This coming week will see the latest Star Wars content arrive for Zen Pinball as Rogue One finally gets the Pinball treatment. Much like the table content based on The Force Awakens, this is a single table DLC release. So how does it shape up?
Right away I really liked the look of this new table. It is relatively simplistic on the surface with just two areas to it, the main area and the top section. Visually it captures all the characters from Rogue One, as Jyn Erso adorns the bottom corner near the launcher as the evil Krennic stands menacingly at the top.
Unlike previous DLC table designs, I found this table to be very quick to learn in terms of combo triggers and mini game activation which allows a player to immediately get into the swing of things nicely. It removes the frustration of not knowing how to get the high scoring combos but provided enough of a challenge so that even earning the more easier scoring mini games require some effort to get started.
The mini games can be puzzling at first but soon it becomes clear how to use them. Favourites so far include the Tie Fighter shooting mini-game and attempting to hit the rebel soldiers for high scoring bonuses. The runs are easy to manage in terms of knowing where the ball is likely to recover from and this table certainly has less of the cheap ball losing aspects of previous tables.
Sadly much like The Force Awakens table, the Rogue One table does suffer from a lack of music and dialogue from the film itself. Whilst the sound effects and music are from the Star Wars films, they are from the original films and therefore at times it can feel almost like this is just a good Star Wars table that just happens to have a poster of Rogue One characters on it.
This is still an excellent and fun table to play though as a fan of Star Wars and of Rogue One. It has enough to draw a player in and reward them early on but has enough secrets to discover in order to get the high scoring aspects to the table going. It is a great addition to the other Star Wars themed tables now available.
It will certainly help to recite the now iconic Jedi prayer from Rogue One before attempting to get those high scores, “I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me”.
