Marvel Pinball: Civil War Review

Marvel Pinball: Civil War is the latest pinball table from Zen Studios. If you're not a comic reader, the Civil War event was one of the biggest comic events in recent memory, pitting heroes against other heroes, pro-registration against anti-registration, as events led to the passing of the Super-human Registration Act, requiring the registration of all super-powered U.S. residents. There's more to the story than just that, but my memory is a bit fuzzy and if that little tidbit interests you, I'd recommend picking up the comics and reading them for yourself.

Anyway, the new Marvel table is themed around the Civil War event and the way the table starts is more interesting than anything else. Unlike other tables, Civil War starts with a multiball, which is meant to illustrate the tragedy at Stamford, CT, which inspired the SHRA. The points earned during the multiball will always be added to your regular score and your highest score is saved, so you can skip the multiball if you believe you can't get a higher score. It's a fun, different way to start a game of pinball and really fleshes out the story.

The story? Yeah, I know it's weird to see mentions of story when talking about a pinball game, but it's something Zen Studios does well and Civil War is one of their best story-driven tables to date. Each playthough starts with a choice: Iron Man or Captain America, pro-registration or anti-registration—which leads to slight variations in how the table is setup—and over the course of one playthrough, you attempt to recruit neutral heroes, making some aspects of the game easier if successful. In addition to the initial multiball and choosing between sides, a TV is setup in the back of the table and reports on different events as they happen, which is cool albeit a tad distracting. While Civil War does a great job with its story, the actual gameplay is a bit lacking.

The Civil War event was exciting, something that will be remembered for a long time; however, the table is not as exciting as I expected. There are some cool moments to be had—like a little slow-motion fighting between Captain America and Iron Man—and I do like the subtle differences when playing on Cap's side or Iron Man's side, but overall I found the table a tad stale. That's not to say the table is boring, but it could have been something really special; instead, it's just a solid table; a table you should definitely pick up if you're a pinball fan, but Marvel Pinball: Civil War just didn't blow me away like some of the past tables.

• Marvel Pinball: Civil War (XBLA)
  

Marvel Pinball: Civil War is available now on XBLA, PSN, iOS, Android, Vita*, and the Mac App Store. The XBLA/PSN/Vita/Mac versions are $2.99 and the iOS/Android versions are $1.99.

*(Cross Buy entitled for PS3 and Vita, so you can battle it out at home and on the go.)