I have put about 50 games on my Eternity after searching for a successor to the Altered Reality. In my opinion, the Altered Reality has been one of the greatest balls I've ever thrown. I even stashed a few because that's a ball I want in my bag for as long as possible. The Eternity naturally was a ball I bought as soon as it came out.
The Eternity is definitely not the Altered, being an animal unto itself with it's own eccentric qualities. Upon out of box experience, this ball made about the worst impression on me I think I've ever had. The first five games, this ball would lock up, crap out and was an incredibly frustrating weak and unpredictable motion. I wanted to throw it in the trash on my way out of the bowling center. However both of my pro shop guys who are with Storm said I needed to take the Reacta Gloss box finish off and set the surface the way I wanted. Why they use Reacta Gloss on out of box, I have no idea. Especially since it's universally hated and every review will say take it off immediately.
I then hit it good with a 1000 pad until I was sure all the Gloss crap was off, and use Reacta Shine to clean after every session. After about 50-60 games since buying the ball, it's gone from one of my worst of all time to my second favorite ball after resurfacing and about a 20 game break in period. This ball is definitely not the Altered but is a really unique, interesting ball with an extremely aggressive shape.
Pros:
- One of the most angular balls I've ever thrown. Explodes like a boomerang in a nearly 90 degree hockey stick flip on most conditions. When this ball is working and controllable, it's one of the easiest balls to shoot good games I've thrown.
- I like the Eternity core more than the Altered core, which was about the only negative thing I could say about the Altered. I feel like the Altered has a tendency to go long and leave singles. While I think the Eternity core drives harder and cuts through the rack better than the Altered.
- Super controllable through the fronts and mids. Just toss it at your break point and let the ball do the work.
- One of the most aggressive Storm universe balls I've thrown. The shape and core are super unique in how they wind up and seem to speed up as the ball explodes off the breakpoint. It is an extremely strange and unfamiliar motion at first. But once you get the hang of it, this ball cuts through the deck like no other.
- I've thrown the Eternity everywhere from gutter to gutter. This ball looks good in a number of different areas on the lane when the conditions call for it.
Cons:
- This ball has some strange quirks in it's behavior and took about 20-30 games to turn into what it is now. At first I felt like this ball was a Ferrari body with a Honda engine it, as the ball motion was nowhere near as explosive as an Altered Reality. However, with the Eternity, you have to control it more and come down to it's level to get the most out of it.
- On that note, one of the best things about the Altered is it will keep up with you, speed wise, no matter how fast or hard you throw it. You can throw the Altered like a gorilla at 18-19mph and it will still shape, explode off the breakpoint and shape through the pins. The Eternity tops out around 17mph before it cannonballs and no longer will read or shape. This is one of the most disappointing things about the Eternity for me.
- The Eternity seems to constantly want to slow itself down, leading to uncomfortable variations in ball speed. At first, this is uncomfortable as the differences in ball speed from shot to shot as the core winds up will be difficult to control and make you doubt yourself as a bowler. However, once you learn to flow with this ball and shape it the way it wants to be shape, this strange core winding that the Eternity does will work in your favor.
- This ball excels around 14-15mph which allows the core to wind the ball up and explode through the deck. However, at lower speeds, this ball can get a mind of it's own once in awhile and do some erratic things.
In conclusion, after a terrible first impression, I have come to really like this ball and throw 10-20 games a week with it in practice. I haven't had the confidence to throw it much in league or tournaments yet but looking forward to playing with it all Summer. I have thrown a ton of monster games with it and it seems to be getting better the more I use it.