The Walking Dead has become a bit of a phenomenon. There’s the long running comic which was turned into a hit television series. Then there’s Telltale’s episodic games which just wrapped up its second season. Besides all the other merchandise there is also a new game – Zen Pinball 2’s The Walking Dead table. This table is based on the episodic game’s first season with some locations and characters used on the table, and while it doesn’t spoil any plot elements having played through the first season really does help with the enjoyment.
First and foremost is the pinball action. Zen Pinball 2 is a phenomenal pinball game and The Walking Dead table does not disappoint. It actually is one of the more enjoyable tables that I have played in a while. Three main flippers help to control most of the action on the table with a smaller sort of sub table in the upper left set aside with two additional flippers.
Many of the usual pinball trap and tricks are present with bumpers and targets but it is the way they are used to effect with The Walking Dead Table that makes it fun to play. There are a lot of paths on the table to work towards and a zombie coming out of a grate – hit that zombie and he will go down opening up the way to missions where players need to make a choice based on events that happened in various episodes of the video game then execute on some missions such as hitting a specific target within a certain amount of time for a bonus score.
One of these missions involves a sort of sniper scope shooting mini-game. This is one of the few areas where the game falls short. It’s not a pinball mechanic and the controls are not intuitive. It is, however, one of the very few failings the table has.
During my time playing the table a couple of times the pinball turned into a soccer ball. This is an instance where the pinball game harkens back to the episodic adventure game. On its own it’s not remarkable, but if you have played through Telltale’s game it will.
Overall the table’s attention to detail is what sells it. There is so much stuff packed in it’s hard to take it all in quickly. This table, more than many other Zen Pinball tables, really does take some time to get used to. It rewards the patient player with a whole host of secrets to uncover and enjoy.