Thor: God of Thunder

Thor: God of Thunder is a 2011 third person single-player video game based on the Marvel Studios film Thor. The game was developed by Liquid Entertainment and co-written by Matt Fraction, the Eisner Award-winning writer of the comic book series. Thor: God of Thunder marks Thor’s first standalone appearance in a video game and features the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Jaimie Alexander, who reprise their roles from the film. The game was released on May 3, 2011 in North America and is available on all major video game platforms (with the exception of the PSP and PC ). The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game can be played in 3D on 3DTVs and on 2DTVs via TriOviz INFICOLOR 3D glasses. The Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3 versions were met with unfavorable reviews, while Wii version was met with mixed reviews and the DS version was met with favourable reviews.

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.

Cast

 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Jaimie Alexander as Sif
 * Steven Blum as Ulik
 * Tom Kane as Odin
 * Phil LaMarr as Heimdall
 * Mitch Lewis as Ymir
 * Rick D. Wasserman as Surtur

Mangog is voiced simultaneously by Steven Blum, Robin Atkin Downes, Mitch Lewis, Lisa Moncure and Mari Weiss.

Reception
All versions of the game had received mostly negative reviews. Tom McShea of GameSpot gave these 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 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."