Zen Studios' engaging Zen Pinball tables are excellently-crafted bits of entertainment that take classic pinball tropes and translate them into exemplary pieces of mobile gaming. And if you've been looking to scratch that special The Walking Dead itch, this game of pinball channels the fantastic adventure games in the best ways.
The Good
The Walking Dead Pinball is a lot more than a simple pinball table, with special augments and choice-driven gameplay that transcend the simple "make sure you avoid losing each ball" gameplay that's localized to the genre. You can purchase this table as a standalone app or you can play it within Zen Pinball, but however you choose to play, you'll start off simply by racking up points and aiming for combos, and slowly progress to looking through the scope of a sniper rifle and picking off zombies or choosing whether to side with Kenny or another character.
While it's true a good portion of many pinball games of course are determined by how lucky you are and the trajectory of the ball, making these types of choices can affect the course of your game, whether you trigger multiball or other bonus rounds, and more. You can select episodes from the original Telltale adventure game, and complete objectives culled straight from the game, and in doing so will experience some pivotal, recognizable moments that are downright awesome.
The Bad
Sometimes it simply seems as though you're set up to fail, with the ball headed straight for the bottom of the table despite not having changed the strength of your flipper or your timing, so at some times it feels as though your success is completely random. In addition, controls when you're attempting to complete sniper missions are extremely fiddly, sometimes barely responding at all and massively difficult to aim properly.
The Verdict
The Walking Dead Pinball is one of the best additions to Zen Pinball 2's stable of specialized tables, and if you haven't tried out any of the rest of them, this would be a great place to start -- especially if you're looking to play something a little different when it comes to the shambling undead.
The Good
The Walking Dead Pinball is a lot more than a simple pinball table, with special augments and choice-driven gameplay that transcend the simple "make sure you avoid losing each ball" gameplay that's localized to the genre. You can purchase this table as a standalone app or you can play it within Zen Pinball, but however you choose to play, you'll start off simply by racking up points and aiming for combos, and slowly progress to looking through the scope of a sniper rifle and picking off zombies or choosing whether to side with Kenny or another character.
While it's true a good portion of many pinball games of course are determined by how lucky you are and the trajectory of the ball, making these types of choices can affect the course of your game, whether you trigger multiball or other bonus rounds, and more. You can select episodes from the original Telltale adventure game, and complete objectives culled straight from the game, and in doing so will experience some pivotal, recognizable moments that are downright awesome.
The Bad
Sometimes it simply seems as though you're set up to fail, with the ball headed straight for the bottom of the table despite not having changed the strength of your flipper or your timing, so at some times it feels as though your success is completely random. In addition, controls when you're attempting to complete sniper missions are extremely fiddly, sometimes barely responding at all and massively difficult to aim properly.
The Verdict
The Walking Dead Pinball is one of the best additions to Zen Pinball 2's stable of specialized tables, and if you haven't tried out any of the rest of them, this would be a great place to start -- especially if you're looking to play something a little different when it comes to the shambling undead.
4.5/5
