This is my first owner Pin and was a gift! Being an avid pinball player in my younger years this was by far one of the best gifts! Not particularly my first pick, but it has become a favorite. The speed of this pin is awesome! The new challenges being continuously released draws me back to the game. I was a fan of the Spiderman comics as a kid and the design and artwork are phenomenal. With all the characters and different player modes they make you feel like you’re playing a different pin every time. The artwork is nostalgic, but also has a new age vibe. The LE spider doppelgänger and moveable ramp give the game its edge! These options are a must for this game and really take the game to the next level. I love the ball locks and being able to pick your multi-ball. This makes it easier for novice players, but also makes the experienced players work for the 6 ball drop. The scream mode is a great addition and solidifies the new pinball generation with video game incorporation. Overall love the game and think it provides a great contrast to other pins making it worth to put in anyone’s collection.

v1.00 review
All in all, the team crushed it. This game is quickly climbing up to one of my all time favorites. So fast, so fun. Very underrated dark horse of a gem.

Sound Package: each host has their own sound track, sound tracks are very good quality - Wolverine is my favorite followed by Gwenom. Call outs are top notch and well done with some really nicely done choreography.
Art Package: It’s Zombie Yeti, everything he does is outstanding. But, Venom has to be in his top 3.
Rules: Dwight nailed it. Tons of breadth; lots of different scoring strategies, and lots of different ways to play. This could very well be his best ruleset to date.
Code: Code team was on it. They squashed bugs as quick as they appeared.
Layout/Design: This game needs to be in the conversation of Bryan Eddy’s top 3 designs. I don’t mind fan layouts, and I’m not a big fan of bash toys. So take away a bash toy and replace it with loops, ramps, and flow? win win! Absolutely love switching up the flow of the game based on the host. I love fast speed and combos with peter; chaos with Gwen, controlled flow with Brock, and controlled cradle play with Agent Flash.
Animations and display: while I think the display dashboard can give the player a little more info on progress; the overall animations and choreography are very well done.
X-Factor: Fun factor and one more game feeling. This game has me coming back over and over. Whether it’s just to play the speed and combos of the layout, or to try different ways of battling bosses or progressing through gameplay.

Final thoughts:
There are a bunch of ways to play Venom, to name a few - The most common is saved progression and battling bosses. But playing it like a traditional pin is more fun and challenging. There is also impossible mode with and without saved progression.

one more superstar for Stern pinball.....

I've owned 50+ pins now, and played all pins in the "top 100" here.

Venom is criminally underrated.

I can understand why some people don't like it, in fact, when I got it initially I was like "ugh"...because honestly, it's biggest issue is by itself the shot layout is not the most impressive... and it's pinball, so it's important... however....

The game is insanely addictive. I'm not sure if it's the speed, the rules, the building up of characters... truly, it is hopefully the start of something big and that's merging video game and pinball together.

I have never had a game where I want to chase achievements like this. They are all so close, yet so far away. I can't describe the pain of trying to get the "beat Knull level 40 and under" to beat him at level 42.... or win the game in under an hour and finally beat it... in 1h 1 minute (YES, this happened!). Painful, but it left me with a smile on my face and the desire to re-do it all again, and hope for better luck this time...

I won't go into the mechanics, I'll leave that for other reviews but say:

-If you like Xbox, PS5 trophies and chasing them, you should like this game.
-If you like building characters, you should like this game.
-If you like complex strategy you should like this game.
-If you like super hero themes, it might be the best one.
-If you like killer fast games, you should like this game.

-If you don't learn rules to pinballs, you WILL NOT like this game. This game you absolutely 100% need to know the rules. Maybe moreso than any other game.
-If you don't care about achievements, for this game you will be missing out as chasing them is tremendously fun (and this is the first game I can honestly say I'm obsessed with chasing them!)
-If you are a purist and find newer pinball too complex, you might not like this game.

Also, this is Yeti's best art package (arguably Ghostbusters...but at worst top 2). Just a beautiful game. And the LE side armor and inside art blades are sick.

I've put 400 games on mine so far and I can legit see another 1000 or more before I start to think about moving on.

Edit: Forgot about all the modes besides the achievements, like impossible mode, team modes, co-op modes, 1 vs 3, etc, etc. So, so much to do. Impossible mode is a blast and hilarious watching people get upset playing.

Had no interest in Venom when it was released, played a Pro on location and it did nothing for me. Bumped into a premium and played a couple games with my son, we had a blast. Totally different experience. I was lucky enough to find an LE for cheap and jumped on it. Month later and we're still loving the pin at home. Great flow w/ a soundtrack that doesn't get old or too repetitive. Rules are great...not too easy, not too hard. Ignore the bad rep it received on release, go play a premium or LE if you can find one!

A lot of people dog on this game, but I personally really enjoy the fan layout and the fact that the rules are easily understood. The ability to keep building your level is helpful for us non-superstar players. It has a good amount of toys and diverters, which keeps the game interesting and the ball lock mechanisms keep the speed up on this game.

When it came out, the game didn't appeal to me at all. Then while watching some videos, I realized that pinball could be good. I ended up buying it, and now I can tell him: this is a completely innovative pinball machine, very satisfying, very fun, with an incredible flow: neither too fast like the Ninja Turtle, nor too slow . For me this pinball machine is like no other. The limited version is impressively beautiful.

I really enjoy this game. Fantastic art, great theme, awesome toys, and cool ruleset with online RPG aspects. Overall a fantastic game!

Ok, have had this Venom since it came out. First machine to buy for home? No. To add to a line up of EM’s 80’s, 90’s and moderns then I say yes. It’s a game that is super fast and gets you on high alert. Quick and frustrating, but also very rewarding once you get into a rhythm. Not the game you want to play if you’re in a Simpsons Pinball Party mood.

Out of the box I was bricking everything and was calling it. But after flipper angle adjustment (like Deadpool angles), pitch adjustments (7 deg or so) it is a super exciting game. Having the progress mode via IC is necessary and very neat option for pinball. Now my college age kiddo loves this machine because of the fast pace rapid fire video game shoot em up type of feel. Get the bad guy and fight him type of pinball.

Cabinet, playfield and artwork are stunning. The music is spot on mix of heavy rock and modern. Theme is good but definitely to a comic book audience. Fun is there for sure! Put it this way it will definitely improve your pinball skill having this bad boy in your collection!

first 100 games played; i am very surprised. absolutely not my theme, but the game is really great. i understand why some guys rated a 10. game is very different to previous stern games. this is more an adrenalin game; fast& furious. main ruleset is understandable; but a lot of surprises inclusive. i think this game is for fans of FF, Rush,... what means, not a big adventure like GZ or JP; but very great shots, fast (but not drainy), and very flowy; and actually(!), very deep ruleset; for me nearly a little bit too deep;) but i love it!

Have owned my Venom LE for about 6 months, put 200 plays on it...Ready to rate it.

This game is a gem, more of an adrenaline rush than my other favorite Stern of the last 15 years (STh).

A flow monster, One more game type of beast...This game doesn't let up, so much fun to shoot, so deep with the selectable characters and unique usage of the action button...Feels so good to shoot, almost every shot is satisfying and when you reach Zen in multiball mode, it's simply divine.

A++++ Game from Mr Eddy

Just trying to balance the rating since the LE buyers are all just trying to raise the rating of the game with fake reviews! :D

Very cool game, just not the theme for me.

Questo titolo rappresenta una svolta nel mondo del flipper.prima di provarlo l avevo snobbato per il fan layout ma appena ci ho messo le mani sopra ho capito che mi sbagliavo.gli do un 10 perché penso che non meriti assolutamente la pioggia di critiche che sta ricevendo.prima di giudicarlo provatelo e vi renderete conto che questa macchina fa sembrare tutto il resto obsoleto.una ventata d aria fresca.
Per intenderci i miei Jp,godzilla e maiden sono inarrivabili e non scambierei mai uno di questi per venom ma di sicuro quest ultimo è diventato uno dei seri candidati ad affiancare i tre di elwin.

Owned Venom LE since day 1 and it’s still one of my go to games. Love the games progression and rule set. The added features with insider connected and unlocking new hero’s is very fun. This is an underrated game that is going to get more attention in the future. Great game.

Pop bumpers have 0% integration.

I had low expectations of this game prior to playing the premium last November. Once I started a game with my insider connected profile, I began to have a growing interest in the xp system and game rules. The flow of this game is surprisingly fast and smooth. Zombie Yeti's artwork looks fantastic throughout. I really like how changing the character alters the physical gameplay. The carnage and bell tower shots are surprisingly addictive. Many people seem unhappy with the static graphics but, to me... it's like an interactive comic book; and it matches the theme well. There's a lot to love with Venom. My LE is likely bolted.

I do not understand the negativity around this title. Price, IC Connect progress save, and "Another Marvel Title" & "Bare Playfield" seem to be the buzzwords that people are using when casting shade at Venom.
This game is really unique. At first glance, it looks like they cheaped out and skipped modes. Instead, the player has to make 2 shots to complete what they refer to as "a mode", and only 3 modes (so a minimum of 6 shots) to get to a boss fight. From each game start after you get to level 10!. But once you've played the game and understand what's going on, this simple rule design is really quite genius. It means you're spending more time in boss battles. Difficult boss battles! With multiple stages. and a great sense of accomplishment when you finally beat any of them. And fortunately, if they're too hard, well keep practicing. Because not only should you start to make your shots more consistently, but as you level up, you're doing more damage, etc.
This game is an adrenaline pumping, terminal velocity fast paced, often devastatingly good time.
It's not a title that you will approach on location, hit the start button, and appreciate. And so the masses who have not understood it have ripped it to shreds, ratings wise.
Their loss.

The LE is just a touch better. If money is no object... The art is great, and I love the asymmetrical side decals. This game also benefits from the shaker particularly in Bloodlust. Since the art and sound package are so great, having slightly better aesthetics is awesome, even though my wallet said Premium. People are sleeping on this game...

The only reason I don't give the Premium or LE max on the backglass as Venom looks better on the pro translite. An LE package with an alternate translite gets a full 10/10 on art presentation.

Owned for a couple of months on code version 0.96

First Impressions:
What an amazing backglass and cabinet - Zombie Yeti does it again this thing is a work of art, it's beautiful. The playfield is equally good - colour just pops everywhere. The side armour and powdercoat set the look off perfectly. Great job. Hitting start, you are treated to some awesome Tremonti music (for Eddie Brock), but cycling through the hosts completely changes the music style/package, and each one is superb - excellent stuff. It also changes the game (as we all know by now) and watching the central tower mech move and a couple of the diverters flick as you switch hosts is pretty cool. However I can't help thinking they could have done a tiny bit more with this idea. Initially flipping the game, the fast locks are amazing and keep the action non stop. I don't know why but this game with its relentless action reminds me of another Brian Eddy game - The Shadow.

Gameplay:
It's quite fast - the ramp shots and orbits whip around every smoothly but the fast locks keep everything going non stop. Hit a scoop - don't take a breather because as soon as you do the fast locks fire another ball to the flippers. It's a really nice system and makes this game feel like no other Stern. If I play this game for 30 minutes and then go to any other game in my collection, it feels slow and kind of dull, even something pretty fast playing like Rick and Morty. Shots themselves are quite satisfying, my favourite being the morphing, vertical ramp shot in the middle of the playfield which makes a lovely satisfying "thunk" sound as the ball gets fired into it. It's possible to combo a lot on this game without too much practise, but strangely enough it's still quite difficult and the outlanes can be brutal.

The sounds and animations are lively, energetic and fit the overall feel of the game very well, and the music/callouts are great.

Rules:
Possibly one of my favourite games for rules and code? Maybe it's early days but the saved progress using IC is IMO the way forward for pinball. Most people will never see a wizard mode on any game, and a lot of the code will go unnoticed - but this gives you a chance to beat the main bad guy by levelling up and saving progress. You also get speed run challenges and unlock more characters as rewards for getting through and beating Knull. There is still a further wizard mode that you can only beat by completing all objectives in a single game, which means there is still something to play for after you've beaten Knull. Most impressive is that they've made it a perfectly good game without using the saved progression at all, and if you don't use IC it plays just as well as any other game from square 1 each time. The structure is also a little different, yes there are battles but it's not really a mode based game, it's based on combos (called mini modes), and completing the combos advances towards the sub/main bosses.

Of course there are still other things to complete. Carnage and Mayhem multiballs, a new host specific (Gwenom) Doppelganger multiball, host hurry up, Bloodlust, Doppelganger Rampage, Toxen Teamup mini wizard and more. There's a lot to do on here.

Negatives:
Nothing huge to speak of at this stage besides some very minor gripes. The playfield IS very open because everything is stuffed at the top and sides - giving the illusion there's not much to the game (but this makes all the shots quite far away and I like that). The code has a couple of nuances that make progression a bit too easy such as being able to defeat the mini bosses by getting multiball super jackpots - not really a fan of that, I prefer to play the battles rather than have them awarded by some other method. It would also be much better if the unlocked characters had their own music package. In the current code, they just mimic one of the other original hosts which makes it seem a little copy/paste-ish.

Overall - a fast, furious, flowy game that's really a blast to play. Really pleasantly surprised by this one I know it has it's haters, but I'm actually enjoying it more than a lot of the other recent Stern releases. Hopefully it has the lastability to hold my interest for home use - still love it now but only time will tell.

I own an LE and I have amassed 1,100+ plays and over 20+ Knull defeats in 3 months. That alone should tell you it’s an addictive, fun, fast, and ultra stimulating game. Set aside the boss battles and you will discover the layers of modes buried in Carnage multi-ball, Toxin Team-Up, all of the Host Hurry-Ups, etc. The code is still early, but there is so much to shoot for. In addition, my 9 and 12 year old kids love it and can feel accomplished with the ease of getting the multi-balls and achievements. Great game and highly recommend.

I enjoy this game a lot, it’s very different from the others in my collection. I’m not a great player and I find the fact that the game is almost all hurry up combos to be fun and challenging. Leveling makes it possible for someone with my skills to see it though Knull though it’s not easy and you definitely want to keep playing. The changing playfield/music makes the characters interesting. The backglass and overall artwork are beautiful.

Nhill

Reviewed after defeating Knull 5 times. I don't think the team has found the right balance between single game fun and multi-game progress. Once I unlocked all the characters my motivation to play went down significantly. Right orbit rejects cause gameplay problems which I hope they solve via software update. I don't find the mech that changes the playfield to be exciting enough to justify it's cost/inclusion in the game. Probably a game best suited for die hard Marvel fans.

I pretty much ignored Venom on release because of Sterns pricing and the initial reactions of "it's just another fan layout". But I kept thinking about how much I love Mark Tremonti music, Brian Eddy layouts, Zombie Yeti art, the marvel universe, dark/scary pins, the "leveling up" concept, etc. I had a feeling I would own one someday - and when prices took a dip on the secondary market, I couldn't resist and bought one having never watched any videos or playing a single game on one.

After receiving my game but before playing, I thought the artwork was fantastic but the layout did look like a simple fan with a lot of narrow shots. My expectations weren't very high. After firing it up, I hit the adjust volume button and a snippet of a tasty metal riff played. At that point, I thought "ok - killer art, killer music - maybe this one hangs around for a while just based on those two factors.

And then I played a game...and was blown away by how well it shoots. The shots are easier to make than they appear and the staged balls on the ramps make this game super fast. The flow feels really good - like old Eddy games MM/AFM kind of flow, but faster because of the locks. The music is incredible of course and the theme integration is top notch. The "leveling" code is unique and creates that "one more game" feeling.

I look forward to getting deeper into the game and the upcoming boss fights. Venom is the hidden gem of newer games and will stay in my collection a long time.