Pinside rating
This game received 67 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.994 /10
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game design: 7.696
Artwork: 8.038
Sounds/Music: 8.251
Other Aspects: 7.968
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 1 of us has rated this game.
Ranking history
An overview of this machine's ranking over the last years. Lower is better.
Rating history
An overview of this machine's rating over the last years. Higher is better.
Found 25 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 25 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 1.
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7.848/10
4 months ago
Spruce Grove, AB
I played an early version of this pin in an unfinished form and with some of the settings dialled down so ill have to revisit this review some other time. I love the theme being a big aliens fan. i thought the face huggers were very clever. The dark theme is great. The playability and shots weren't quite there for me. There have been code revisions and play field parts added since then so hopefully I can like it like i want to.
Jackson Twp., OH
7.895/10
6 months ago
Paris
after 2 hours i like it , not fast as a got or star wars ( that i love ) , very different slower wide body feeling , excellent theme and ambiance , like the videos on the big screen , some difficult "x men/tron" shots with upper flippers , a good pin ( lot better and original than guardians of galaxy or aerosmith for example )
7.798/10
8 months ago
Alien is a great game. The layout does a good job of utilizing the full space of a widebody machine. There's plenty of shots and most of them are very smooth and well dialed in. The audio is outstanding and well integrated with the game. The rules are a little difficult to follow but just takes some time. The "toys" are very well integrated and pull the theme together - the alien head lock is one of the coolest toys I've seen in recent pinball. My biggest issue(s) with the game is that the upper right flipper does not have a consistent shot to feed it, and that flipper is critical for the extra ball and super jackpots and other shots during the game. you have to get lucky in getting a shot to feed the flipper properly (even a combo of right lower flipper to the mid left flipper to the upper right flipper is not 100% as the ball often will bounce into the pops and out instead of hitting the target and then coming back down to the upper right flipper). The playfield and plastics artwork and animations are really well done. Personally, I can't stand the cabinet though. Aesthetically and functionally this is an issue for me. The lockdown bar/glass has sharp corners, the glass with bezel is very heavy and a PITA to remove, the cabinet while being cool that the art is backlit, looks like there's hardly any art on it with too much black space. The modularity of the cabinet could be a winning notion though if pricing on future modules comes down.
8.391/10
8 months ago
I need much more time on this table.
I got in roughly 6 games over an hour.
The game had a few glitches, but I didn't allow those to impact my enjoyment of the game.
I'd rank this in close to playing Embryon.
The shots felt good.
The game overall feels a little clunky, not as smooth as a modern Stern.
The shots are FAR more interesting than a typical modern Stern -- which I greatly appreciated.
2 spinners
4 flippers
many orbit shots
bank of drops
I got in roughly 6 games over an hour.
The game had a few glitches, but I didn't allow those to impact my enjoyment of the game.
I'd rank this in close to playing Embryon.
The shots felt good.
The game overall feels a little clunky, not as smooth as a modern Stern.
The shots are FAR more interesting than a typical modern Stern -- which I greatly appreciated.
2 spinners
4 flippers
many orbit shots
bank of drops
9.703/10
8 months ago
This game is absolutely amazing. Other than the overall lighting for a dark room its almost all 6's for me. The Heighway team has some work to do as far as QC on machines that leave the factory so if you are going to buy this one, you need to have patience when setting it up, but hopefully they can get their stuff together and start shipping games that need less set-up time. Holy crap! This is THE BEST PIN of 2017 and even longer! Great shots, great rules, amazing sound and call outs. more more more...
7.957/10
8 months ago
Pros:
Very good theme integration, great movie clips, great toy (Xeno Head) and original ruleset.
Cons :
Odd layout (feeding the upper flipper is not easy), a bit slow (as compared to Full throttle, another widebody), some bugs remaining, dark GI.
Very good theme integration, great movie clips, great toy (Xeno Head) and original ruleset.
Cons :
Odd layout (feeding the upper flipper is not easy), a bit slow (as compared to Full throttle, another widebody), some bugs remaining, dark GI.
Dortmund
8.432/10
1 year ago
I had the chance to play many games on Alien. The engineering of the game is absolutely superb, probably the best ever to date. Modular design, with wire connectors everywhere. The artwork is impressive, even cabinet decals are interchangeable along with the playfield. No wonder they ran into financial problems considering the effort that went into each game and the money they charged. Hopefully that gets straightened out, I would hate to see a company that build such a wonderful machine go under.
The game play is fun with lots of good shots and the alien toy is coll when it picks up the ball. The upper left flipper is of marginal usage. The lighting is the only real complaint I have. The game is way too dark which makes it difficult to follow the ball. Some light mod could easily remedy this problem. The game is fairly difficult and the ball likes to drain in the outlanes. The bottom flippers are relatively close together and have a post in the middle, so drains rarely happen there. However, their up angle is very minimal which makes it challenging to cradle the ball. The flippers have the right amount of power to accomplish their task but not any more than necessary. I experienced little to none airballs and other unusual behavior that can put undo stress on playfield components. The ball didn't get stuck once during the entire time we played on it.
The game play is fun with lots of good shots and the alien toy is coll when it picks up the ball. The upper left flipper is of marginal usage. The lighting is the only real complaint I have. The game is way too dark which makes it difficult to follow the ball. Some light mod could easily remedy this problem. The game is fairly difficult and the ball likes to drain in the outlanes. The bottom flippers are relatively close together and have a post in the middle, so drains rarely happen there. However, their up angle is very minimal which makes it challenging to cradle the ball. The flippers have the right amount of power to accomplish their task but not any more than necessary. I experienced little to none airballs and other unusual behavior that can put undo stress on playfield components. The ball didn't get stuck once during the entire time we played on it.
8.148/10
1 year ago
So, after playing an ALIEN this weekend a lot in a home environment with the volume up and an external subwoofer attached,
I must say that it lived up to much of the hype it may have, it lived up to most of what I wanted it to actually be and it left me
really wanting to play it more and if the planets and stars and craftmanship of the new management team aligns... I'd like one.
I truly enjoy some Early solid state era Wide body games.
I truly enjoy some 90s era solid state games.
It merges many great playfield characteristics of both eras.
The display in the backglass was very nice and very useful (I did enjoy how the clip artish inserts were utilized in the backglass
animation area to explain what shots to make, it was useful, tasteful and unique).
The movie clips grabbed were good and well implemented.
The mini display did add a fun flare and visual element to the playfield and actually makes more sense the a mini me version
of the queen alien that was to be there originally.
The display in the playfield on this variation of the game was inbetween un-required to semi helpful.
In a mega dark room, sure it could help, but in a kinda lit room it wasn't that helpful if at all.
But... if someone went with the small backglass screen or LE backglass, it would be required and helpful.
All of the shots are doable other than the inside ramp if the back legs are raised up.
The audio quality of the license assets were great as expected.
The code for me is enough where is sits and doesn't need too much added to be "finished".
The weapon selection option and usage functions were very unique, fun and fascinating to me.
The beacons are quite neat and aren't under or over used.
It'd kinda mean in the vein of BSD that you can have a really short game or a decently long and enjoyable one.
What I didn't care for...
The damn EXTRA Ball/Weapon selection button on the front left of the cabinet...
It's too damn close to the start button, it's the same sized and frankly why the hell isn't it on the left or right
side of the cabinet near the flipper buttons? Pinball people are accustomed to multiple buttons on a side or two at times.
It was missed just a little lighting in the middle area near the right ramp to me (no big deal).
I'll bite my ALIEN tongue from going on tangents about the game not being available to be and if/when...
But damn... I know this game would earn in the movie theater location I could put it at and many many many
non-pinball people would play it due to the theme and it's look...
I must say that it lived up to much of the hype it may have, it lived up to most of what I wanted it to actually be and it left me
really wanting to play it more and if the planets and stars and craftmanship of the new management team aligns... I'd like one.
I truly enjoy some Early solid state era Wide body games.
I truly enjoy some 90s era solid state games.
It merges many great playfield characteristics of both eras.
The display in the backglass was very nice and very useful (I did enjoy how the clip artish inserts were utilized in the backglass
animation area to explain what shots to make, it was useful, tasteful and unique).
The movie clips grabbed were good and well implemented.
The mini display did add a fun flare and visual element to the playfield and actually makes more sense the a mini me version
of the queen alien that was to be there originally.
The display in the playfield on this variation of the game was inbetween un-required to semi helpful.
In a mega dark room, sure it could help, but in a kinda lit room it wasn't that helpful if at all.
But... if someone went with the small backglass screen or LE backglass, it would be required and helpful.
All of the shots are doable other than the inside ramp if the back legs are raised up.
The audio quality of the license assets were great as expected.
The code for me is enough where is sits and doesn't need too much added to be "finished".
The weapon selection option and usage functions were very unique, fun and fascinating to me.
The beacons are quite neat and aren't under or over used.
It'd kinda mean in the vein of BSD that you can have a really short game or a decently long and enjoyable one.
What I didn't care for...
The damn EXTRA Ball/Weapon selection button on the front left of the cabinet...
It's too damn close to the start button, it's the same sized and frankly why the hell isn't it on the left or right
side of the cabinet near the flipper buttons? Pinball people are accustomed to multiple buttons on a side or two at times.
It was missed just a little lighting in the middle area near the right ramp to me (no big deal).
I'll bite my ALIEN tongue from going on tangents about the game not being available to be and if/when...
But damn... I know this game would earn in the movie theater location I could put it at and many many many
non-pinball people would play it due to the theme and it's look...
7.569/10
1 year ago
Not a huge alien fan but an aesthetically great machine. The shots did not do it for me and I didn't realize there was an upper left flipper at first.
9.300/10
1 year ago
My game is a very early production (or very late pre-production) release. It was purchased at TPF in March 2017. The Xeno head currently does not eat the ball, but should when a new board arrives ETA: Two weeks :-)
The sounds, video and lightshow on this game rival anything I have seen. Heighway did an excellent job caturing the theme of both movies. I've been playing nearly every night for the past several weeks, and it still has that 'just one more game' feeling. The code/rules are well fleshed out even for such an early released game. Modes are not played in a specific order (determined by ramp shots), so it does not get repetitive. The shot layout is not your typical fan style, and some shots are very difficult to hit. While this may frustrate the beginning player, I think more experienced players will appreciate the challange. Overall, this is my new FAVORITE game of all time.
The sounds, video and lightshow on this game rival anything I have seen. Heighway did an excellent job caturing the theme of both movies. I've been playing nearly every night for the past several weeks, and it still has that 'just one more game' feeling. The code/rules are well fleshed out even for such an early released game. Modes are not played in a specific order (determined by ramp shots), so it does not get repetitive. The shot layout is not your typical fan style, and some shots are very difficult to hit. While this may frustrate the beginning player, I think more experienced players will appreciate the challange. Overall, this is my new FAVORITE game of all time.
Ljubljana
There are 25 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 1.
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