What’s this? Another pinball table has blasted a “portal” to the world depicted by Zen Studios. Known as the Portal add-on, this one here follows from the Valve title of the same name. With this being now available for purchased for $2.99, let’s see how this one turns out for Zen Pinball 2 for the Playstation 3 and Vita.
First off, the table is as impressive as the other add-ons offered. There are animations of Chell and Wheatley for some interactivity as well as multi-ball sessions which keep the overall game lively. Additionally, you have the main layer that has your typical stuff like ramps, flippers and bumpers. But there are hidden treasures to be unveiled as you progress further. Specifically, there’s actually a second table inside the main one.  Furthermore, there are elements of humor incorporated given that you are a fan and therefore familiar with its inside jokes.
What sends this add-on out of this world is the featured portal that actually transports the ball through space and time. This keeps in line with the spirit of the original Valve game. Even so, you can engage in a boss battle against GLADOS which is quite fun and entertaining, though it requires lots of time and effort to reach this point and reign victorious from this battle.
However, there is one notable mishap for this add-on, in particular, the text size. While it’s not going to make or break the game, the small size of the text does make it difficult to read when playing on the big screen and therefore you can potentially miss out on knowing how far you are from beating your high score. Other than that, it’s a mishap that players may not necessarily care for. Granted, if you were playing on the Vita screen, this won’t be an issue in the first place.
In terms of presentation, this Portal add-on looks mighty good and colorful. The details are quite intricate while the visual effects are astounding. Essentially, the overall appearance manages to keep in the spirit of Valve’s memorable game. On top of that, the table also implements sound effects straight from that game. So there’s a lot to appreciate here.
Ultimately, Zen Pinball 2’s Portal add-on consists of a wonderful and memorable table with loads of fun and challenges. It would be interesting to see more of Valve’s work enter into Zen Studios pinball field. But for now, for a single price of $2.99, you can get all versions for the PS3, PS4 and Vita, so you can’t go wrong here.
