20 Jul, 2011
Title: Thor: God of Thunder
Platform: 360, PS3, Wii, DS (reviewed on 360)
Developer: Liquid Entertainment (for PS3/360 version)
Publisher: Sega
TL;DR: The curse of the movie video game strikes again
Family Friendly?: Most probably. Reasons stated at the end of the review.
Videogame adaptations of movies have a poor reputation to say the least. In fairness, it’s easy to see why, with so many quality games on the market, and these days gamers can spot a bad game from a mile away often without even placing it their disk-drive. Logic would suggest that movie-games would provide heart-pumping action and wonderful plots … well, depending on what film is adapted, of course …
Case in point: it would be fair to assume that Thor: God of Thunder would be just such an example of an all-action movie, wholly suitable for a videogame adaptation. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect it to echo the must-see action and thrills of the blockbuster movie. And yet in reality, once again the translation from screen to pixel has produced a rather lack-lustre affair. Do I hear you shout “WHY OH WHY?!” Well let’s have a look…
Thor bites off more than it can chew
First up is arguably one of the most important factors of games and films alike: the plot. It’s worth pointing out that I have seen the Thor film, and it was pretty good, so I fired up the campaign with a fairly good, albeit not substantial knowledge of the characters and setting. It soon became clear that the plot of the game is … well, it’s completely different from the film. On the plus side, it means I don’t know what’s coming next. On the negative side, with a plot so weak , with shoddy dialogue and pointless cutscenes, following the story quickly becomes a chore and the ‘skip cutscene’ option becomes irresistible throughout the game. By the end you feel so distanced from the whole plot that you wonder why the hell you did half the stuff you did.
The gameplay is also utterly uninspired. Mashing a button will carry you most the way through the monotonous and often pointless fights you find yourself in. Different forms of magic, such as thunder and Lightning, can aid you in battle but feel rather pointless and combo attacks take little to no skill to pull off adding very little in terms of gameplay. As the game consists mainly of hitting stuff with your hammer you would think the fighting would be adrenalin-fuelled and exciting but it’s surprisingly unsatisfying. The one saving grace is that, occasionally you’re given the option to grapple your enemy and choose one of three finishing moves. But while, this mechanic does add an interesting change of pace to a battle and the moves are entertaining to watch, once you’ve seen a finisher once, you’ve seen it a million times. The only variation is that Bosses require certain button sequences to finish off; however, even with this the timing on these feels so tight and precise, it’s often more trial and error than skill.
Probably looks more fun than it is
Perhaps in an attempt to add more depth to what is essentially a very bland game, an upgrade system has been woven into the gameplay. Using points you gain from battling, you can upgrade everything from your health, to the power of your magic. Admittedly, it’s a nice touch which adds something of an RPG element to this otherwise run-of-the-mill hack and slash, but it possibly comes too little too late given that, with a little luck, a player could probably breeze through the game without utilizing the upgrade system at all.
The graphics match the gameplay: sub-standard. Given that Thor: God of Thunder is a game that spans many platforms, you’d expect to be able to spot the quality difference between the Wii and the Xbox (for example). Guess again. The graphics for a next generation game are simply not up to par. And whilst I won’t ever judge a game simply on graphics, in Thor’s case they do accurately represent the game in its entirety; bland, boring, and essentially soulless. And while you could argue that the characters do represent their movie counterparts with reasonable efficiency, it’s obvious that the environments have not had the same care and attention. Although each world may look different aesthetically, it is clear you are just fighting in the same arena over and over again, albeit with a different background.
Quicktime events, quicktime events everywhere
There’s no denying it, Thor is a disappointment. It simply feels rushed. Sloppy graphics, shoddy gameplay, little depth and a poor storyline are all nails in the coffin for Thor: God of Thunder. Fans of the film, which is surely the target audience of the game, will find no pleasure in re-enacting any of the movie sequences as there are none. Characters feel distant and unfamiliar, despite reasonable representations and being voiced by some of the original screen actors. And while I may not have expected great things for Thor, nor expected it to be a video game ground-breaker, this weak facsimile is still a shame nonetheless.
The Good
Pretty easy so at least you can get it done quickly Fairly interesting upgrade system You can play as the God of Thunder (and that’s pushing it)
The Bad
Shoddy graphics Insanely boring gameplay Rubbish plot
Family Friendly?
Even with the 16 PEGI rating, I suppose Thor: God of Thunder is family friendly. It certainly isn’t a hard game, nor touch upon any overly adult topics. And while some may object to the exaggerated violence and fighting, in actual fact Thor’s simple combat system could’ve been perfect were it not for the game’s inexplicable 16+ rating.
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