I remember Jack announcing Lawlor coming to design for him and he said "Jack ive got 3 ideas- here's game 1" jack replied after he finished game 1 "stop right there, dont tell me the other 2" we are going with that.
I really wish he had listened to the other 2. The problem is this theme is so odd it's going to make it so another original theme game never happens.
When doing something like an unlisenced theme you have 3 options.
1. You do something univerally interesting and safe. Robots, Magic, aliens, etc. (they could have made the game robot theme'd in a stern iron maiden art package idea and it woulda blown us away because the same tech could have been integrated)
2. You take an ancient or old expired license with adventure theme. Alice in Wonderland, treasure island, arabian nights, etc. By doing this you dont have the cost associated with licensing but do aomething recognized.
3. You steal ideas. What i mean is the way steven Spielberg and george lucas borrow alot of their cool stories from strange tales and weird tales comics. The could have easily based it on something they read from heavy metal comic and it would have been rad.
Interesting toys and tech although too complex for the casual player walking up to the pin an arcade.
As someone who works in business as a manager and merchandiser i see the problem here being mainly they dont know their audience, they dont have any young advisors/developers on the team with edge and they dont know how to play it safe when needed either.