I just played my first real games of WoZ and here is my unbiased review:
First a little background on myself:
I was initially turned off by the WoZ theme and passed on the pre-order...also I was afraid to finance a new pinball company. All that changed when I went to the JJP open house in Dec. 2012 and saw (and played) WoZ. My initial reaction was that it was the most beautiful machine I have seen and recognized the quality. I did have concerns about the weak flippers and how slow it was playing. Even still, I was excited about it and decided to take the plunge. I ordered WoZ ECLE #983 and also Hobbit LE #983. I figured it was worth the extra cash since they were almost ready to start shipping. Needless to say that was wrong and I probably wont see my pin until the end of the year. I have not been happy with all the delays but have been hanging in there. I have considered cancelling my Hobbit LE and should make that decision by the end of the month. A decision made much harder after the reveal of the playfield and it being totally different from WoZ.
I have played WoZ prototypes before but just played my first games on a production pin at IPlay America in Freehold NJ.
My review of IPlay:
Very nice facility with very little pinball; WoZ standard and Grand Prix (Stern). The WoZ was on but the card swipe did not work. The wife and I made the (10 minute) trip to play WoZ and I was not going to leave without trying to get it to work. It took a while but I got someone to come over and look at it. He said they were having problems with the ball ejecting so they disabled the swiper. I asked them if we could give it a try and see if it works. We proceeded to play 18 games without an issue. Very disappointed with Iplay for not even trying until I insisted but pinball is not their thing.
My review of WoZ
Gameplay Pros:
1) The flippers were not an issue at all. I was able to make all shots without a problem.
2) I loved the two outlane games...both different and fun.
3) I found the game to be fun and addictive.
4) I first thought the music would bother me but It did not at all. (however I could barely hear it)
5) Even though shots feel a little similar TSPP, this game is very different from my other games and will be an excellent addition to my collection
Gameplay Cons:
1) With both the front and back levelers all the way in, the machine played slow for my taste. I am not sure if that is the recommended slope but there is no way I would leave it that shallow. If it is a set-up issue, than shame on JJP for not ensuring that it is correct since they even have a kiosk at that location!
2) The ball got hung up many times in the shooter lane on the switch just before you get to the top lanes. I think this is related to set-up, if it was not so shallow I don't think it would have happened.
3) I did not like the way the rollover switches redirected the ball. CV has rollover buttons on the playfield and I never feel like they interfere.
4) The playfield is fairly dark. Even my wife commented on it. They really need to work on the GI.
5) The coding still need a lot more work both in rules and general understanding of the game. The standard "shoot the blinking lights" only applies to save TOTO and There no place like home. I hope they ultimately get to providing flashing lights to indicate the shots you should go for. I also feel it is confusing to know where you are in the game. Perhaps there are callouts to tell you what to shoot for but I could not hear them.
Summary:
I think this is a very fun game and most of the issues I mentioned I think will be handled through set up or future code. We are looking forward our WoZ even more now after playing a production version.
Carlyle, IL
