Dark Chaos (apophis 2025)

I have been waiting to play this and you did not disappoint. The gameplay and  atmosphere this table brings is next level and so glad you are helping pave the way for others. Love your work and all that you do and this has went striaght to to top of my favorites list! Thank you!

Where the hell is the 10 star rating?? 

Holy moly pardon me while a gush for a minute- I might even have to use some french! Holy Sh%&! 

@apophis and his team of magicians have created a spectacular SCREAMING FAST romp of a table here. Everything about it is incredibly atmospheric. Who dat voice, btw, hmmm?  The music is perfect for the theme and instantly reminded me of Blood Machines. 

The first game was like "where the heck is the ball?" it's so slippery fast. The second game I was paying attention and, no lie, the hair on my arms stood up when I heard "Wave Coming".  By the end of the game, which didn't last long dammit I was coiled like a snake ready to strike. That reminds me. I gotta put brakes on my chair wheels. I was pushed back so far I damn near had the keyboard slide off onto my lap!

You should be extremely proud of yourself my friend. This is a number one straight to the head of the class original. WOW! Oh yeah, thanks for sharing with us!!

         OK, Takes me a good 10 minutes after playing a few games to unclench my butt. This is edge-of-your-seat intense!  Didn't know my sphincter could get cramps from stress.

You will find yourself rushing to get all the perfect shots as fast as you can, otherwise, you will be unprepared for the wave. Wave after wave, your health drains if you didnt prepare. It's so brutal but so rewarding once you do get the shots. Complete training is a must! makes the requirements easier.  This whole concept of rules is executed so well.  Never played a game like this before. It's addicting as hell.

Gorgeous looking, great atmosphere and amazing lighting, The music really pulls you in and kicks your adrenaline's ass.  The table, with its irresistible charm of always leaving glory right out of your reach, keeps you coming back over and over. It's really magical. Talk about a winner! I freaking love this table and everything about it.

It's a whole new category of pinball. I never played anything quite like this.. A cross between an arcade game and a pinball. I can't explain it well enough. A must-have for EVERYONE. WELL DONE! 

Thank you, Apophis! Thank you, Team! For all your hard work! This is a hit sure to leave a crater-sized impact in the pinball VPX world. 10/10!  CHEERS!!!

This is gonna be long, so be patient folks.

If you are reading this, likely you are a pinhead, a fan of either the real thing and/or digital pinball. Perhaps you are reading this wondering "is this table worth playing?" so rightly you are here to educate yourself on whether it's worth downloading or not.  With that in mind, let me help you out without further delay:  yes, it is worth it.  Take a few min, download it immediately, ensure you are up to date on all required files, read the info section to understand the required setup and options available to you... and just play it, enjoy this brilliant original masterpiece.

... what, you are still here?  Ok, why don't we get into more detail as to why this is a special table but also what IMHO makes any table special/great?  Note that this may not reflect what makes a table great for YOU but I think the discussion itself adds value, perhaps food for thought for my fellow pinheads and for those wondering why this table is getting many 5-star reviews.  Let's look at this from several different categories: Graphics/audio/playability-physics/modes/VR integration/overall/the future and final thoughts.

Graphics:

Upon loading, right from the get-go, it quickly becomes evident that the creators of this table show a mastery of every facet of pinball creation but turned up to 11.  The graphics are clear and great, with superior use of color; everything looks polished (note that the word "polish" will likely be overused in this review... sue me), with the playfield hosting some very cool toys/3d objects that really adds to the overall theme and atmosphere of this table.  All looks great... very clear indicators of what to do from the various playfield lights/text.  Then the attract mode light show begins, domes spin, RGB lighting flashes, walls and toys reflect the lighting beautifully.  It's absolutely an incredible and beautiful experience and we haven’t even plunged the ball yet.

Audio:

Along with the esthetic beauty of this table, there are several unique call outs done in an appropriate voice. As well, the music accompanying the table is also superbly done, very much akin “Total Nuclear Annihilation” or “Cyber Race” in style. Very professional and polished production on the audio end of things and with this theme, very appropriate! Great job Unsavory!

Playability-Physics:

Very good variety with some decent flow. Hitting the ramps allow some cool combo shots, with a few loop shots as well (love the top right flipper loop, reminds me of the evil warp ramp in Stern’s Star Trek).  From a design perspective, you can just tell there was a perfectionist at work ensuring proper placement of every table element to ensure shots aren’t just makeable but are pixel perfect in position to facilitate great flow and a “just right” requirement for hitting the intended target one is aiming for, while also not making it easy.  Some of those orbits are narrow and neither is it automatic to hit the ramps.  Both require skill.  The physics seem spot on; I presume the typical nfozzy support?  Everything feels just right

Game play-Modes:

Although at first glance this table looks like a current era pin, IMHO its playability is more of a merge of both late 80’s Williams streamlined goal oriented along with a modern complexity to the modes that lead to an end result: a unique and fun take on pinball design.  The design really drives the main goal (hitting the targets during the meteor wave) but also mixes in ramp/orbit shots for both pre-mode benefits (training) and power-ups bonuses.  It’s this very focused game play with a perfect time interval between the waves that turns the game into a nitro charged adrenaline rush that is very unique to this table and frankly is extremely welcomed.  At this point, it’s time to acknowledge the incredible level of work that is invisible to us that makes a game like this work: scripting!  I don’t know how many lines of code every table has. I know most complex originals have a huge amount. Die Hard Trilogy (an amazing original) has less than 20K. GOTG, a hand scripted Stern table with many complex modes, has under 19K.  This polished masterpiece?  OVER 66 THOUSAND lines of code.  66K! I can’t imagine the headache to debug all that when bugs show themselves!  I believe the release notes indicate FLUX did a good chunk of the work here.  My hat is duly tipped to you good sir!

VR integration:

Although this doesn’t necessary appeal to everyone, HUGE kudos to Apophis and team for adding VR support. The Mega Room itself is very nice. I would love to see support for skybox movement and if possible, each wave shows the earth getting closer and closer; this might add to the rush and excitement.  For the moving skybox, a good example of this is the VR room Rawd came up with for Space Station, it’s a very slow-moving skybox but just enough to give you a sense of movement but not enough to be disorientating.  Looking at that VR room, it also shines because of the many 3D objects that give it a less static feel. That said, I realize the more 3D objects we add, the more overhead we add.  As it is, Dark Chaos VR room looks great and fine as is, just ideas to consider for the future.  As usual with a decent PCVR setup, the added depth and scale can really bridge the gap in simulating playing a real pinball machine so mucho appreciation for the included mega room.

The future?:

If I understand correctly, this is Apophis’ first full table release.  I’m not sure I envy where he goes from here, but we will surely be there for the ride.  This is an amazing effort.  Like another of my favorite originals (Cyber Race) I can believe this could be converted to a real pin because of the stellar design.  I believe I read the script was made in such a way to support this so if that is your intention Apophis, I can’t wait to see the WIP and hope to come across the real deal someday!

Final comments (AKA TLDR  

What could I possibly add?  The visual look?  The audio/music? The gameplay?  Dark Chaos nets a checkmark on all these categories.  This tables reflects the soul of its creator, with every ounce of blood, sweat and tears shed during its development reflected in the end result.  Where eons ago (well VP does date back to 2001!), we were focused on real world tables getting the digital pinball conversion; in the past few years polished originals have caught up with teams of creators perfecting their craft to create very special releases.  They now get their share of the spotlight, deservedly so.  Well, here’s another one to join the elite!  And BONUS POINTS:  it’s a space themed pin.  Everyone loves space themed pinball games so let’s go play Dark Chaos and save the earth from meteors and aliens, or die trying! (I must add Earth is starting to get pissed off at me...)

So get off your butt, update your cabinet, download the table and play/enjoy this release and for crying out loud, don’t forget to say “thanks!”   

Spectacular.

What an amazing table! So unique and totally different from anything I've seen before.
Thanks a lot for sharing your passion for this hobby!

One word...

Awesome!!!  😉

Man, this is an intense experience. Great idea and the execution is spot on. Super fun and addicting gameplay. Thanks apophis and your team for all your work on this and for sharing it with us all. This is a top notch table. 

This is one of the best original tables ever! Thanks to everyone involved in creating this.

Great table! Thanks for the performance tips, I had to use them and they helped!!

Awesome table, thank you!

Super creative table, fantastic quality, and really fun. Kudos to Apophis and company.

Magnificent creation, this is incredible in countless ways.  Stunning work, 10 stars!!!

Awesome table... just awesome.

Going immediately on my 'Best' tables list. An absolutely must play table. Very addictive game play that keeps you interested and focused the whole time. Looks, sounds and plays so well. Thanks so  much for sharing and all of your time and effort on this one.

Wowww, what a FANTASTIC table!

Very original approach, awesome graphics, VRRoom and audio,  excelent physics...
I have to get up really early tomorrow and now its 1am but I simply could not stop playing... "only one more and I will go to bed...!" yeah right... and still had to come and make this comment because I had  to say THANK YOU for sharing your work guys!
Well, in fact, thanks to everybody who works on this amazing project which is Visual Pinball, but the spotlight is yours at the moment!

I HIGHLY recommend to check out the YouTube video tutorial. There is a lot of depth in this table.

My number 1 table at the moment. 

Wow this is a masterpiece Apophis and the rest of the team!

You brought Visual Pinball to the next level!

just about everything  on this table is unbelievable high quality!

Thank you guys! Wonderful project!

This table is super smooth, from the sound to the lights to the game play you will be surprised. you cant play this just once. This table shoots to the top of my list. Thank you for sharing this job well done. This table creator is top notch and incredibly talented.  Thank you.

Great work.

Sweet GOD this is PHENOMENAL! I've been playing this for about an hour so far and I just love everything about it. It looks and feels about as authentic as it gets. The table events are very fun and everything just flows in such a satisfying way. Also excellent is the use of lighting and I love the little LCD scoring screen. Great Great table!! I'm blown away by this! Thank you!!!

Absolutely top notch, though nobody is surprised at this quality from Apophis. This looks and feels amazing and the artwork and deceivingly simple layout are incredible.

Thanks for this!

Amazing work!  Thank you so much for creating this table!

WOW, this plays amazing! The moon missiles, the cluster bombs. Simply Awesome! It really pulls you into the game! 

The DOF lighting, solenoids, shaker motor and blower fan work great on my cabinet with this table.

Also, the sound quality is outstanding and the table lighting effects looks so awesome! 

Thank you very much to everyone involved and for all of your hard work on this table! 😎

What a Fan-Tas-Tic table creation!

Cheers,

FD.

Finally got round to flipping this bad boy and Wow, what a release.
Really love the overall concept and the gameplay here - original, frantic, challenging and super addictive.
Layout and visuals are a treat. Sexy AF light shows, whole package is quality! The music and sound overall is top notch and really immerses the player into the theme of the the table.
Backglass art and logo looks super cool aswell lending itself to the concept perfectly.
Huge props to @apophis and team, this is peak.