat of it.
ACDC is great in that it forces you to play the entire machine. You see each song in the game corresponds to a specific shot on the machine. So as an example, Warmachine is the left loop, Highway to Hell is the right ramp, TNT is the Standups, Shook me all night long is the pop bumpers, Whole Lotta Rosie is the Top rollovers, etc, etc. What's cool is how each of these items works into the machine. If for an example you choose Highway to Hell, the machine starts with just the right ramp shot lit. You need to shoot the right ramp in order to light all the other shots on the machine. Once you shoot the right ramp and all the other shots are lit, you shoot those shots to build up the Jackpot value but a greater point value. Just shooting the one lit shot associated with the song will get you no where fast. So you need to keep shooting all the other shots on the PF to build up your song jackpot value.
Once you shoot a shot, the light turns off and you can't raise the value of the jackpot again until you shoot the specific shot related to the song playing, this relights all the shots and you can continue building your jackpot.
What's great is since the machine makes you play out the entire machine, there is strategy involved in when you use what songs and how best to take advantage of them during multiball.
As an example Jam multiball, the jackpots are on the ramps. So when in that multiball I want a song that will relight the rest of the shots while I'm making Jackpots at the same time, so I'm going to be picking Highway to Hell or Rock and Roll Train. As those are left and right ramp shots. That way every Jackpot I make during Jam Multiball, is also building toward and resetting the available shots to build up that jackpot value.
Now this is where the risk reward comes in, the Jackpot value is only good for the ball you are on, if you build it up to 100 million and then drain before you collect, you have to start all over again. Also you can't just collect it whenever, you need to have the cannon lit, which you do by spelling fire in the inlane/outlanes. But the problem is once the cannon is lit, any shot to the right ramp loads the cannon and you must fire it, if you miss, the cannon unlights and you are stuck spelling fire again so you can collect the jackpot. It becomes this cat and mouse game of trying to keep the canon lit but not shooting the right ramp so you don't waste it.
Then you add in the playfield X and the risk vs reward ramps up even further. If you nail the bell X number of times, it starts a PF multiplier that multiplies all values on the PF. Initially it starts with 2x, but if you nail it enough times during 2x, 3x will start running. This means that whatever jackpot value you have built up could be double or triple if you play your cards right. So now not only do you have to keep an eye on when your cannon is lit, but also how far are you to your next PF multiplier and do you want to risk going for 3x to really get a huge jackpot.
And the entire time in the back of your mind you have to know that if you drain, you have to start all over. Also I haven't mentioned that once you collect the jackpot it goes back down to it's base value as well, so you can only collect it once, so again how do you best take advantage of that.
So really up to this point, all I've covered on the machine is basically the Jackpot value and how best to raise it and take advantage of it, and that is a big part of the game.
But I haven't mentioned VIP passes, stacking multiballs, the other Jackpot modes, and the Encore Wizard mode (which I haven't gotten yet)
I could write out another 15 paragraphs on just those items by themselves and I will if you guys want me to, but I figure this wall of text is long enough at this point.
End of the day, ACDC is one of Stern's best offerings to date, and really ranks up there with the likes of TSPP and LOTR in terms of fun factor and rules. In some ways I want to say ACDC is better because unlike TSPP and LOTR it doesn't require that huge investment of time to play it that the others do. I can play it and have short games, and long games and they both feel satisfying, unlike LOTR and TSPP where if you aren't in for the long haul, you aren't going to get as much out of it.
So if you have just skipped down to the end cause fuck readin, ACDC is awesome, if you don't have one, you should be looking for one as it has the makings of being one of the best pinballs in a long time!
Fast forward to today and the latest revision of the software has turned a mediocre game into a spectacular game. As far as I'm concerned ACDC is the best, and most balanced game when it comes to risk vs reward.
First and foremost let me take care of one thing in this post, yes the right side inlane/outlane is completely obscured by the cannon, this would be the games one flaw I'd have to say. If you own the game, you can get used to losing site of the ball over there and still know what you need to do to keep the ball from heading down the outlane. But I can understand how if you are stepping up to the game and you don't play it regularly that not being able to see over there is very jarring.
That being said, what they have done with ACDC with the software is nothing short of a master piece, I'd put it up there with the likes of TSPP and LOTR from the way the software integrates with the machine, it's perfect and works so well.
I'm sure you are wondering WTF am I talking about, at is' core ACDC sounds simplistic, pick a song, shot the shoots, build a jackpot value and collect it. Simple right, sure, but that's where it starts, it' starts simple then you start to get into the meat of it.
ACDC is great in that it forces you to play the entire machine. You see each song in the game corresponds to a specific shot on the machine. So as an example, Warmachine is the left loop, Highway to Hell is the right ramp, TNT is the Standups, Shook me all night long is the pop bumpers, Whole Lotta Rosie is the Top rollovers, etc, etc. What's cool is how each of these items works into the machine. If for an example you choose Highway to Hell, the machine starts with just the right ramp shot lit. You need to shoot the right ramp in order to light all the other shots on the machine. Once you shoot the right ramp and all the other shots are lit, you shoot those shots to build up the Jackpot value but a greater point value. Just shooting the one lit shot associated with the song will get you no where fast. So you need to keep shooting all the other shots on the PF to build up your song jackpot value.
Once you shoot a shot, the light turns off and you can't raise the value of the jackpot again until you shoot the specific shot related to the song playing, this relights all the shots and you can continue building your jackpot.
What's great is since the machine makes you play out the entire machine, there is strategy involved in when you use what songs and how best to take advantage of them during multiball.
As an example Jam multiball, the jackpots are on the ramps. So when in that multiball I want a song that will relight the rest of the shots while I'm making Jackpots at the same time, so I'm going to be picking Highway to Hell or Rock and Roll Train. As those are left and right ramp shots. That way every Jackpot I make during Jam Multiball, is also building toward and resetting the available shots to build up that jackpot value.
Now this is where the risk reward comes in, the Jackpot value is only good for the ball you are on, if you build it up to 100 million and then drain before you collect, you have to start all over again. Also you can't just collect it whenever, you need to have the cannon lit, which you do by spelling fire in the inlane/outlanes. But the problem is once the cannon is lit, any shot to the right ramp loads the cannon and you must fire it, if you miss, the cannon unlights and you are stuck spelling fire again so you can collect the jackpot. It becomes this cat and mouse game of trying to keep the canon lit but not shooting the right ramp so you don't waste it.
Then you add in the playfield X and the risk vs reward ramps up even further. If you nail the bell X number of times, it starts a PF multiplier that multiplies all values on the PF. Initially it starts with 2x, but if you nail it enough times during 2x, 3x will start running. This means that whatever jackpot value you have built up could be double or triple if you play your cards right. So now not only do you have to keep an eye on when your cannon is lit, but also how far are you to your next PF multiplier and do you want to risk going for 3x to really get a huge jackpot.
And the entire time in the back of your mind you have to know that if you drain, you have to start all over. Also I haven't mentioned that once you collect the jackpot it goes back down to it's base value as well, so you can only collect it once, so again how do you best take advantage of that.
So really up to this point, all I've covered on the machine is basically the Jackpot value and how best to raise it and take advantage of it, and that is a big part of the game.
But I haven't mentioned VIP passes, stacking multiballs, the other Jackpot modes, and the Encore Wizard mode (which I haven't gotten yet)
I could write out another 15 paragraphs on just those items by themselves and I will if you guys want me to, but I figure this wall of text is long enough at this point.
End of the day, ACDC is one of Stern's best offerings to date, and really ranks up there with the likes of TSPP and LOTR in terms of fun factor and rules. In some ways I want to say ACDC is better because unlike TSPP and LOTR it doesn't require that huge investment of time to play it that the others do. I can play it and have short games, and long games and they both feel satisfying, unlike LOTR and TSPP where if you aren't in for the long haul, you aren't going to get as much out of it.
So if you have just skipped down to the end cause fuck readin, ACDC is awesome, if you don't have one, you should be looking for one as it has the makings of being one of the best pinballs in a long time!
