Got my Bond 60th (#225) today just before a snow storm hit.
My thoughts:
1. Everything worked great out of the box and other than leveling the game didn't need to make any adjustments. Was a little concerned because when I opened it one of the score reels was between numbers but this fixed itself when the game was turned on.
2. The back glass looks great in person and in my opinion is the best of the Bond games.
3. Topper looks better than I had expected (the 007 sticks out a bit) and is signed on the back by Keith Elwin. It shipped already attached to the game with this specialized bracket to allow the straps to go over it without damaging it.
4. The game actually has foil decals. Only the names of the movies on the side of the head show the foil and the 60th logo. The 60th logo is on the front below the coin door and there is one on each side that is small with the movie posters. Was a bit of an odd choice that none of the movie posters included the foil but probably a restriction of the license.
5. The powder coat is matte black and appears the same as that used on Rush LE. I think it is a great choice and better than a gloss black for this game.
6. Much has been made of the game not having art blades. It actually does have art blades installed but they are just black. Why did they put art blades in if they are just black? Who knows but they are there.
7. It did not come with a shaker motor as others have described. i wrote my distributor to ask for one. The shooter rod you need to screw the end on after it arrives. It has a cheap feel and doesn't really belong on this game. On my the spring was strong enough to make the skill shot, but I can see a good argument for a stronger spring.
8. At the start of the game each player can choose between different sound options (Modern, 80s electronic, and several types of chimes). The chimes sound like real chimes so I don't see much reason to include actual chimes. I feel like if you chose a chime mode the Stern Insider connected achievements should also be announced by chimes which they aren't.
9. The score reels are cooler than I thought. They work differently than EM score reels in that they are silent but the game makes. If you score 100 points then only the hundred digit will change. It is easy to tell everyone's score in multiplayer games as it will appear on the playfield screen at the start.
9. All of the inserts on the playfield are single color LEDs.
10. The inline drops work differently than games like Metallica as the software can lower the drops also. This is most noticeable with the skill shot where if you hit the first drop it will lower all of them which allows the mission multiple to be started with one additional shot.
11. The game plays differently than any Stern or other manufacture for that matter before. There is nothing else like this on the market. I'd describe it as the ultimate classic game. It shoots better than any classic, has better rules, better sound / music, modes/multiball that can be stacked, and balanced scoring.
12. It can be set to 5 (or more) balls. If you do this the back box only has lights for 3 balls so additional balls you need to follow on the screen.
13. The small screen in the playfield shows ever players score (and insider connected username if logged in) at the start of every ball. It can also be used to adjust game setting using the same fake DMD interface that all Stern games use. It also shows IC achievements. The game plays so fast that you really don't have time to look at it much during play. If you do it usually shows what you need to do to complete the current mod, etc. Perhaps some simple animations or design choices would make it a little better. That said it would be ridiculous to show movie clips on this thing. This isn't that type of game.
14. It is easy to start the modes (complete MI6 targets). They are simple (e.g. hit drops, or hit spinners) and there is variety. The Mission Multiball (inline drops) was also easy to reliably start and can be stacked with modes.
15. The mission multiball had fun rules. Essentially try to lock the balls in play in the two locks then hit the jackpot shot. You need to be quick to do it and it fits the theme well.
16. In the 3 or so hours I've played I was never able to collect all 6 Bonds to start Bond MB or collect the 4 Gadgets needed for Gadget MB. I also didn't see anyone else do this.
17. It seems the gadgets correspond to the 4 inserts in the playfield and always need to be collected in order. Was a bit dissappointed there wasn't more variety here (e.g. be able to collect the BD-5 jet or the submarine car as a gadget).
18. A reasonable scoring strategy seems to be to build up the bonus/multiplier then collect it (which can be done without draining). This can be worth up to 3,000 points with the 3x multiplier which is huge in this game.
19. This is a great game to play in groups. The ball times are short and it plays very fast. It seems it is always possible for any player to have a great ball and pull ahead with a win. No one is waiting around long for their turn. In this way it fills a niche that no other modern games really does. Probably the closest comparison is Beatles. Playing alone will not be as fun.
20. Is the game worth the price? For the money you can get 3 Stern pros or 2 premiums, and for most the pros would be the better buy and more fun. In my opinion this is a game for people who have larger collections, like to play with friends, and can afford to pay a premium to have something special. A good argument can be made that number of cheaper games are better certainly a better deal (e.g. Metallica, Foo Fighters, the regular Bond, GZ, Stranger Things, DP, etc.). Those types of games are also very popular and can be found everywhere. This will be a game that isn't seen often and will stand out in pretty much every collection.
Here is a link of us playing on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1761291500
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Prescott, WI
Sydney
