Boston, MA
Quoted from Crile1:For those who are picking WOZ, is it the ruleset? Put about 10 plays on it this weekend and seemed like the only two shots I kept hitting were the ramps to left upper and right upper playfield. Felt repetitive. Does the game ever, "open up"?
First, I've owned both. WOZ for about 2 years, and LOTR for around 5 years so far (2 different copies). I picked LOTR. However, WOZ is an amazing game too.
WOZ definitely opens up. Keith did an amazing thing in there, he made a ruleset that works for "just keeping the ball in play", that also works for pinball experts. The main multiball can be attained by just bouncing the ball around and shooting the ramp. So noobs get the excitement, the lights, the sounds, all kinds of good stuff. So they are entertained and have fun. But then a good player steps up to it, and it is a monster of strategy. All of a sudden WHEN to shoot that ramp is important. Because Emerald City Multiball isn't the goal, it is there to help you get farther in RESCUE Multiball because it is now a callable ball saver on the ramp.
But that is just a tiny example. Flailing will get you a crystal ball mode when you really don't want it. The color of those ball targets is critical as you start those because fireball is impossible with lights on or lights off. Everything can be stacked, and some stacks help while others kill your chances for a good game. WOZ has layers and layers of strategy. And one of the most informative displays ever made. You always know where you are with a glance at the main screen. And if you're not used to all the information like that, the maps in the status will show you exactly what's left. Yeah, it opens up quite a bit.
So why did I pick LOTR? Oh, best game ever made.
