Thor: God of Thunder Review (PS3)

BACKGROUND

Thor: God of Thunder PlayStation 3 game created out of the Kenneth Branagh (2011) film adaptation of the Marvel Comics graphic novel, combines third-person combat and exaggerated effects.  The Norse god of lighting battles strives using his iconic hammer, Mjölnir to save his home city of Asgard. Thor must fight enemies and gain Valor points to acquire new powers, upgrades, and weapons. Matt Fraction, Thor’s Eisner Award-winning writer and lead comic book author, acts as a story consultant. Chris Hemsworth, who also plays Thor in the film adaptation, voices the title role of the video game as well. The difference between Thor: God of Thunder and other superhero games is that, while some sets are taken from the movie, there are quite a few new and interesting levels that have been created strictly for the video game. The game stays true to the comic series, which is a bonus for the original graphic novel fans.

VISUAL and SOUND

The video game, reviewed on PlayStation3, is powered by the Unreal 3 engine and should allow for some impressive animations. However, I was disappointed to find the graphics are nothing special. Sound and graphics were not at the quality level I expected which add to an under-par video game. Sega should have spent more time on detail and tried to make Thor: God of Thunder a surprise hit in the gamer world.

GAME PLAY

Thor: God of Thunder initiates with the main character learning that his city is under attack. The game commences with new creatures to battle. At the end of every level, Thor must face a new boss character. He initiates battle by activating a grapple move and damaging its weak spots. On the D-pad, players change between three different types of magic: thunder, lighting, and wind. Each magic power works best against certain types of enemies and all three must be used during the end boss battles. Bosses become very tedious due to the controls. I found that with all of the move combinations that you have to remember these end showdowns can be more boring than anything else. It was fun at the outset defeating the enormous components, but after an hour of gameplay, the battle scenes become typical, the levels seem redundant, and the boss end battles are simply dreaded.