Thanks for posting this.

AV8. Bowen references your son at 9:40 singing TNT while playing I think.

The funny part is all the things Bowen lists as items he notices with the game are the same reasons I sold mine. He is one of the best players in the world and even he can't figure out the rules. He was guessing on a lot of it. Also bricking tons of shots and tilting to try and save the drain confirms my comments about it being a nasty drain monster. I'm glad it's gone. It's a bad playfield design with regards to rdtm and outlane drains. It's just real bad.

Bowen said Dangerous play when He missed a couple of shots! I am always in the danger zone

and yet he still,"likes it a lot"...Hmmm

Thanks for letting me know! Thats freakin cool that he mentioned my son. He sent me an email wanting him to come to PAPA. I hope to go.

Heres the link to Bowens vid. 28mins long with an amazing death save.

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/45148176" width="500" height="888" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p>ACDC Tutorial from PAPApinball on Vimeo.</p>

Its not for everyone. But I love it. Its made me a better more controlled player. Its mean, rude and fast. You need to dial it in if its draining on you. Mine doesnt drain that bad. Change the flipper rubbers to black, less bouncy. Adjust angle side to side, etc.

I need to make a gameplay video.

Bowens skill is unbelievable at times. Love his vids.

For reference here is my son on Pro!

Not for him it doesn't.

His quote "no safety in this game and that is why I love it"

So you don't like it. Thats fine but saying its a bad game or design makes you a moron since there are plenty of folks who differ. I respect a different opinion I don't respect ignorant ones though.
Not good or bad but different. Saying its bad because its not your taste is not helpful information for anyone.

This is what I've been saying all along, and taking a lot of heat from people. The game is fun if you like the theme and listening to AC/DC music.. so much that kids will dance around playing it. But for me, the music theme isn't attractive and the rules are not that great. I plan on giving it more time when my friend gets his LE next week, so we'll see if my opinion changes. Perhaps the new code will be released soon before I play it.

On top of that, my wife doesn't want our kids dancing around the house singing "Hells Bells", "hell aint a bad place to be", or "a whole lot of rosie", a song about a one night stand with a fat chick, etc., and I agree with that. Everyone has different standards with their kids, and I'm not going to criticize anyone that let's their young's kids listen to this, but it's not for my family.

And I also found Ritchie's pirate voice call outs to be like razors going down a chalkboard.. but I think you can turn those off, right?

I don't want to bash AC/DC, it's just not for me.. I love most Sterns, really I do (I own a BDK)!! But I have some that don't click, so far AC/DC is one of them.

And for the record, I've never liked music theme pins, all the way back to kiss, Nugent, GNR, Elvis, Stones, etc., etc.

Thats is fair commentary.

Having to do death saves and bang backs to keep rdtm and outlane drains is a bad design. Period. That means people like Bowen who are fantastic can enjoy it and us average players never get any satisfaction out of the game. That's my point. People say TZ or STTNG were hard. Pfft. Easy.

P.s. keep the name calling to yourself. It's uncalled for and actually makes you look the fool. This review is my opinion and I am entitled to it.

I tired to like it but couldn;t get into it. I like SR but just couldn't make a connection with this one. Maybe if all the software was done yada yada i would have liked it more, maybe not, hard to tell.

Yeah, this was my first impression when I played it, and 2nd, and 3rd.... I'm not in Bowen's league but I have similar criticisma of this pin as compared with the wide variety of pins I play on a regular basis. Sorry, it's not a classic, nor the "best Stern ever!!!" nor even an all-time top-10. (IMO, ok?)

Better watch out. The stern illuminati are going to damn you for speaking your mind.

Outlane drains and sdtm are a part of pinball and not a design flaw, if they were flaws and someone made a non flawed game an operator would never make money on a pin on location. And having to nudge a machine is part of the design also because if they weren't supposed to be nudged they would tilt with no warning. Fact is ACDC makes me a better player and I like that. I do agree there needs to be some better explanation on the rules.

Im surprised in the video he wasnt taking advantage of the super skill shot.

I look forward to updates to code as long as it gets finished. They way it plays is fast and fun and with every update its like Christmas and a new toy.

Sorry, making those statements sounds moronic . Reviewing and saying why that style of play does not suit you makes sense.
Good point on name calling. bad writing on my part.

Not at all. Most folks do a good job of saying why it does not work for them and you can understand that. Different games for different players.

kinda like me saying TZ SUCKS,and so does Revenge from Mars

And then in a specific thread about the game ; )

I'm surprised I'm the first one to say this, but, given that the code seems like it's far from done, don't you think it's a bit mature for Bowen to do a tutorial on the game?

Premature? No. How much do you think it's going to change?

My first pinball game was IM. Talk about a brutal drain monster, which is exactly why I love it. I bought AC/DC b/c it can be brutally difficult at times. (and for other reasons as well)

Being that IM is a brutal game and my first, it made me a better player. I've only been playing pinball since January 2011 and have had some respectable showings in tournaments. I owe that all to playing on a tough machine. It taught me to nudge like it's nobody's business. But, not everyone wants a tough machine, so, I can understand some of the flack AC/DC gets.

Side note: To those who love AC/DC, spend some time on IM. You'll find even more to love.

I'm basing things on history. If SM and BDK took two years, and AC/DC has been out for less than 6 months and has no encore.... you do the math.

LOL on the Ritchie comment! A friend of mine felt the same, I told him if he didn't know it was "The King" he wouldn't mind it. There are adj. for voice levels and music levels, I'm sure it could be toned down at least.
I also agree yours was a fair review of the game, and reasons for not liking.
I like the game personally, but can see why some don't.
I like the fast moving, flowing SR games. Add to that some Lyman rules that don't really push the modes, but rather focus on multiballs, and I'm happy!
I think this one comes down to what kind of pinball some people like to play, or prefer to play.
AC/DC is not a stop-and-go, play the mode type of game.
SR likes to make in-ur-face, go go go, till the ball jams the drain type of games.
Some like it. Some, not so much.
-DNO-

PS. Dig the Stetta profile pic!

Wow! That video is awesome! I wish he did one of those tutorials for Tron.

Watched that entire thing . . . really makes me want an AC/DC and still haven't gotten to play it. That guy is an incredable player.

Its nice to see that Bowen loves the risk/reward style of play that AC?DC presents to the player. It's obvious that he was unfamiliar with the rules.

Until the code is updated to include a mini-wizard mode & Encore Wizard mode changing the songs to something else is foolish at times. There are really only 3 or 4 modes that you should be going after.
Rock n roll train, War Machine, Hells Bells & You Shook Me All Night Long are the best to maximize your scores which lets face it as it currently stands AC/DC with its current code is all about Score.

Also he didnt realize that you could reset the multiplier by shooting the bell once you get 2x going & eventually get it into 3x scoring. Ive had some balls where I was in 3x scoring for 4-5 minutes at a time just by a well timed shot to the bell as the timer was about to expire. If you arent in atleast 2x scoring when going to cash in your Song Jackpot your pissing away a ton of points.

You should almost always be shooting for the bell when the Jackpot is low to get another step closer to 2x/3x scoring.

AC/Dc has already become my favorite game & with a few more code updates could very well become the most fun/addicting Stern ever made.

Wow he did one death save in a close to 30 min video on a game that is notorious for short ball times. If youve watched any of his other videos youll notice him attempting multiple death saves. I'm sorry you didnt like the game but I'd say your impressions of the game is in the minority of what most owners feel about it.

Probably quite a bit. Remember what SM was like as far as game code stands when it 1st came out??

Dude that is so awesome it was for sure your son he talked about I am sure you are proud..you did post that video like 100 times LOL!!!!

No game is perfect yet pinheads seem to still be searching for perfect. I am not so sure I would bash a game so much on here especially if I had just sold it to someone on here. That seems strange to me. The drains on ACDC are no different than TZ's left side, Tommy's slings to outlanes or Avatars SDTM drains. All games have something we don't like about them.

I don't because I only got back into pinball a year ago. It seems that the recent games have been finished enough that the basic strategy wouldn't be affected. Bowen's did his IM tutorial when the DoD countdown started at 50M, but the change to 35M doesn't affect my strategy.

Just for sake of conversation, another game that is well known for SDTM and outlane drains is Avatar... yet you don't see anyone saying the game is better because it's challenging or that they like the game because it makes you a better player.

Yet IM and AC/DC seem to fall in the "makes you a better player" category (although I do believe that the code in IM is far superior to AC/DC at this point).

Just curious why some think this is? I like IM, but AC/DC hasn't caught on with me yet.

I'm glad Bowen did a tutorial on this one, I'm going to watch it when I have a half an hour to do so.. I need to learn how to play this one so I can beat my friend on his LE when it comes in!

The drains from the pops/bell shot can be easily reduced by putting a post sleeve on the mini post behind the middle thunder struck stand up. I never get SDTM drains from that shot anymore. It does make the bell shot slightly tougher but it's still very much a make able shot and I find it being tougher makes it a more rewarding shot.

It's obvious he didn't try tweaking with the game In order to reduce some of the drains from the pops/bell.

cant comment on avatar cause I've only played it a couple times. But ACDC is far from unfair once you have it dialed in. Yet it can punish poorly placed shots just like IM or Tron. There are certain shots you just shouldn't try from each flipper. If you do and you miss you deserve to have your ball drain.

ACDC isn't nearly as unfair as Say IM or Tron can be where either a disc or magnet flings your ball ball into a drain.

I just watched most of the tutorial. Makes me want to play it even more. I will after I type this. It is such a fun and challenging pin to play. I can't imagine how much it will improve with the code update. Bowen's skills amaze me. This game is crazy tough and he is just so mellow. Excellent video.

Bowen's a beast! Thanks for the heads-up, Signet145.

Just beat my high score by 42 mil and had a 73 mil song jackpot in Hells Bells. I used that cannon shooting a freebie right ramp a few times to keep letting the jackpot grow.

I don't understand. I find sttng way harder. And I like acdc a lot. The game is hard but it's also very satisfying. I'm not a great player and watching Bowen makes me sick he is so good. But I've broken 200 mil on acdc on stock settings, 3 balls. The game is hard but it's not the hardest. Ironman and tron are both way harder. The fact that every week when I have groups over to play, acdc gets a ton of play even with my other games in the room speaks a lot for itself.

And I like the game a lot. I am not an acdc fan nor do I like music themes in general.

+1000

I love IM and am kicking myself for not getting a NIB while it was available. Each ball you are close to an objective and then it is gone.

Maybe it is just me. but I am not getting the rules on AC/DC. Seems it is one of those pins that is really loved or it just doesn't click for some.

+1000

I know we have differences in opinions, no worry. I can't really define exactly what makes a game "fun". Both ACDC continues to recieve the most attention by newbies and experiences players that visit my game room, despite the presence of many A list games. It's fun to me, and frankly some of the negative comments I find just as true if not more so with Tron, IM and others. There's gotta be drains or a game wouldn't be any fun.

yep

Your opinion and mine seem to be about the same here. Our collections seem somewhat similar as well.

I think it breaks down to style of play. I nudge but don't slam and I don't like having to throw a pin around to keep a ball in play and I had to do that with my AC/DC. Will I ever be a tournament player? Not a chance. I'd get my ass handed too me but I enjoy playing to no end but when a machine is autofiring shots to the outlane or a perfect square shot on a main feature (bell) sends the ball rocketing RDTM that's an issue for me. Yes I could add a rubber to a post but I shouldn't have to. Yes sttng was a bit of an outlane drain but I was regularly 2-3 billion in that game. 100m in AC/DC was a chore and 139m which was my high score was just mentally draining as I felt like everything was repetitive.

AC/DC is not well know for SDTM and outline drains. Initially, on the pro version this was an issue that was fixed very quickly.

Never has a traditional shot on my game gone SDTM. I've had balls ricochet in, bounce funny and go SDTM, but never one leaving the pops, and never a shot to the bell.

If someones game is doing this, they don't have it leveled correctly or they are missing something. I know at least one game left the factory with a post missing causing issues.

Nobody is saying Avatar is better for any reason because AC/DC isn't even in the same ballpark when it comes to that issue. Also, nobody is praising Avatar because it's really hard to praise. Not that Avatar is, but if AC/DC was really hard and sucked, it would be a whole different story.

PM me and I'll send you a pic of what my area looks like. It's exactly how it came from the factory. If your machine is "auto firing shots to the outline" or "perfect square shot on a main feature sends the ball rocketing RDTM" then you have an issue that you need fixed. Some games left the factory with a post missing.

Is your game perfectly level horizontally? Are you at exactly 6.5 degrees vertically? These issues are unique to your game and once fixed or dialed in, they shouldn't happen.

Also, if you have to "throw a pin around to keep a ball in play," you need to refine your skills a bit.