I had the same impressions as the OP, although I kind of liked the artwork a lot more than I thought. They went for a cockpit type feel and I think it works when you're standing behind it. And thankfully they did away with the clipart.

The game seemed much easier than I expected. Maybe I've gotten better but Ritchie pins usually destroy me the first handful of times I play it. But I was able to hit shots and didn't feel like missed shots resulted in trouble too often. Not really a knock and something I'm sure opening the outlanes would help, but just different from my expectations.

It's been said in this thread, but it'll come down to software. Game looks nice, plays real fast with satisfying shots, and now just needs the software to utilize that. If it does, it'll be a great game. If not, it won't be.