(First impression based on the "release candidate" version.) "Pinball Lockdown" seems to be a somewhat decent 3D pinball game that is, unfortunately, in every way inferior to the ones already on the market. It contains five tables with generic themes. The complexity of the tables is midway between the simplistic shovelware pinballs and the sophisticated tables of Pinball FX 3. Especially when compared to the latter, Pinball Lockdown feels very plain: the tables have less elements, less effects, less interaction, no decorative animations, no voice acting, no LED display to speak of, less guidance via lights, and are less dynamic. The missions are purely mechanical and do not tell stories.
For me (as a casual pinball player with aged reflexes), the ball physics felt too difficult to be enjoyable. In most tables it seemed very easy to lose the ball. The slopes were a bit too steep for my preference, and the ball often shot straight into the drain with so much tempo that I could not react fast enough to prevent it.
The presentation is rather plain. Graphics are less colorful than in other pinball games, and there aren't any effects apart from the occasional light, though the tables do sport a few original ideas like the river that runs through "Zen Garden". The sound effects feel cheap and of mediocre quality.
Controls are rebindable, which should really be standard for a pinball game, but many neglect this basic usability feature. Pinball Lockdown takes care of it, so that's a plus.
15 years ago, I might have given this game a thumbs-up. And it's somewhat enjoyable even from today's perspective. But in a market with free pinball games that provide a much better experience in every respect, this game unfortunately does not have a leg to stand on. Its biggest problem is that it doesn't know who its audience should be - for casual players it seems too challenging, and for pinball experts (who might enjoy the challenge) the tables probably won't be complex enough. It's cheap though, so if you already played the better pinball games and are looking for new tables, it might be worth a shot, especially on a sale.
Personally, I think that pinball games nowadays need a unique angle (be it original stories, settings, or mechanics) to set them apart from highly sophisticated products like Pinball FX 3. You can't compete in terms of production values, so you need to provide something else that makes your game stand out. Unfortunately, Pinball Lockdown does not deliver any of that. It just rehashes old concepts in noticeably lower quality than you can get elsewhere.
