No Fear is here

Farsight's fifth season is advancing with clockwork regularity, the latest addition being the table No Fear : Dangerous Sports. 

The table layout with the various branching lanes reminded me of the Balls of Glory collection of Zen Studios. Well, given that No Fear is a 20 years old game and BoG a most recent one it is clear that, if inspiration there is, it has followed a most specific direction. 

I have mixed feelings about this table. There are things I do like a lot: the variety of the goals, the relatively easy multiball, the prolonged autosave (autofire!) to name but a few. On the other hand there are things that I hated. The drain lane looks like a highway. I have trouble reacting in time for the upper right flipper: it could be just myself but I feel that the visual clues are insufficient. Speaking of visual matters, it goes without saying that the game is unplayable with the standard ball (and even with the green one the situation is often touch-and-go).

Finally there are things where Farsight has once more shown how little care goes into crafting their games. On my iPad Air the launch button is situated at the upper right corner which means that you have to launch and then move your hand down to a more natural grip. At times I wonder whether they have tried the game on real iPads or just on on-screen simulators. 

Another "interesting" feature is the high-score table. Whatever you do it remains a tabula rasa. Well, not exactly, since you have those zeroes but for me it is a proof of amateurism if we were in need of one.