Freeballin'

Authentic pinball tables are hard to find these days. There are plenty of slot machines that incorporate pinball in some form, but the genuine article has become a bit of a holy grail in pubs up and down the land.

Conversely, digital pinball tables are ten a penny, each and every one striving to stand out with a gimmick or twist on proceedings. Freeballin' achieves that aim: it's one of the best-looking pinball games you could hope to come across, boasting a set of distinct and visually striking tables.

However, like a hot date you begin to regret half way through the first drink, Freeballin' is noticeably vacuous once the initial glow has faded.

Control is simple enough, taps of the screen triggering the flippers on the respective sides. Bizarrely, there's no bumping or tilt option, which surely would have been a nice fit with the accelerometer. It's a small symptom of a bigger problem.

With three modes of play, Freeballin' attempts to make the most of its package. Both Score Attack and Time Attack, which will no doubt be the focus for many, play out as normal pinball, with points awarded for smacking into targets and so forth. The first limits how many balls you have for play, while the second times you on a run to hit a million points.

Adventure Challenge is the campaign of sorts, taking the same four tables and charging you with picking up an artefact in each one. Doing so is a question of completing simple tasks such as hitting certain objects or reaching particular areas. Your reward comes in the option to trade in said artefacts for power-ups that add extra time or gift you balls.

It's this 'adventure' that actually adds a sense of purpose to the tables. As beautiful as they are, there just isn't enough going on to make them truly entertaining. It's all a little sparse, despite the fantasy styling that ranges from monsters to a forthcoming interpretation of robotic platform hero Toy Bot.

It's a promising title begging for a major update. Freeballin' is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Each of the game's features point to a quality product without actually fully being one.

The Adventure mode is clearly the direction any follow-ups of any kind should take, but for now it's hard to view Freeballin' as much more than a fairly proficient, if disappointing and surprisingly tame, crack at pinball.