Marvel has a long history of influence, from graphical novels to movies. This has created many fans of the franchise. Zen Studios has apparently decided to become a part of this influence by featuring Marvel superheroes with its Marvel Pinball game released in December of 2010. Their latest add-on, called Vengeance and Virtue, has four extra tables aiming to bring some “marvelous†gameplay and enjoyment. It is already available for your pinball pleasures on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 as a downloadable content. But how will this latest addition turn out and should fans buy it? We’ll be looking at each of the four tables to explore this very question.
First off, there’s Ghost Rider where a shotgun can be used to aim and shoot at targets. Wait a minute. Isn’t this a pinball game we’re talking about here? Why absolutely! The table is laid out with a ramp in the middle which is obstructed by a motorcycle wheel. You have a devil on the left side as well as this shotgun. The Ghost Rider table actually looks mighty impressive with its theme of hell and fire. As for the gameplay, it can be confusing to find out where your ball is. But the moments of using the shotgun to fire at targets was fun.
The second table, Thor, is kind of the polar opposite of Ghost Rider. You have the gods as the theme with half of the layout to be ice and the other to be fire. In this table, you must defend Asgard against Loki, Surtur, and Ymir, who are all Thor’s nemesis. You start missions by hitting the targets in the middle with the ball to spell “Uru.†This well bring up the rainbow bridge where you must direct your ball at to commence your mission. The graphics and special effects are awesome if you watch Thor mash his hammer down to bring out the lightning. Prepare to have quick reflexes as the speed is very fast.
Next, you have Moon Knight where the table is made up of inter-crossing ramps all throughout. Here, you have the Moon Knight’s ship flying in space as the cutscene. Your objectives are to attack his enemies by aiming at the designated targets, which can be difficult to do because of their locations. In some occasions, hitting the flashing ramps will affect your enemies’ health while hitting the normal ramps will affect your own. This is an interesting and unique approach to incorporating a battle in a pinball game. There’s a lot of silver in the color design, giving this table a sleek look.
Lastly, you have the X-Men with the table looking mighty colorful and bright. There’s a nice picture of the X-Men in the centre while an animated Professor X chills in the bottom-right corner. The music gives a nice, dynamic touch to an already sweet-looking table. To activate missions, you must get the ball to reach the ramps that each represents an X-men member. Some of these include fighting against Magneto and getting Cyclops to free Jean Grey. It can actually be hard to determine what you’re supposed to hit during a mission. This can be very frustrating when you have to constantly search for the targets but at the same time, you need to keep track of the ball which is already going at a fast pace. Yet, this is still one of the best looking table in my opinion, probably because I’m such an X-Men fan!
It’s hard to believe from the description about the four tables featured in the Vengeance and Virtue add-on that we’re still talking about a pinball game here. But what’s not hard to believe is that you get a very good value for $9.99 from the Playstation Store and 800 Microsoft Points in the Xbox Marketplace. It really showcases the pinball’s visuals and heightens the gameplay to another level of excitement. Marvel fans, don’t miss out on this “virtuous†add-on!
