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Venom - What am I not understanding?

Bikerjoy

Bikerjoy

Registered
Joined
Dec 23, 2023
Messages
21
Location
Sweden
Alias
JOY
So I have a grand total of 12 games on Venom at three different locations (3 on LE and 9 on Pro). Not nearly enough to explore and understand the game, especially not in noisy locations with tilt bobs set to "please don't touch me, I am fragile".

But what I have seen so far is a fun, fast paced, flowy game with innovative mechs. I especially like the "magazines" on the left and right ramps that further crank up the pace by feeding you the ball even quicker than it would normally get to you. It's a classic villan / superhero theme. I have NO idea about the rule set and depth in the game, I've basically just been flailing and staying alive so far.

Why all the hate? Why are LE's, Prem and Pro's in stock essentially everywhere you look? Why the low resale value listed on Pinside, why the relatively low ranking? What am I missing? It's and honest question, currently shopping around for my next pin, and Venom "on a deal" is a candidate for sure.

For those of you who have played it a bit more, gotten deeper into the progression. Your thoughts?
 
I think part of it is that you, as somebody on this forum and therefore probably pretty interested in pinball and likely an above average player, has played a dozen games and is still “flailing” (your word) with no idea of the rules.

I think the rules are explained very poorly by the game. I’ve played it a similar number of times to you and even though I read a rules summary beforehand, I still felt like I was in “shoot flashing shot” mode. I think the other cornerstones around it (Foo and Jaws) do a FAR better job of explaining themselves.

Other haters will say that quick locks aside, it’s a fairly unimaginative fan layout (I don’t particularly care), that the Pro is pretty bare (which it is), and that the theme is second tier (was Venom a theme that anybody was really waiting for?)

For what it’s worth I enjoyed my session playing it, but don’t like it half as much as Foo or Jaws.
 
Increased prices and saturated Market for new pins, also some older pins now taking longer to sell so buyers struggle to make space for new pins.

Plus also possibly just not a popular theme and Marvel already been done to death, Spiderman, Iron Man, Avengers, Avengers IQ, any others?
 
Venom to me is the most bang average machine I might have ever played. There's nothing necessarily wrong with it but nothing exactly great about it either.
 
Taxiturn said:
I think part of it is that you, as somebody on this forum and therefore probably pretty interested in pinball and likely an above average player, has played a dozen games and is still “flailing” (your word) with no idea of the rules.
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I'm Level 36 and I've watched a couple of YouTube videos and, to my knowledge, I haven't started one boss battle... 🤪

I've tried combo-ing the same coloured shots several times. I've tried combo-ing two timed yellow shots, two timed blue shots and two timed white shots. I've tried looking at the grid and trying to timed combo the exact colours of shot needed to get a vertical column leading to Lasher (the column seems to monocolour after you complete the first one). I've tried filling in the slots in that hexagonal grid of achievements that comes up from time-to-time (e.g. Riot Multiball) and that doesn't seem to do anything either. I've tried several different hosts, albeit on the Pro model, so maybe it's more obvious what to do on the Prem 🤷‍♂️

I've had whole series of multi balls, including two stacked multiballs, all in the same game, ticking off a bunch of achievements on Stern Insider (23/135, apparently). Heck, according to Stern Insider Connected, my highest score is better than 69% of logged-in players. And... STILL no idea how to battle a boss.

I haven't even started a boss battle BY ACCIDENT, which is normally a good way to figure out the features of a game...
 
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I found both Venom and John Wick underwhelming

I was pretty hyped about both and glad I never pulled the trigger on them
 
Epotech said:
Played it and it was OK. The video mode is terrible and I dislike barren playfields e.g. LZ, WPT, 24 etc. If all the game is in the code then its not for me.
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The video mode is... erm, retro.


Brought back memories, it did....

Unfortunately, not in a good way, because the controls/animations on that TMNT game were pants, which accounted for most of the difficulty!
 
I've played the pro but not enough to comment in a fair way on the gameplay.

What I will say about pinball hate in general a couple of vocal players will have played X game, hate it because it's rubbish according to them, the cause of a bad game might be early code, fixed at a later date, theme, expectations, the instance of playing as a tournament every game eg consistently high scores and various other factors.

The game doesn't sell well so no one actually plays it, it then becomes Gospel that it's crap.

There many instances over time viewpoints have changed and a game has been unfairly represented. I know Some people love venom others hate it.

The biggest issue is with the cost of games now and the number of releases across multiple manufacturers over a year why take a gamble on a game people are unsure about or dislike, save the money for guaranteed resale such as the rumoured back to the future.

For example I love Ghostbusters I know a few people who also love it, but if you read the forums you would think it's the worst game in existence because of flipper gap.(Which for me is an absolute non issue it's not noticeable like mm out) I will say with Ghostbusters the bigger issue is the draining caused by lanes and design from orbits, which would be fair comments./, but can be fixed with a mod.

So if you like venom played it for a bit, go for it. Just try for the premium the collective agreement with people who love the game is the pro just too different and missing key elements. (Basically bare)

If your looking for validation so the resale value remains high, unfortunately the vocal minority have spoken, it will for a time be a cheaper game. Maybe in the future if there's none of them and it turns out it's actually good then it might become expensive, just like stranger things, little sold in the UK, people thought it was crap, turned out it wasn't and now in demand 🤷‍♂️

Who knows if venom will become that.
 
I had zero interest when Venom was a rumoured title - the theme does nothing for me. I played the Pro shortly after it was released and that did nothing to change my mind. Then I played the LE and came to understand the rules. Loved it and bought a Premium. It's still my favourite Stern in quite some time.

I think the problem is that the rule structure is a bit different to most other pins, and it was poorly received on launch due to it being a less popular theme and a fan layout which people love to complain about. Then the Pro landed which is pretty underwhelming mechanically. By the time the LE / Premium showed up it's fate was sealed. As others have mentioned, once a few loud voices decide a pin is bad it tends to become a bit of an echo chamber / self fulfilling prophecy and people approach it expecting to dislike it.

@VeeMonroe - all you have to do to light a boss battle is pick a character and play their vertical stack of three mini modes on the grid. Ie hit the yellow shot, then hit the other yellow shot that appears. Then repeat for the two other colours. Once you have lit the three dots on the grid you can either hit the left ramp to switch characters to continue filling the grid, or hit the centre ramp to start the lit battle. I think you have to be level 10 to light the first battle but at level 36 this is all you need to do. You can even go for the skill shot option that spots one of the mini modes - so if you get three skill shots over three balls then the battle will be lit that way too.
 
JustLikeMe said:
@VeeMonroe - all you have to do to light a boss battle is pick a character and play their vertical stack of three mini modes on the grid. Ie hit the yellow shot, then hit the other yellow shot that appears. Then repeat for the two other colours. Once you have lit the three dots on the grid you can either hit the left ramp to switch characters to continue filling the grid, or hit the centre ramp to start the lit battle. I think you have to be level 10 to light the first battle but at level 36 this is all you need to do. You can even go for the skill shot option that spots one of the mini modes - so if you get three skill shots over three balls then the battle will be lit that way too.
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I thought that was what I was supposed to do, but it didn't seem to be working on the Pro I play in Funland. I selected Peter Parker as my character for the lit lock (IIRC). Then, I went for the u-loop blue shot (on the Pro), followed by the flashing blue scoop shot. One blue light goes solid on the right-hand side of the grid. Now, what seems to happen is either the entire vertical stack now goes blue flashing (?), but making additional blue shots doesn't seem to do anything except give me web multipliers. Or, I can make yellow centre ramp/yellow side ramp shots until I'm blue (or, yellow in this case) in the face, and it doesn't seem to turn the corresponding shot on the grid solid.

The last time I tried this, I was on about 178 million, and I kept shooting the yellow shots in sequence (while the timer was on), and nothing seemed to happen, and - eventually - I mentally threw in the towel and drained 🤷‍♂️

A previous game, I had three mini modes in a single game and - again - not much seemed to happen. I can pretty consistently nail the Secret Hideout skillshot on the Funland machine, but wasn't aware I could choose the benefit (?) - I get about 3.5 million each time.

I'm going to give it another try, next time I'm in Funland, but I am a bit baffled right now. I'm not sure I'll get another try when PBR reopens because I suspect the Venom Prem will be on permanent tournament mode, so I can't mess about with this unless I can get to Level 10 in a single game (unlikely, to say the least).
 
Insightful comments for sure! Thanks to you all! Generally in line with my suspicions, vocal "key opinion leaders" (for lack of a better word), complicated rule set and a weak theme. But as a shooter? Getting in the grove and stringing 5-6 combos on this game certainly gave me the tingles. Full price NIB is out of the question, either a deal from distro wanting to offload stock or used "at pinside prices" would be the only time I would pull the trigger.
 
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