Who could object to getting a whole new game? And if you don’t like it, you don’t have to play it. In fact, it’s like playing a whole new game. It feels faster, and less forgiving, which is probably why Zen calls it a “difficulty” setting. It feels so different that it doesn’t feel like Pinball FX anymore. But Tournament Mode is their brand new physics model, presumably built to bring a sense of fidelity to these classic tables. Arcade Mode is Zen Pinball as it’s always been. The choices are Arcade Mode or Tournament Mode. But with these four new tables, when you play a standalone round independent of the unlockable bonuses and wizard powers, you have the option to choose a “difficulty” setting. There are other videogame pinball options for people who put a priority on real world physics. That’s just part of the identity of Pinball FX.

You could say their physics are stylized, which has freed Zen Studios to do some truly strange things with their tables. They never claimed to model actual steel balls rolling down actual inclines, bouncing off actual bumpers, and flipped by actual flippers. Their tables are made to play by their own rules, with their own feel for where the ball should go and how. Pinball FX’s physics have been criticized as “floaty” or “soft”, and it’s not an unfair observation. They introduce an odd dilemma for those of us who’ve been playing Zen’s tables all these years. They’re among the physical tables from the days of yore, from actual stand-up pinball machines that exist in the real world, now ported into Pinball FX3 thanks to Zen Studios’ licensing deal with Williams. Williams Pinball: Volume 1 is $10 DLC that adds Fish Tales, The Getaway, Junk Yard, and Medieval Madness, which all feel dated…in a good way.

The first four of hopefully lots more Williams tables for Pinball FX3 just came out this week.

Pro pinball vs visual pinball physics