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Sierra Entertainment Disclaimer: The manufacturer provided NewTechReview with a unit of this product for review. Reviewed by Scott R. Garrigus | ||
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Sierra’s second attempt at the video pinball game genre, 3D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night, is even better than their first (3D Ultra Pinball) and this time the theme revolves around grotesque and ghoulish things. Keeping in mind the Halloween-type message, Creep Night provides three main tables of play (including a secret and mysterious fourth), which are modeled after a spooky castle, tower and dungeon. The graphics are both fun and fantastic, serving up wonderful 3D-rendered scenes along with smooth action and animation. The audio qualities of the game are equally spectacular, providing a delightfully devilish soundtrack worthy of Danny Elfman fame along with spine tingling sound effects that draw you fully into the play. Controls are provided for each of the audio elements including music, voice and sound effects, in case you might want to turn the sound down. With an extra-wide non-scrolling playfield, Creep Night provides better ball control, more realistic moves, and a more accurate pinball simulation than that of 3D Ultra Pinball. Similarly, however, it allows four players to play the game taking turns at the controls as in real pinball. It also provides straight pinball play along with a combined playfield crusade in which you must defeat all the available tables in a certain order to reach the final level of the game. Whatever way you play it, Creep Night will throw you some very cool and interesting surprises such as having balls disappear into dimensional time warps, skeletons scampering about the playfield, and little green monsters driving around in what looks to be like some kind of miniature car. Of course, the game isn’t perfect. One minor blemish is the fact that the ball sometimes seems to pass through the flippers and the dungeon walls. It actually looks like it might be some kind of eerie effect to add to the atmosphere of the game but I don’t really think so. One other minor irritation is the blatant advertising that appears at the end of every game. Alternating with the ‘game over’ notice are messages such as "Try Trophy Bass 2" and "Try 3D Ultra Minigolf from Sierra". This is not a very professional move in my opinion. In any case, Creep Night is still easily one of the best pinball games on the market. It provides a multitude of gaming options and entertainment along with a lot of just plain old pinball fun. And with this version of the 3D Ultra Pinball series sporting a save game feature, Sierra lets gamers take their time and enjoy the play. |
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