Taking it further, he declared that this is what solidified his GREAT rating. I should note that Oscar, normally the member of The Pinball Chick Team who whines about video modes, actually enjoyed Bubble Gum the most. In fact, all three of us quickly reached the point where we didn’t even take damage. Not only does it take forever, but none of the Vices EVER failed at it. In the main mode, you have to kill twenty aliens (8 in the first phase, 12 in the other). Aliens will pop-up in one of four stations, and you have to use the flippers to aim and the action button to fire three shots into each. One of the three main modes (Kick Ass and Chew Bubble Gum) is a glorified video mode that pays homage to the Duke Nukem franchise. Hey, if Zen wants pins to be less fun than they can be, I suppose that’s their god given right, even if I don’t get it. There was no rational or logical benefit from any design perspective for having it do this besides punishing players for wanting to play the table in the first place. The fact that the design specifically drops the ball into the highly lethal left slingshot is incredibly frustrating. It never comes out at the same speed or trajectory, and since the ball inevitably hits the slingshot, the probability that any returned ball could become unplayable is higher than any made shot should be. It’s treating a pinball return the same way a slob wads up trash like hamburger wrappers and casually throws them in the general vicinity of a garbage can, unbothered by whether or not they actually go in the can. And it returns at an angle where the ball sort of lobbed carelessly. Whenever the ball transfers from the bumpers to the main playfield, it goes through a hidden habitrail before exiting out underneath the DAMN ramp. ![]() With the exception of Dash, the main issue we all took with Duke was the ball return. ![]() Lighting the D-A-M-N letters off the right ramp and shooting the toilet scoop starts modes, but you’re given so much freedom to explore the layout that it never really feels as if you’re being queued into the modes. The Cinema shot is low-yielding as its own thing and has a mini-mode attached, but we were mostly using it as a dumper to safely gain control of wild balls. Unique among Zen’s pins is that Duke Nukem has no traditional driver. So, I’m just going to focus on the pinball stuff. It’s a fitting tribute to Duke Nukem 3D and if you’re a big fan, what’s here should be authentic enough that you’ll feel at home. From the theme integration to the call outs to the modes: this could be a legitimate stand-alone Duke Nukem release and it’s unlikely any fan of the series wouldn’t believe it. Jordi, also familiar with Duke Nukem, agreed. In other words, he could believe that this was an official release by Duke’s creators. He both enjoyed the pinball layout Grego Ezsias and the team at Zen Studios created AND he also believes that Duke Nukem’s Big Shot Pinball canonically fits alongside the rest of the franchise. So, we all deferred to Dash, our resident Duke Nukem fanboy. Having been squirted into the world in 1989, I was born at the wrong time to really care about the IP. ![]() Taking it further, Oscar and Angela have no experience at all with the games (Dad might have played 3D at some point but only briefly). That doesn’t mean we’re against the franchise. ![]() Right off the bat, I need to inform you, my beloved reader, that none of the Vice Family are Duke Nukem fans. I’ll do it: “I’m an equal opportunity ass kicker.” Now just repeat that every time the ball touches something.
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