Published by: Sega
Developed by: Sega
Release Date: 05/03/2011
Available on: Xbox 360, DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS
INTRO: You know what? I’m a chump. Each and every single time a movie comes out and I catch wind of a video game adaptation, I always get excited about it. I’m a jilted lover- I know that it’s going to treat me poorly, but I hold out hope that it might buy my flowers and make me feel like a real girl. Needless to say, we’ve got Thor: God of Thunder on our hands, based on the (surprisingly good) Marvel film of the same name that just landed in theaters. Sega is responsible for this, much like they were responsible for the “let’s not talk about those” Iron Man movie tie-in games.
If you’re interested, here’s the official description: Thor: The Video Game will take players through a spectacular, epic-scale original third-person adventure for which Matt Fraction, the Eisner Award-winning writer and lead Thor comic book author served as story consultant. In the game, Thor battles through the numerous worlds of Norse mythology that span realms ranging from primal worlds of fire and ice to extraordinary planets inhabited by Frost Giants and Trolls to save Asgard, the capital city of the Norse Gods. Thor must overcome monstrous foes lifted from the pages of the comics including Ulik, Ymir, and Surtur, as well as other monstrous denizens. Players will wield the iconic Mjolnir, Thor’s legendary hammer, to fight enemies on an immense scale while controlling the elemental storm powers of lightning, thunder, and wind to vanquish enemies. As Thor earns Valor points through his exploits, players can acquire new abilities, powers, and weapon upgrades.
GAMEPLAY:
If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t worry about it. This game doesn’t really ruin anything for you and serves mostly as a prequel so that you can see the film afterwards. You’re deeply immersed in the Thor mythos as you start the game in Asgard, trying to wipe out the entire population of the Jotun by blazing through Jotunheim with Loki.
The combat here is relatively disappointing. You’ve got standard stuff to start and then as you go along you earn points to assign to abilities. You have one button for melee, one button for lightning and wind power, one for hammer tossing and one for dodging. There’s also the Odin force meter, which lets you bring a big lightning storm down on foes once you build it up. To be fair, the abilities you can gain are pretty varied and powerful but they aren’t exactly easy to use. The game controls slowly and is fairly unresponsive. Trying to block while mid-combo can be really frustrating.
The main problem with the combat is that it simply isn’t very fun, and you’ll find yourself spamming the same attack ad nauseum. You never truly feel like you’re handling the badass weapon of the thunder god- it just feels like a handy attack you have. This is certainly not God of War- this isn’t even Wolverine for that matter. The bosses are huge which is cool but the collision detection is bad, and most bosses require grapples to be defeated. Get ready for frustration when you’ve got the boss where you want him and you whiff on another grapple.
This is really agonizing. For variety’s sake, there are a few puzzles and platforming sequences thrown in. These sequences really suck. The camera is poorly placed, the jumping is terrible and everything feels tedious. The puzzles are repetitive and poorly slotted in, and even the flying sequences feel tacked on. Fun, this ain’t.
Gameplay: 4.5/10
GRAPHICS:
This isn’t’ a pretty game either. The environments are bland, the lightning effects are weak sauce, the character models are ugly (the cut-scenes are just awful), and there’s all kinds of glitches and bugs to make the game look really weird. I’m sure if you hit up Youtube, you could find some hilarious graphical clichés. It isn’t nice. I know I mentioned it before, but the camera is a huge source of anger- it spins all over the place.
Graphics: 5/10
AUDIO:
Sound’s the best thing about the game. Although the music is somewhat bland and forgettable, the voice acting is decent and Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston do reprise their roles from the film.
Audio: 6/10
FINAL VERDICT:
There’s a lot to do with Thor- his world is huge. No one expected perfection, but is it too much to ask for enough to have at least a quick, fun weekend rental from this game? Believe me when I tell you, this is a disappointing, frustrating and glitchy game that feels like it was rushed to the shelves. Avoid it. Insert a Thor hammer pun here. But hey, if it’s of any consolation, I hear the DS game is great…
Final Score: 5/10