ST is leaps and bounds a better game. TWD has an ok layout but a poorly implemented theme.

I am current with both the comic and TV series (kind of burning out on the former) and I am not making up the criticism of a poorly implemented theme on TWD just because I don't like the game.

If it was called Stern Pinball's Zombies, I wouldn't have much to say. But TWD is a franchise about the characters, and the pin lacks all of them. There are modes on the pin and dots/music with each, but without characters or voice calls (the actual actors or soundalikes) there is nothing to make you realize you're playing a Walking Dead pinball machine.

Stern has nailed theme integration on pretty much all their games, so TWD is kind of an anomoly. I expected a lot more from TWD.

There is also a lack of definition as to what exactly is going on. As I had a monster game on TWD and had multiple modes and multiballs going on at once, there was no recognition as to what I was accomplishing, just noise.

Games like BSD, Tron. X-men, SM and countless others have distinct call outs and sound effects to let you know what you're working toward when you stack modes. TWD is all generic noise and even after I earned the GC, there was no satisfaction as I had no damned idea as to what I had done or accomplished.

TWD feels like a phoned in game to me that has a cool theme that is horribly integrated and a mediocre layout. But apparently that is just me and my "made up criticism".