I had the opportunity last night to play about 10-15 games on a WOZECLE running 1.14. Overall I had a great time with the game. The main thing that stuck out to me is that there's so much to do in this game. I know the code isn't complete but it's cool seeing just how many possible shots are in the game. I'll admit that when I played the game earlier this year (prototype) I was skeptical of the rollover targets on the playfield. However, after seeing how the game is developing I think the rollover targets are actually pretty cool and offer something new to the player in terms of what to aim for. Flow wise I think the game flows well and this is coming from someone that own's an ACDC Premium. The main ramp shot is similar to TZ but as someone who own's that game I say that's where the the similarities end shot wise. There are tough shots in this game but they are rewarding ones especially if you can combo and can result in fast gameplay.
I've watched a couple 1.14 videos and was anxious to try out the spinning house with the latest code. For some reason hitting the loop continuously on the upper right mini playfield doesn't seem that hard while watching a video but in person I found it to be fast and a good challenge. It does take some work to qualify the twister (spinning house) so I also found it nice that the game offers the player a second chance (shoot to "twist again") to access it if they drain quickly on the twister mini playfield.
I was able to qualify for Emerald City multiball a few times and found the MB to be a lot of fun. I recently sold an HUO LOTR (awesome game, one of my favorites) to order a WOZECLE but only did so as this game has similar depth elements to it in my opinion. EC MB has numerous steps a player must go through to progress though the multiball which in the end made it feel similar to other great MB's such as Fellowship of the Ring MB. While I was able to get to the upper left mini playfield I was unable to get Rescue multiball. Personally I think that the upper left mini playfield is now my new favorite mini playfield. Besides the Winged Monkey toy bringing your ball up it has a lockable feature, loop shot, 6 targets, the castle door and of course the shot inside...all in a mini playfield! Two of my other favorite features include the State Fair and Toto mini games. In other games (unless there's a kickback) the outlanes are just outlanes but in WOZ there still important to gameplay which is pretty darn cool.
The attention to quality in the game is great and you can really see just by the feel of the game how much work went into. I know it's been said before but this game just look's beautiful and is built like a tank. Like I said at the beginning the game just has so much for the player to do and this is with the game not even being complete code wise. I found the LCD to be helpful in a complex game such as WOZ by providing all relevant information to the player while at the same time producing some very nice high res animations. I did have a couple issues with the sound going out on the game once but JJP is on top of it and I'm sure a software update will be out soon. I wish that the GI lightning was brighter but I heard that will be an adjustable feature in time. Overall this game is shaping up nicely and I look forward to seeing how it continues to develop overtime. Once I receive my game I'll be sure to post a gameplay video or two as the code continues to progress.