I rate this pro quite harshly for that ugly face taking up the entire playfield, with lights on it's features. Bleh! Artwork elsewhere is also pretty bad. Lighting is not as good as the LE. Toys are pretty much non-existent on this version.

The awesome flow, ruleset and soundtrack are all present, but this is one Pro that pales in comparison to it's LE/Premium counterparts.

I loved AC/DC as a kid growing up, so I figured this machine would suck me right in. It has done the opposite.

The Bad:
-- 8 drop targets and 4 stand up targets? I feel that's taking the easy way out for a 2013 game, and just isn't fun for me.
-- Ramps & Bell are narrow shots. Missing them spells doom far too often.
-- The cannon hides the entire right side in & out lanes. I can't see and it's frustrating to look around it.
-- The ball drains far too often when it exits from the pop bumpers.
-- I end up fixing/tweaking this machine a lot, and it seems to get dirtier than others. The glass to the lower playfield gets cloudy.

The Good:
-- The lower playfield is fun.
-- The music and sounds are awesome. Some of the best of any pin I've ever played.
-- The cannon is innovative.
-- Being able to stack multiballs and use the fire button to add a ball or save multiball.


I find myself cursing this game out and walking away far too often. I hate working on it, too. Always dirty, always something wrong with it. It's not as fun as other sterns that I genuinely like (Metallica & Walking Dead)........ now that I think of it, Stern has really dropped the ball on a lot of games. I find so many sterns these days to be un-fun and un-playable. For every stern I like, there are 5-10 I dislike. Put this one in the dislike category.

AC/DC Pro Vault Edition (2017) Review

Since I've played this game for the first time in 2013 (original Pro Edition with the face in the middle) I love it. For me it is at least one of the best games of the last years!


Playfield Layout:

It has a super layout made by legendary designer Steve Ritchie and the flow doesn't lack on this one in my opinion. Every shot feels smooth.
The shots are hard but they're hittable. If you miss your shots often the game will definetly drain you fast, especially on the Pro with the standup-targets.


Game Rules:

Lyman Sheats has done it again, he has made another groundbreaking gamecode. You can pick between 12 different songs, which each influence your scoring and gameplay strategy differently.
I love the multiballs they're really hard to start and finish. But they're a lot of fun to play actually.
Encore is one of the best wizard modes I've ever played, although I've never finished it. It's a new innovative mode that (as much as I know) has never been used before.
I love the jukebox feature on the game featuring the album and live versions of all used songs.

With the last software update (V 1.70) we finally have a real use for the red horn arrows. You collect them all to lite stuff in the jukebox. Basically you just get awards in a designated order, cool feature though.
And another great addition the last code revision has given us is easier settings. In retrospect I feel that they were a little too hard previous to that.

The game has one of the greatest gamecodes I've ever seen. And that's due to Lyman Sheats. He worked on many of the best games gamecodes (Monster Bash, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness,...).
I really value the effort Lyman Sheats is putting into these games. It makes these games special and unique!

I would love to see Lyman Sheats doing more gamecodes!


Toys and Gimmicks:

I've got to admit the Pro is missing a bit of a quality "decoration toy" (molded train on left ramp, moving band, miniplayfield). On the Pro they're only plastics with flashers behind them.
But it still has got the main gimmick, the cannon, which finally is a gimmick not only to bash but to really interact with. In additon to that there is a moving bell (only LED and Vault Edition).
I don't find the miniplayfield on the Premium/LE being that special, for me it is more of a gameplay-blocker. I guess that's just a matter of taste.


Gameplay:

As I mentioned earlier in my review every shot feels smooth. The game is a true masterpiece by Steve Ritchie and even the diverter doesn't disrupt the flow.


Artwork:

The Playfield, Cabinet and Backglass artwork is good, although it is "photoshopped". Of course it doesn't come near Metallica's artwork.

They've fixed one of the greatest flaws of the AC/DC Pro edition by replacing the "Huge Angus Young Face" in the middle with a smaller "dancing" Angus which was a great idea!

The animations are excellent on this one. Great job Stern! There is a great variety of different animations. Although I wish there would be different animatons for the Jam, Album and Tour Multiball start.


Sounds and Music:

I love the custom speech on the game by Steve Ritchie. I can't say much about the music either you like it or you don't.
It is nice that you can hear 12 different songs in multiball, which you really can't do on many of the music-pins like Aerosmith or Metallica for example.


Game Lighting:

The game has great lightshows and there is a nice amount of lamps on and below the playfield. One thing I miss though are the color-changing LEDs the Premium/LE. The flashers are nicely placed too.


Lastability:

There are so many different combinations of songs and multiballs on this game, that it doesn't get old in my opinion. It is a really hard game and you've really got to be a good player in my opinion to get to the wizard mode (Encore).
I don't exactly know, but I think the Premium/LE Edition might be a bit easier there. If you're going for Encore all the time I guess the game will not get old that fast.


Theming:

The game really fits it's Theme. It couldn't have been done better in my opinion.


Fun:

The game isn't easy so it isn't always fun, but overall it is. Because playing a good multiball on this game is great and it it's even possible for an average player in my opinion.
And if you can do that and collect your tripled Song-Jackpot the game is just a great deal of fun!


Overall:

It is one of the hardest and greatest games I've ever played. And it definitely is one of the best games released in the last years.
So if you're a good player looking for a challenge play this game. If you're more of an average player the Premium/LE version will probably be more fun. I do like them both.

It is definetly worth dropping some quarters in!
And if you're a better player this is the way to go!


Thanks to Steve Ritchie, Lyman Sheats, Mark Galvez and Stern for this beautiful game!

Played this game on location. My overall thoughts “ MEH “! I love the band but the game was just lacking in so many ways! The only reason I rated it as high as I did was because of the music! I will say that I am looking forward to playing the premium/LE. I am hoping that it will redeem itself! Hope this helps! Mike

Changed my mind about ACDC...it's still an ugly game for sure...but it's a very fun shooter!
It can be mean, but when you dialed in your shoots and get a feel for the nudges...it is rewarding!

Not a huge fan of the music, but game plays excellently. Great code and great wizard mode. Not a huge fan of the art either, but it’s definitely a solid game.

Not a fan of the band, but it's a pretty good game. A little disappointed with the giant face mid playfield, kinda ruins the artwork (if whatsyourface ever happens to read this, I'm not commenting on your looks or likeness, just the design choice of focusing all the artwork on the face unrelated to game play, rather than laying down artwork that makes sense with the game flow).

Yawn. I could write a program to design a Stern music group game, and it wouldn't have that many lines of code.

With my indifference to AC/DC aside, the game gets a few extra points for having good stacked mode scoring and a few clever backhanded shots. But it's more of the same, right down to the recent edition where Stern decided going backwards to sexist babes spilling out of bathing suits was the right look for the game (apparently fat Austrlalian seputagenarians in school boy clothes isn't a good marketing image for a game, however apt and accurate it is for the game.)

Stern formula:

(1) license a band prominent in the 70's, or the 80's if you're really modern, or a super hero move
(2) clone the fan-out playfield
(3) put a cheap toy in the middle (in *two different locations* I've seen this game, somebody has put in for their high score name "FIX THE BELL")
(4) add seemingly layered rules that come down to basically bash the hell out of the toy until you get to multiball, which lasts forever with add-a-ball

Family Guy (and its clone, Shrek), Ripley's, Simpsons, and to some extent Star Trek '13 are the main exceptions; even Ripley's (Lawlor) and ST (Ritchie) are throwback designs similar to their designers' milestone pins from the 80's and 90's.

Love AC/DC and really enjoy this game, but it always seems underwhelming lit.

Great theme and great songs, but i don't like the code.
I don't find this game deep. I had mine 3 months and played it dayly but it doesn't stay after the honeymoon phase. The Pro is fast but there's too much cheap drains.
After owning ST, GOT, SM and Acdc i can say I really don't like Stern/ Ritchie games...

AC/DC is a fun game with some great music, but, of course, you have to like the band. This game has some pretty easy shots, especially because most of them can be back-handed, but the game can punish you if you miss. In all, it's a bit of a player's pin that I play on location when I see it. As with most music pins, I wouldn't own it, but I play it.

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DESIGN
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-- The game has great ramps that can be back-handed, which adds fun strategy
-- The TNT targets are actually great, in that they can kill you faster than Trump's red button
-- The canon is okay, but it blocks the right outlane and is only used to blast standups...
-- The bell is, again, okay, but it's really just a centre bash
-- The jukebox at the back of the playfield is super cool
-- The left loop is fast and can be repeatedly circled for good adrenaline!
-- Coolest looking spinner in pinball!!
-- The right loop ending in a scoop is good for an alternative shot, but it takes away from flow
-- In all, I would argue that this game fits nicely into the "safe/redundant" Stern design era

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THEME/LIGHTING/SOUND
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-- I find AC/DC to be lit about average: nothing to notice, but nothing to complain about
-- The theme is okay.. It's a band of old guys, with photoshopped pictures of old guys on the playfield
-- The music is great if you love the band, but I wouldn't want to listen to any band every time I play a pin

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GAMEPLAY
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-- The songs are good modes, and shots are, for the most part, clear
-- The playfield multiplier via the bell is a great rule
-- This game really rewards for stacked MB and multipliers, and it's pretty easy to learn how
-- Ramps are relatively easy, yet fun. Mistakes are punishing, which is great


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CRITICISMS
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-- No innovation, as per usual with Stern
-- No significant toys aside from a swinging bell and a T2 (1991) cannon that blocks ball view
-- Right loop scoop breaks flow combos - disappoints more than I thought it would
-- Modes attached to songs causes players to hear the same songs over and over

In the end, AC/DC is a pretty fun game that I play on location, but I would never buy this pin. I feel it would get old very quick, and the good ol' rock they are known for would become annoying.

I love ac dc premium but I hate the pro because the Angus face gives me nightmares and I miss the lower playfield. But, it still got the same good layout and rules.

I did not know much about this game till the last year or so. Now I own one and it is a great game. Very deep rule set and scoring big is a challenge. I am not a big fan of the band, but the song choices are all good ones. This may be the top music themed pin with Metallica right there with it.

VAULT edition review.... i love Ac/Dc the band and was one of those that always preferred the faster playing Pro. I was just never a big fan of the premium ‘s lower playfield because the objectives seemed like a lame bagatelle. I do like the crossover ramp and the drops on the premium’s but just could not see paying 1000-1500 more for that. Sadly, I could not bring myself to buy the old Pro due to the horrible Angus constipation face in the middle of the play-field. I know this is from the Highway to Hell album cover but just looks really out of place and used as an afterthought to cover for lack of lower playfield... just super ugly and way too big. My pinball prayers were answered by Stern with the vault edition! I LOVE the new artwork on this, the revamped bell and it is the last of SAM machines. I bought it immediately and could not be happier! This is thing just plays lightning fast and the code is wonderful.... never getting rid of it...

Not my favorite pin, is the premium with the basement adds fun ?

Awesome to play pinball and likened to your favourite tunes at the same time. Music selection at start of game affects what is needed to be achieved for the rules. The rule set is great and you can select different song as you progress and complete the tasks. The biggest downfall is Angus' big boof head in the middle of the playfield. The re issue unit has better artwork of the band instead. The Premium has a lower playfield I. The shape of Angus head and devil horn. I find I don't play this game onsite anymore if other machines are there. The longevity of the game does not seem to be there for me. The premium has a much better and will play all day long.

AC/DC Pro Vault Edition review

The one thing I didn't like about this pin is the little wire right after the skill shot that redirects the ball almost certainly to the hole between the 2 flippers. Don't know if it's there on every machine but it was there on the one I played... Otherwise, it's ok but I prefer the premium version.

This game when I first played it I wanted to buy it and almost did. That quickly changed when I played it at a location where it was so noisy that the bell was the only thing I could hear clearly. AC/DC has a few cool items the cannon and bell thats where it drops off. The music and songs get you going and in the mood to play quickly but when you can't hear it, the game is not as interesting after a while.

Best music theme out there.

I really want a Pro Vault after playing one at a friends house. The small additions and lighting improvements are just what the pro needed. I own a couple of Stern's other music pins, but I have to admit that the AC/DC songs on this pin are just more appealing to me. This will be my next purchase. Great game!

Come on it is AC/DC ! Great theme with superb artwork as they cleverly avoided to make everything looks cartoonish (Metallica anyone ?). Best played obviously with LOUD sound.

AC/DC is a very fun game with some great shots. The music and modes are very well integrated together in this pin. It makes for a more varied game dependant on which songs you pick.

Nice game

A great theme for an average game. Music and sounds are great. Art is a mixed bag. The cannon is fun, but the rest is just alright.