PN Review: Zen Pinball 2 – Marvel & The Walking Dead DLC
Since Zen Pinball 2 is the only pinball game on the Wii U currently, it is easy to say that it is the best pinball game on Wii U. Zen Studios has done a great job at providing a quality pinball experience and updating it by adding new tables. In addition to the most recent DLC, Zen Studios has also released Star Wars Pinball (not DLC but rather a standalone experience) earlier this year and which are by far my most favorite table from Zen Studios so far. This time around Zen Studios keeps it coming with the addition of Marvel and The Walking Dead DLC tables.
The DLC for Zen Pinball 2 are distributed as individual tables rather than a pack and players can choose from The Walking Dead, Deadpool, Doctor Strange, or Guardians of the Galaxy. These licensed tables all look and sound great, like many of the original Zen Studios pinball creations, but not all are of the tables are not equally fun. While The Walking Dead table was the stand out table from the bunch, the Marvel themed tables didn’t have the same quality of the others.
The Walking Dead table seemed to have more of a personality compared to the Marvel tables. While the theme of the individual Marvel tables showed through in the table’s styling, there was not much else that really popped in any of the three Marvel tables. My least favorite table was the Deadpool table and this was mostly due to the long ball launching animation. This animation could be skipped or fast forwarded but it was still quite annoying when simply launching the ball. The best table out of the three Marvel offerings was Guardians of the Galaxy, which seemed to have the most ‘personality’ of the bunch and I had the most fun playing. Doctor Strange falls somewhere in the middle of the two and is an average experience but is still quite entertaining to play.
The DLC tables for Zen Pinball 2 are sold individually at $2.99 a pop which is not a terrible price point for some quality pinball fare. I was hoping for a bit better experience from the Marvel themed tables but for the most part they were still adequate. If I had to recommend which tables to buy from the Marvel selection, pick up Guardians of the Galaxy but skip the other two. One the other hand, The Walking Dead table is fantastic and hope that Zen Studios gets a chance to create more zombie themed tables. Fans of the television show or Telltale game series should definitely pick up The Walking Dead Zen Pinball 2 DLC.