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Four new tables, four new reasons to beat baddies senseless with a silver orb. More balls saved than Stan Lee could ever imagine after the jump.
Behold, deja’ vu. Almost a year to the date, Zen Studios unleashed it’s ‘Marvel Pinball’ upon us, a surprisingly terrific marriage between the comic book franchise and what I deemed the ‘Zen Pinball 2.0’ engine. Two more tables (Captain American and Fantastic Four) bridged the gap between then and now, with ‘now’ being the ‘Vengeance and Virtue’ downloadable content (DLC) pack.
Related, it’s safe at this stage to declare PlayStation Plus the gateway drug to DLC, as once more the good folks at Sony provide us a core engine ‘freebie’ to build onto via add-on content. Such is the case with Vengeance and Virtue, where the core Marvel Pinball engine is a non-gratis, Christmas stocking stuffer, all accompanying tables priced to clear. Single tables a bargain bin $1.50, Vengeance and Virtue – and its four tables – the same $10 of the original (now free). For those math inclined among us, yes, you’re saving a whopping $2 versus the price of individual tables. Unlike the pillows at my local department store more expensive in pairs versus solo purchase, this does equate to a small pricing victory.
Echoing its namesake, Vengeance and Virtue is a bit hit and miss with its tables, with the more obscure again surprisingly the best of the lot. It also suffers from the same maladies of the original Marvel Pinball, ones I’ve chalked up to a reality of the Zen Pinball engine.
To elaborate, Vengeance and Virtue consists of X-Men, Thor, Ghost Rider and Moon Night tables, respectively. In broken logic – and kudos in hand to the obscure ‘Blade’ table of the original – Moon Knight is the arguable show stopper here, the most immersive and intuitively laid out of the lot. Ghost Rider features perhaps the best pinball feel of the four, with the most logical ramp placements and game play challenges. X-Men has simply too much going on in a highlighter-colored mess, Thor devoid of substance but not stupid dialogue.
Moreover, my nagging criticism of the original Zen Pinball engine persists, in specific the always off physics where ball hits flippers on too heavy an angle and impact. Instead of flipper touch, Marvell Pinball features an omnipresent struggle to keep the ball afloat versus skillful manipulation.
Once more, Marvel remains a vast improvement over the original Zen Pinball, one seemingly hell bent on middle of the table, ball suicide. Still – and in attempt to explain this game’s physics - I can’t help but picture a group of mobsters attaching a giant stone to the Zen Pinball, hell-bent on it sleeping with the fishes via constant slightly downward tug. I never figured Thor for a wise guy.
The over-simplistic, big question – with Marvel Pinball now free for a limited time - is whether Vengeance and Virtue justifies $10 of your holiday cash. The answer might be a bit surprising, as it likely depends on how many buddies you have willing to buy it in tandem. Marvell Pinball rewards players with PSN friends that tackle tables either solo or together. Higher score raise individual and group hero bonuses, and with it, incentive to play further.
For existing owners of Marvel Pinball sans a slew of pinballing friends – and with apologies to previous pillow analogy – it may behoove them to snare discounted individual tables (once more critically acclaimed) than this mixed lot of four. Vengeance and Virtue is certainly a decent bit of DLC, but not a must-have by any means.
Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue draws direct comparisons to its original, a solid engine comprising four tables of various quality. Those with oodles of pinballing friends might be drawn to additional hero bonuses inherent. Solo players, however, might be content with individual, alternate table purchases.
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A couple of table stinkers
- Not much new here
- Same physics flaws of the original
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| Quote: "Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue draws direct comparisons to its original, a solid engine comprising four tables of various quality." |
Reviewed by Paul Stuart | 12.21.11 |
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Similar Reviews: Marvel Pinball (8.9)
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