With all the new and exciting projects to see at BitSummit: Let’s Go 2023, it was difficult to decide where to start. While Devolver Digital’s displays for Pepper Grinder and Karma Zoo were certainly the most tempting, it was WIZNWAR’s Xenotilt that won the initial struggle. This sequel to thealready chaotic Demon’s Tiltisn’t just a flashy draw for the eyes, though. There’s more real, pinball meat here than any flipper fan would dare expect.
Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action is a pure arcade pinball game, not a mix of pinball and something else likethe very excellent Yoku’s Island Expressis. All of the usual elements are here: flipper banks, multiballs, missions, jackpots, events and bosses. Players do do their best to keep the ball in play for as long as possible, progress and clear challenges, defeat bosses and generally attempt to rack up as many points as possible before they lose all of their balls to the gutter. There are no surprises in that sense, but there is plenty pinball enthusiasts will enjoy in almost every other aspect.
The first thing about Xenotilt that’ll draw players in is almost certainly the same thing that grabbed the attention of many a BitSummit attendee: its presentation. This is a stunning pinball game, sporting beautiful pixel art, punchy sound effects and smooth lighting/effects reminiscent of Geometry Wars 2. Everything really pops on the play field, which is fortunate because it’d be all too easy to lose track of one’s ball in the chaos otherwise.
“Chaos” really was more or less the order of the day in the demo WIZNWAR brought to BitSummit too, as it seemed like there was always something exciting happening on the field. Targets were getting knocked in bursts of neon light, bosses were rocked by heavy impacts, lines of enemies were being eliminated and the ball itself moving was back and forth between several distinct levels, and it was all happening within just a few seconds.
Yet the ball only occasionally got lost in the midst of it all, and it never moved so fast that one couldn’t quickly reacquire and keep it in play. Things did get dicey during multiball when different balls were rolling around different levels, but the game was still surprisingly manageable even then. In terms of pure moment-to-moment play, Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action is already able to deliver an impressive amount fun, and that’s without even managing to trigger its nine-ball multiball event. Between that an the capstone event that’s only triggered after rolling through everything else, there’s still a lot of unseen potential here.
Only one board was available to play at BitSummit, but it seems that the developer is going to have more on offer once Xenotilt makes it to its full and proper release. Plans include other modes beyond the main one including: Time Attack, Survivor and EX Mode. Time Attack will have players racing to add time to the play lock so as to last as long as possible, and Survivor follows a kind of quest structure wherein players are trying to rescue survivors from hostile forces. As for EX Mode, it involves delving into various sub-fields to score even more points and complete different objectives. This is all to say that it’s looking like there’s going to be plenty to keep a player occupied.
WIZNWAR is looking to get Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action out intoEarly Accessthis summer, but apparently the idea is for it to not remain there for long. After that it’ll be coming to PC initially, followed eventually with releases on other platforms. There’s no ETA on any of that right now of course, but hopefully pinball enthusiasts won’t have to wait too long for this one.
