Metallica and Uncanny XMen, I Played Them...

Cary Hardy·video·19m 53s·analyzed·Nov 5, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Carrie Hardy reviews new Metallica and X-Men after private Stern factory tour, praising Metallica but criticizing X-Men's plunger issues and code design.

Summary

Carrie Hardy shares impressions from a private Stern factory tour where she played the new Metallica remake and X-Men pinball games. She praises Metallica's animations and art direction but notes X-Men suffers from plunger inconsistencies, setup sensitivity, and overly text-heavy code explanations in future modes. She recommends the Pro model over Premium/LE for X-Men due to marginal mechanical differences.

Key Claims

Metallica remake features the best animation Stern has released in their games, warranting special spotlight coverage
high confidence · Carrie Hardy speaking from direct factory tour experience; she uploaded dedicated 2-minute animation video to highlight it
X-Men plunger/auto-launcher issues have been identified and fixes are reportedly in place
medium confidence · Carrie reports this from conversation with Jack Danger at factory; describes as 'supposedly' fixed, indicating uncertainty
X-Men requires careful setup to play correctly, though designer Jack Danger disputes this characterization
medium confidence · Carrie notes direct contradiction between game creator and multiple owners; she observes different units play noticeably different
X-Men Pro model offers nearly identical gameplay to Premium without missing significant features
high confidence · Direct hands-on comparison at factory and local arcade; specific mechanical differences examined (Sentinel height, wire form pull-down, finger mechanism)
New Metallica art package is more 'Metallica-esque' than Dirty Donnie's original artwork
medium confidence · Carrie's subjective opinion, supported by anecdotal comment from hardcore Metallica fan friends
X-Men's future mode features excessively long text-based rule explanations that younger/casual players will skip
high confidence · Carrie describes reading multiple paragraphs of instructions on screen; compares unfavorably to Star Wars-style action button gameplay

Notable Quotes

“I never thought I would actually step foot in the factory especially with my history and stuff with the way I speak about the company sometimes and my opinions but they invited me and I accepted.”
Carrie Hardy@ 1:19 — Establishes context that Stern invited a known critic, suggesting confidence in game quality despite Hardy's critical platform
“It plays like Metallica. If you've experienced the older game, then you're going to feel basically the same with this one.”
Carrie Hardy@ 4:47 — Core positioning of new Metallica as faithful remake with incremental mechanical/animation improvements rather than design overhaul
“This definitely feels and seems like it has been one of their top tier when it comes to quality behind the animation for this.”
Carrie Hardy @ ~6:15 — Highest praise for Metallica's visual presentation; rare enough that Hardy uploaded dedicated video segment
“the art packages that are things that get revealed on their concert stuff. This, in my opinion, is much more Metallica-esque.”
Carrie Hardy@ 6:25 — Justification for preferring new art over original; references external brand consistency with concert materials
“I asked Jack about this, and he strongly disagrees. That's from the person who created the game, guys. So it's like I'm torn.”
Carrie Hardy@ 11:04 — Captures core X-Men design controversy: creator denies setup sensitivity while multiple owners report it
“And be prepared to read a short novel on how to play the current mode that you're in. It's not self-explanatory.”
Carrie Hardy@ 14:35 — Specific criticism of X-Men code: excessive text explanations for future mode obscure gameplay clarity

Entities

Carrie HardypersonZach SharppersonJack Dangerperson John Borgperson Seth Davisperson Dirty DonniepersonStern PinballcompanyMetallica (2024 remake)game

Signals

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community_signal: Stern invited 20+ content creators including known critics (Carrie Hardy) for private factory tour of new Metallica and X-Men
high · Carrie explicitly states factory tour invitation from Zach Sharp; acknowledges previous criticism of Stern but was invited anyway; tour included conversations with executives and designer John Borg
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design_philosophy: X-Men future mode relies on excessive text-based rule explanations rather than playfield lighting/visual clarity; compares unfavorably to intuitive design standards
high · Carrie describes 'multiple paragraphs' of on-screen instructions, TLDR risk for younger players, compares to 'Star Wars credits' length; suggests action button overuse
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design_philosophy: Metallica remaster prioritizes animation quality as top-tier feature; new art direction emphasizes concert/brand consistency over original Dirty Donnie artwork
high · Carrie dedicated separate video segment to animation quality; claims it's best Stern has released; notes new art references official concert materials for Metallica-esque aesthetic
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market_signal: Content creator with local arcade access expressing no purchase urgency for X-Men despite game enjoyment; code immaturity cited as reason to wait
high · Carrie explicitly states no urgency to buy at full price given local arcade proximity and code needing work; suggests waiting for 'RK' (RK/rental kit version) or further updates
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personnel_signal: Jack Danger (X-Men designer) disputes claims that game requires precise setup; community owners report otherwise, creating designer vs user perception gap

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.060

0:00

It's finally here guys! The 10,000 subscriber, super limited to amount sold, anniversary edition t-shirt. And to celebrate this occasion I have changed the logo to red and white because that makes it special. And along with this I have fictional quotes from pinball manufacturers as if they were the ones that were making this t-shirt and some of the pinball manufacturers approve of this shirt get yours today at silverballswag.com links in the video description down below oh my god i am so behind on making content for you guys it's not even funny i mean we're creeping up on three weeks since expo ended for crying out loud so i get it you're like carrie where's the stuff we're getting there we're getting there so anyways guys welcome back to the channel where i talk and do everything pinball so that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below for those that don't know i was invited to the stern factory for a private tour uh zach sharp actually reached out to me and said that hey if you're in chicago on this day and time then we invite you to come to the factory for a private tour and I accepted. I never thought I would actually step foot in the factory especially with my history and stuff with the way I speak about the company sometimes and my opinions but they invited me and I accepted.

1:49

But without a doubt, I was a little hesitant, and I even mentioned in my email back towards Zach that, you know, if I get any vibes from, like, the ending of Goodfellas with Joe Pesci, something like that, I'm out. but it wasn't just me or anything like that it was like me and maybe 20 plus other content creators out there that were invited to check out the the tour of the facility obviously and of course the new metallica machine and at this point in time i hadn't played x-men either so this was a double banger for me to get my hands on X-Men as well as the brand new Metallica and that's what this video is going to be mainly about is my thoughts and opinions towards those two games but I just wanted to kind of touch base a little bit on the whole Stern Factory Tour and experience like that I do feel that this was a very humbling experience for me I got to obviously meet a lot of people in the facility and have conversations with people like Seth Davis and Zach Sharp two people that are high up that I have never had a face-to-face conversation with, and I hope that we have furthermore in the future. So it was mainly an educational experience for me also, because I never claim to know everything, and that's why there are portions of my videos where decisions get made and they don't make sense, and that's why I usually say something like, you know, walk me through this, because from my perspective, they don't make sense. but from those that are actually in the industry and made these decisions they have their reasons behind it and for those that are starting to get concerned with my possible relationship forming with the stern people over there that's going to be altering my thoughts and opinions on what they do in the future it's not i'm still going to you know call it how i see it or speak how i feel and that's definitely going to be present in this video here so let's get into it by talking about Metallica first because honestly that's probably what I have the most experience and time on. But for what little time that I did spend and record, this is mainly my thoughts and opinions on it. I feel that if you are a Metallica fan, like you love Metallica, you go to their concerts, and you love pinball, then chances are this is a game for you. If you love the original Metallica game that was brought out over a decade ago. The chances are you're going to really love this game because you're getting the same layout, the same feel. People ask me, how do you feel about the new Metallica, Kerry? How does it play? It plays like Metallica. If you've experienced the older game, then you're going to feel basically the same with this one Now they have upgraded a lot of the mechanics and little little stuff like that within the game to improve the quality and longevity of it because they obviously learned from certain little things that were happening over time with their previous game But definitely one of the things that were stepped up are the animation for the screen. I think this is probably the best animation that Stern has revealed in their games. This definitely feels and seems like it has been one of their top tier when it comes to quality behind the animation for this. I was very impressed, and that's why I did a two-minute recording and uploaded that to you guys. It's not very often I get like, you know, oh, here's what the animation for a particular game looks like unless I feel that it needs to be spotlighted. And this is definitely one of those games where I felt the animation was something that needed to be highlighted for everybody out there. Now, when it comes to the audio, sadly, I didn't get to really fully experience that or anything. I don't know a lot of Metallica songs, but the fact that you're getting all of the songs that you've had before plus the new ones. and I would like to think that the sound system is definitely better than the older games. So I think that's a win for you guys out there. If you liked all the songs that they had before, plus some of the new ones in there, I don't see how that could be a bad thing. Now, obviously, art is subjective. There's people out there that prefer the Dirty Donnie artwork, but me personally, I think this new art package is much better. I think it's more Metallica from what things that I have seen, and the art packages that are things that get revealed on their concert stuff. This, in my opinion, is much more Metallica-esque. And I do know friends that are hardcore Metallica fans, and I remember showing them this trailer for their upcoming game, Metallica, and they said, and I quote, that is the most effin' badass game I've ever seen.

11:26

So that's where a rock and a hard place right there, guys. But like I can say that I want to I want to say that every game different one I played while at Expo at Stern and now including my local arcade. They all seem to play a little bit different. And the only like cause for something like that is manufacturing. Are they being put together or assembled the same every time? And when you have hundreds of different parts, it's not uncommon for something like that to happen. But for whatever reason, it seems like this game is much more prevalent in having that possible issue. But issues or possible issues aside, how do I feel about this X-Men game? So, with that being said, I think that this, so far, how it shoots, let's talk about that first. Design, layout, how it shoots, this game is great. I really enjoy the shots. Almost every damn shot is satisfying for me, especially the one, the uptown shot that loops around that little figure eight and comes back to your right flipper. Feels so good. The danger room, I feel that it's definitely not being utilized all the time. So it's not like I'm constantly in there. So it makes it feel like it's another upper play field or a lower play field that only kind of gets played with every once in a while. It's definitely difficult to keep an eyeball on that flipper and what's going on as well as the other two flippers that are right beside it. But in a way, it's easier than having to keep an eye on your upper flipper for like Foo Fighters to kind of go through that while you're trying to keep your balls down below during a multi ball. but I do I do agree that I'm I'm kind of accustomed to the offset flippers the non-Italian bottom didn't bother me at all I didn't feel like it was off-putting or didn't affect my OCD or anything I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this layout and that's what I really enjoyed about just seeing images of it whenever it was first released was just like this looks unique it looks different I like it. But after playing it a lot of times, nothing's changed on that. I still like it. It still feels good. Now, let's talk about the, I guess, the low end of it right now. And that would be the code. The code currently, it's enough to give you the ability to experience the game and to accomplish tasks. You got that. I do feel that there needs to be improvements, and there's room for that. I think we're currently on 0.85, 0.86, maybe a little bit more. I don't know the exact current code on that or what current code I was playing on. But there's definitely room for improvements at this time. We're still a little bit early, so things will be polished. But I guess one of my main complaints at this point in time is that whenever I get transported to the future, the game gets dark, which I'm not a big fan of dark playfields in the first place. But that aside, it's like, okay, cool. And then it comes up with like the rules or instructions on what you're supposed to do while you're in the future. And be prepared to read a short novel on how to play the current mode that you're in. It's not self-explanatory. You're not going to get in there and go, I know what to do just by the play field telling me. That not a good sign is when you have to read multiple I think I should have recorded it But I want to say there at least like two or three small paragraphs on what you supposed to do while you in this mode i don like that it almost seemed like it was i was reading like the the credits for star wars or something to begin on how to play a particular mode which is when you're getting traveled to the future on that i would like to see that changed and that's the the troubling part for you out there that's designing it wasting and stuff is that i don't know how you're going to be able to improve that uh maybe better lighting on the play field to basically give people an idea how to play but the whole using the action button holding it down and stuff like that turning it into like a almost a star wars-esque type of like gameplay style and using the action button more often than I think I really should in a pinball machine. I don't know. But that's just me. There's a little bit of room for subjectivity when it comes to code. But that was one thing that when I was playing this game, and it goes into the future, and all that text came up on there on how to play.

16:53

I'm not really missing a lot because even on the Pro, the Sentinel doesn't move up or down. But your ball is still not able to go any further into the playfield or do anything different other than the fact that your Sentinel is just always up. So that to me, I was like, okay, no big deal on that. And then the wire form pull down on the right side of the playfield, that screwed me over more times than anything. Whenever I played it at the Stern facility, the Sentinel pulls the wire form down, ball went straight down the damn middle. Not going to miss that either. Now when it comes to the Sentinel's right hand on the left side of the playfield with the finger, I honestly only get to experience that one time. Yeah, it looked cool, but I just don't know if I would miss it so much. And as far as the varying target portion towards the middle of the playfield back there to the left of the Sentinel, I don't know. I would have to play more of the premium, I guess, to really feel if that's something that's awesome and that I would miss. but on the pro i'm having plenty of fun just in the pro is what i'm trying to stay here guys and if people are asking me are you going to get it are you going to get it at this point in time i don't have a need or an urge to get it like why do i need to get the game whenever my local arcade has one now so it's literally just a couple of minutes away for me to get my fix in and the code still needs work so why would i want to spend full price at least at this current point in time for a game that i it still needs to be worked on when it comes to code and i don't need to because it's merely just up the road i mean if anything i might just hold off and wait till the rk is ready to buy a better game and i'll just buy his game i don't know we're gonna see but as right now I don't have any urgency to buy the game now but I do enjoy the game definitely so there you have my current thoughts and opinions with X-Men and the new Metallica by all means tell me how you feel about the games in the comment section down below and until next time guys peace out it's like I just I'm sitting there trying to wonder about this individual it's putting up this ridiculously high score on metallica if it ever even crosses the individual's mind that there are people waiting behind him to experience this game if it's just a matter of like i don't care about them i just want my full experience while i'm at expo if that's the mentality going for it but me it's like i i mean at a certain point you kind of have to go man i'm really spending a lot of time on this game i mean there's like literally 20 plus people waiting to experience this and i am taking up a lot of time on it but that's just me maybe i start maybe i care more about other people than people care about other people but that's just whatever