03 May, 2016

Alien vs. Pinball by Zen

The new pinball by Zen Studios is a collection of three tables based on the movie "Alien" saga. Being a fan of the original movie and an admirer of Sigourney Weaver as Ripley I decided to give these pinballs a  try despite the fact that I cannot stand the other movie-based Zen collection, Star Wars. Well, Alien vs. Pinball is, to my taste, definitely better than Star Wars. On the other I am not sure I will ever become addicted to this pinball (like I do for the Pat Lawlor's creations).

The collection comprises three tables. Aliens is a direct reference to the movie with the same name.


A nice table, with few animations which manage to remain unobtrusive. And for once I let the sound on and did not regret it. (I like to play without sound the only exception being FunHouse, where I wouldn't, for the life of me, miss Rudy and his remarks).

The second table, Alien Isolation


is based on an Alien-based game that was released some time ago. Here the animations are a little bit more intrusive. This is the table that I liked the least.

The third table, Alien vs. Predator,


is the one I found most interesting. I have yet to reach the predator-vision mission, 


but I find the concept fascinating. Plus this table is more attractive overall and the ball does not drain that easily.

The Alien vs. Pinball collection has the same graphic perfection of all Zen pinballs (well, except the late-lamented Rollercoaster and Inferno) and, for once, the designers were not as heavy handed as usually when it came to animations. If you are a fan of the Alien tetralogy (or hexalogy, I admit that I'm losing count) you can invest safely in this pinball. The same is true if you are a fan of Zen pinballs. (As a general rule, I'm not).

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