PlayStation 3 Review: Thor: God of Thunder

Thor: God of Thunder is a relatively uninspired PlayStation 3 game that exists, obviously, as a tie-in with the summer blockbuster movie Thor. Whereas the movie is a humorous, exciting experience, the game is a button-mashing, linear action title that ultimately tests the player’s patience. I think that younger gamers might enjoy the combat, but for most people this game gets old pretty quick.

Thor’s home world of Asgard has come under attack and he must fight the Frost Giants and other enemies. That’s pretty much it in Thor: God of Thunder. Thor’s father Odin makes the occasional decree, while his brother Loki engages in some manipulative dealings. The cutscenes are perfunctory and really do little to develop a narrative. So level after level finds the player, as Thor, wielding his mighty hammer Mjolnir and basically pummeling lots of bad guys. There are numerous button combinations to memorize along the way that allow for more interesting moves than simply swinging trusty ol’ Mjolnir.

I suspect the game developers didn’t really put a great deal of thought into this game. How else can one excuse the sometimes endless levels where there isn’t any real variety? The environments that Thor fights in are boring for the most part. Instead of nooks and crannies to explore, there is often just a circular platform that Thor must wander around repeatedly as he is approached by enemies.

On the plus side, some of the maneuvers are fun. Thor can summon lightning and use strong wind to push back enemies and frost vapor. I found it highly annoying though how fast Thor gets frozen by the vapor, and when that happens his Odin Force is quickly sapped.

Speaking of the power known as Odin Force, there are various points at which Thor can smash some glyphs in order to collect crystals that restore his strength and provide Force. You will definitely want to have plenty of Force stored up when Thor engages in boss fights.

There is also a grappling technique that Thor uses on normal sized bad guys. It’s effective but seems like overkill. Not so much with the bosses, who cannot be beaten without the use of grappling. These villains are vastly larger than Thor, and the grappling allows him to climb on top of them and strategically attack their points of vulnerability. It can take a while, but like the normal battles, repetition is the key to success.

The graphics are not particularly good in Thor: God of Thunder but they are passable in a dated sort of way. Like the storytelling and monotonous level structure, the look of the game is serviceable (and is playable both in 3D and 2D).  From the big screen Thor, Chris Hemsworth voices the title character and Tom Hiddleston voices Loki. It is nice to hear the movie actors handling these parts, even if they aren’t given anything especially interesting to say. The game is a mindless diversion. Even if you’re a big fan of the movie or the comic book, or if you have a kid who is nuts for the character, I would be cautious about paying full price for it. Wait until it shows up on the discount rack.

Thor: God of Thunder is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Violence. This game can also be found on: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS.