When the thunder rolls there can only be one cause: Thor.
Developer: Red Fly Studio
Publisher: SEGA
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Score: 2.1/ 5
As he is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes (falling second to Wolverine, of course), I was highly anticipating the release of Thor: God of Thunder for the Nintendo 3DS. Unfortunately I was left wanting more rain and less thunder.
Upon loading the game you are given a couple of different choices: profile, options, and credits. As you may know by now I ALWAYS adjust the options before playing any game. After adjusting the options to your liking you are ready to wield the iconic Mjölnir, Thor’s mighty hammer.
Once you start the game you are given a little back story of Asgard and the All Father Odin, but immediately I found the art work to be lacking. The 3D effect of the game adds a little help to the art work, but I myself was not too impressed with the cartoony comic-book-scene feel of the dialogue. You will find yourself watching a lot of cut scenes, so be warned.
After the opening cinematics, it’s finally time to swing your hammer and break things. As you begin your first mission you are given some popup screen tips on how to perform special abilities with Mjölnir, however I didn’t find this very useful until later in the game. In short, the first mission is easy regardless of the difficulty level you are playing. Swing Mjölnir wildly and bash the enemies.
As you make your way through many realms found in Norse mythology, you are faced with tougher enemies which require a special move to smash them into defeat, and mini bosses about half way through each stage. Along with the mini bosses each stage of the game has a final boss fight, which does increase in difficulty as you progress through the story mode but it’s nothing the mighty Thor can’t handle.
I am a sucker for long story modes, unfortunately this game doesn’t provide that. It contains more dialog than necessary for my tastes along with too many cut scenes, especially for a game that has the feel of a bash and smash game. The game is also pretty short. I clocked in at about 3 hours from start to finish. It does offer a few extras though, such as finding new costumes for Thor to wear and some unlockable artwork. There are also “enemy challenge arenas” unlocked after completing each stage of the story.
After playing through the game in its entirety I will have to give this game a 2.1. I found myself using more of the basic attacks and smashing things just fine without having to do very much else. The game felt very repetitive and lacking in challenge. If you like “me smash” games, however, then this should be right up your alley.
Thanks once again to SEGA for providing a review copy!
You say in your last paragraph you give it a 2.4, but your score at the top says 2.1. Wut?
Sorry, I forgot to edit that after he told me of his revised score. Thank you for bringing it to our attention!
I’m a Thor comic book fan rather than a gamer but did acquire this particular game. Like you I was a little disappointed with it.
As an Aussie sci-fi writer: http://www.goldenvisionsmagazine.biz/AlienHunter.html
I’ve also written a bit of Thor fan fiction, maybe some of your fans would like to check it out? http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1276881/David_Scholes