(Topic ID: 60330)

Played a Metallica for the first time- My thoughts on it

By shacklersrevenge

10 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 16 posts
  • 12 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 10 years ago by Betelgeuse
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 10 years ago

Went to a great Tourney on Saturday and I was pretty excited to play the hosts new Metallica premium. He had the same problem a few have had, sparky smoked out of the box so his head was not shaking. I know there is a few youtube videos and reviews already, but I just wanted to give my take on it, because I watched the videos and was still unsure until I played hands on.

After playing it several times, I wanted to keep playing it, as it's very addicting. A couple notes, and some have been discussed before. The inline drop targets either need to be broken in or adjusted. Many rejections there, but very satisfying when they go down like they should. I love the back hand shot to these!
The hammer lock also acts like a fool. While there is plenty of strength and power at Sparky to hold the ball at its magnet, there does not appear to be enough at hammer lock. It's kind of neat, but more often than not, screws up your ball. Example. I was able to keep the ball in control and get consecutive shots to Sparky, but if the HAMMER lock is ready, it will try to grab the ball, and when it often fails, it send your ball flying out of control. Perhaps a code update will fix this.

Love the ramps. Great feel and flow to both. Not hard to hit but not easy either, just right and the sounds associated with them are super good.
Lighting is great. Some of the callouts are goofy, but some of the sounds are awesome, especially fuel.
All in all, this game is addicting. I love nailing the sparky shot and drop catching its return.

I personally would go Pro for many reasons besides cost.
One: I don't need the snake head to move. It's cool as it is, if it doesn't move.
two: The hammer lock is neat and all, but again not needed. I prefer the visible captive ball on the PRO and the fact that it does not disrupt gameplay.
three: While I'm a big spinner fan, I feel that Metallica just does not need them. It plays fast and has a lot of lights and action going on, that a solid shot is satisfying to either of those orbits.
four: Rising cross not needed. As long as there is a cross there and a magnet, I'm good. It is a very cool shot.

Very good value for a pro, now who has one for sale?

#2 10 years ago

MET Pro is a great value as you mentioned some of the reasons you don't need a PREM/LE. I am sure there are a bunch to be had through distributors still. GL

#3 10 years ago

Pro is the way to go if you want a great bang for buck.
Add LEDS -230 - and just mod it out.
Figure LE's need speakers and shaker just like the pros.

With some tweaks to the pops and lamps and it can be very fun and yes addictive.
I have played it about 40 times in just a few day, more than all my other machines combined.

#4 10 years ago

That's what I was thinking. The premium upgrades I can do without, (and some I don't even care for like the hammer lock magnet and rising cross) just mod a pro to my liking.

#5 10 years ago

Nothing wrong with a pro, but coffin multiball is what it's all about.

#6 10 years ago

I finally got a chance to play MET Pro over the weekend as well (thanks, Jim!). I really enjoyed it and thought it had great flow. I think I might like it more than AC/DC, personally, but it was a lot easier than AC/DC, which in a home environment, could diminish its staying power for me.

#7 10 years ago

Its got staying power for me... For now anyways.

4 months in and I'm ready to kick AC/DC out the door

Also you are judging the easy factor on code that is in its infancy. AC/DC wasn't that deep in the first couple months. Metallica will get the code updates and make it a great pin over time IMHO

#8 10 years ago

I've had my Pro for about three months now and agree with above comments. I thought I was going to have a problem with the inline drop targets but they started working fine after a hundred or so games.

#9 10 years ago

I know this isnt a ACDC vs Metallica thread but ACDC in a different league IMO.
Metallica has surprised me whereas I had not even thought about buying one till the mod ideas started flowing. First the simple ones such as the el helmet wire and my pops then more.

#10 10 years ago
Quoted from shacklersrevenge:

I personally would go Pro for many reasons besides cost.
One: I don't need the snake head to move. It's cool as it is, if it doesn't move.
two: The hammer lock is neat and all, but again not needed. I prefer the visible captive ball on the PRO and the fact that it does not disrupt gameplay.
three: While I'm a big spinner fan, I feel that Metallica just does not need them. It plays fast and has a lot of lights and action going on, that a solid shot is satisfying to either of those orbits.
four: Rising cross not needed. As long as there is a cross there and a magnet, I'm good. It is a very cool shot.

Don't forget about the color changing inserts on the premium and LE's. I find the use of them very helpful, especially in the days of complex rulesets. The more they can do with inserts the better.

But I agree, pro is good value.

#11 10 years ago
Quoted from shacklersrevenge:

The hammer lock also acts like a fool. While there is plenty of strength and power at Sparky to hold the ball at its magnet, there does not appear to be enough at hammer lock.

This is why I have such a hard time understanding why they are having so much difficulty in fixing the hammer lock.

If there is plenty of strength at the Sparky magnet to grab and hold the ball (and there most certainly is) why can't they do the same thing at the hammer lock?

#12 10 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

If there is plenty of strength at the Sparky magnet to grab and hold the ball (and there most certainly is) why can't they do the same thing at the hammer lock?

When I called Stern, I was told they use two different systems. Sparky uses an eddy type sensor under the playfield and the coffin uses the magnet itself. I've been looking at the actual magnet shape and it's possible that balls are not making contact with the center core as it passes over, but that doesn't explain magnet action when the ball is not near it, or the failure to reset once it has activated.

#13 10 years ago

thank you for the review.

I feel the same and i found the quality of cabinet and playfield is better than before (like ACDC)...I'll go for a pro even if i did not test premium/le version yet...I prefer arts from the Pro and of course the gap (here) is like 3000-4000eur between Pro and Le and 2000 eur for Premium...So Of course...Pro Pro Pro

#14 10 years ago

It's a great game all around really.

#15 10 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

When I called Stern, I was told they use two different systems. Sparky uses an eddy type sensor under the playfield and the coffin uses the magnet itself. I've been looking at the actual magnet shape and it's possible that balls are not making contact with the center core as it passes over, but that doesn't explain magnet action when the ball is not near it, or the failure to reset once it has activated.

Thanks. And yeah...it also doesn't explain why they use an eddy for the Sparky magnet, but not for the hammer/coffin. I'm sure there is a logical explanation. Then again, no I'm not.

#16 10 years ago

I still don't understand why they don't just make it activate the coffin lock magnet when the cube is lit and HIT. Would you even need a sensor to activate the magnet then? I could see that the game would need to know the ball is on the magnet once it's caught, but couldn't this be done a different way, like with optos (ala BSD)?

I also agree that Metallica is one of Stern's greats, but they really need to flesh out the code already. I think they are spending too much time messing with the hammer on the Prem/LE and I'm worried it's going to set things back quite a bit. Without code that competes with the likes of LOTR, AC/DC or even SM or IM, this game won't see it's full potential.

Brian

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