Odama review

It's like this: the pinball table is also the battlefield. The pinball is not really a pinball at all - it's the "Odama," which literally just means "big ball." It's a holy relic, the key to winning a bloody war - and you fire it into the middle of the fray, where it rolls around smashing your enemies. The game constantly veers between battle tactics and pinball - front lines and flippers,pressing forward and power-ups.

That's a problem, of course. Mixing two ideas that were never meant to go together results in a game that we can guarantee nobody else will ever copy - but it doesn't really make for the best gameplay. You have to shout orders at your soldiers using the microphone that comes packed in the box anduse the controller's analog stick to tilt the board to keep the Odama from crushing those same soldiers, allwhile flattening your foes and collecting power-ups that are essential to victory. It's not simple.