Thor: God of Thunder

Plot

The game begins in medias res with Asgard being invaded by the Jötun (frost giants from Niflheim). Thor, meanwhile, is training with Sif and his brother Loki. Their training is interrupted, however, by the arrival of the jötuns. While Loki leaves to inform Odin about the invasion, Thor is left to fight alone after Sif is frozen by one of the arriving jötun. After quickly fending his enemies off and setting Sif free, Thor goes to Odin's castle to defend Asgard. The invasion is stopped, but Sif is fatally wounded in the process. After Thor is denied retribution for the invasion, and Sif's condition, by Odin, Thor disobeys his father's orders and travels to Niflheim aided by one of Loki's projected clones (who is revealed to be the mastermind behind the invasion). While Thor tavels to Nilfheim, it is shown that Odin anages to save Syf from dead and then he proceeds to enter the Odinsleep. As Thor arrives to Nilfheim Loki tells him to find Ymir, Lord of the Jötun and Ruler of Niflheim. Thor finds and, after a long battle, defeats Ymir inside the Cave of Ages. There, Thor finds the source of a power that, as Loki says, can destroy the entire realm of Niflheim. Ignoring Ymir's warnings, Thor activates the source which transforms into a golden, metallic, minotaur-like creature known as Mangog that instantly vaporizes Ymir. Loki then sends an unaware (and guilt-ridden) Thor to Vanaheim instead of Asgard, as Thor originally wanted, as Loki (who wants to prove himself to Odin as a rightfull heir to Asgard's throne) had previously stroke a deal with Ulik (Lord of the Vanir-trolls-and ruler of Vanaheim) for him to "delay" Thor's return to Asgard (while Loki stops Mangog) and, in exchange, Loki would repair Vanaheim's Frostgrinder (the Vanir's faulty replica of the Bifrost) and allow Ulik to leave Vanaheim.

While Thor makes his way through Vanaheim, back in Asgard, Mangog wreaks havok throughout the city. Loki tries to stop Mangog, using the freezing casquet from Niflheim. His plan backfires, as Mangog easily breaks free from the ice due to the fire that it emits. Mangog summons an army of Jötun and Infernir, forcing Loki to change his plans and ask Ulik to allow Thor to use the Frostgrinder but Ulik (having waited to leave Vanaheim for decades) betrays Loki. Thor, meanwhile, reaches the doors of the Frostgrinder. There, he discovers, through a historical record of Vanaheim, that it was Odin who originally created Mangog after the Vanir had declared war against Asgard. The Vanir were unable to control and defeat Mangog, but they found out that Mangog's only weakness is a god-created mineral called Scabrite (which was used by Odin to forge that chains used to restrain Mangog) Thor eventually confronts and defeats Ulik. As Loki tells Thor about the state of Asgard, Thor reveals Mangog's only possible weakness to Loki. Loki informs Thor that Scabrite can only be found in one realm: Muspelheim, home of the Infernir.

Thor then travels to Muspelheim, where he faces Surtur, Lord of the Infernir and ruler of Muspelheim. Thor manages to defeat Surtur, and claim his sword Twilight. Thor then destroys Twilight, which releases its Scabrite-filled-enegry which in turn is absorbed by Mjolnir. Thor then returns to Asgard, where Loki tells him that before he faces Mangog he has to help Heimdall and a fully recovered Sif retake the Bifrost's obvservatory. After Thor successfully helps Heimdall and Sif, he goes to face Mangog in combat, aided by Loki and a weakened Odin. After a long fight, Thor defeats Mangog. He then apologises to Odin for releasing Mangog out of anger and pride, but Odin says it is he himself who should apologise as it was he himself who created Mangog in the first place. Odin then releases the souls of the Vanir trapped within Mangog (which also gave Mangog power) to their fate in afterlife as the game ends.

Gameplay

Thor battles through the numerous worlds of Norse mythology to save Asgard. Players will wield the iconic Mjölnir, Thor’s legendary hammer, to fight enemies of an immense scale while controlling the elemental storm powers of lightning, thunder and wind to vanquish enemies. Thor must overcome monstrous foes lifted from the pages of the comics, including Ulik, Ymir and Surtur as well as other daunting enemies.

Development and marketing

News that Sega was developing a Thor video game first leaked to the public in September 2009. Sega officially announced the game in July 2010. At the 2010 New York Comic Con, Matt Powers the senior producer of the game stated that Thor: God of Thunder will expand on the universe created by the Thor film and will include characters such as Surtur and Ulik. In December 2010 Sega announced that actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston who played Thor and Loki respectively in the film will lend their voices and likenesses to the game. Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA Europe and SEGA of America stated that, "Bringing in Chris and Tom to star in Thor: God of Thunder gives us AAA talent that will create a truly cinematic interactive experience... [the] Mighty Thor and the trickster Loki will face off with real emotion while giving fans visual and vocal continuity between the video game and film adaptations of the Marvel franchise". In January 2011 Sega confirmed that they cancelled the PSP edition of the game without any explanation.

The first gameplay trailer debuted at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards.

Reception

The non-Nintendo versions of the game received overwhelmingly negative reviews. Tom McShea of GameSpot gave those versions a 2.0/10 calling it "a terrible game with almost no redeeming qualities". Richard George from IGN gave the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions a 3.0/10, mostly due to the difficulty arising from severe glitches throughout. GameZone gave the 360 and PS3 versions a 3/10, stating "All in all, Thor: God of Thunder isn’t a game you’ll want to pick up unless you see it in the bargain bin. Sure, it’s cool to have awesome powers and a crazy big hammer, but various problems make Thor a mistake-prone, dollar store hammer kind of guy. Fortunately for us, at least the movie was fantastic."

The Nintendo versions received slightly more positive, but mostly mixed reviews. The Nintendo DS version of Thor: God of Thunder has received an 8.0/10 score from IGN and a 5.5/10 from GameSpot. GameZone gave the DS version a 7/10, stating "While it’s not a perfect game, there’s a lot to like about Thor, and it definitely isn’t worthy of the bargain bin treatment that less ambitious licensed titles receive. If you’re looking for a great gift for a young fan of the movie or you’re a diehard Thor fan yourself, then this game is sure to be a (thunder) blast." The Wii version of the game has received an 6.0/10 from IGN and a 5.5/10 from GameSpot, who praised the game's striking visual style and said the gameplay is fun but mindless. GameZone gave the Wii version a 7/10, stating "If you want some no-nonsense brawling gameplay, Thor: God of Thunder should keep you entertained. It’s not perfect or even great by any means, but it’s a good beat ‘em up nonetheless."