I was in Bumper yesterday and the first thing I saw when those 2 sliding doors opened was the shinny new WOZ staring me in the face. With no one playing it I was drawn to it like a moth to a light globe.
Where to start with my thoughts on this one. The LCD is the first of many things that punch you right in the face with this machine, WOZ really is the next generation in pinball. Although I have seen many pictures and vids of this machine the LCD seems a lot bigger in real life especially when it is working as a single screen and not split into four as it does in the start of the ball. I like the LCD but when your playing the machine you don't really get to watch it same as a DMD so unless your a spectator watching or it has some purpose in a feature mode (that I never had) no real advantage with LCD other than eye candy IMHO. To be honest sitting here thinking about it I cant even remember what was playing on the LCD.
LCD aside this game this game is full of other great new technology in pinball such as the color changing LED's and high tech toys.
The quality of this machine (from the outside..I didn't get to see inside) looks very high. The graphics on the play field and cabinet look fantastic miles ahead of what I have seen on modern day stern's once again IMHO. The only thing quality wise that I thought could have used a bit more work were the wire form ramps and the side rails and lock down bars which to me looked a little flimsy and cheap.
Play wise I had 5 games in a row not enough to form a good opinion but enough to get a feel. It felt like a quality built machine.Hard to explain but well made like driving a quality built European car compared to KIA it felt smooth. It didn't get my heart pumping and I wasn't getting particularly excited playing but I didn't know the rules and I was more distracted by all the eye candy than I was into playing the game. I never judge a game until I have played it a lot at home with no distractions. I could never get into my pinball playing zone in a shop way too embarrassing with all my hip thrusting and leg kicking...sometimes at home when I'm playing my wife asks me if I want her to close the door give to give me some privacy with the machine.
I found it did drain very easily but that was probably just lack of game play or once again all the distractions of the game trying to take it all in rather than concentrate on playing. In my 5 games it preformed perfectly no ball stick or any problems.
In conclusion my thoughts are that although it's not a title I would ever add to my collection JJ have done a great job building a high tech quality machine that is state of the art. A mammoth task when you think about it building a new machine of this caliber from the ground up. I think that with some new titles or (IMO) some better titles Stern may have to lift there game on quality a little.
