‘Thor’ doesn’t nail it

The video game version follows Thor as he battles his way across worlds from Norse mythology, smashing tons of baddies along the way as he tries to save his home world of Asgard. He even goes toe to toe with some pretty massive monsters, including giants and trolls.

The third-person adventure uses the classic brawler format: tons of button mashing and tons of bad guys to smack around. In some ways it feels very similar to “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” and “Dante’s Inferno.” However, it only has one attack button rather than the standard two. The normal heavy-attack button is replaced with a storm power button that is used to finish attack combos.

This is the only area where the game shines. The moves truly give you a taste of what it’s like to wield Thor’s legendary hammer. The rest of the time, the game feels tedious and annoying. Thor is a god, yet he rarely comes across as one.

Minions always seem to score cheap shots, and hits from bosses drain a ton of health. Also, you keep having to run around collecting runes to refill Thor’s power gauge. You would think a god’s powers would be infinite, or at least replenish over time. So it comes as a bit of a shock when in the middle of battle Thor can’t even use even some really weak lightning bolts.

Fans of Thor will at least get to do battle with more characters than just those seen in the film. Ulik, Ymir and Surtur are among the foes from the comics who make an appearance.

Many of the main characters from the film also reprise their roles in the game, specifically Chris Hemsworth lending his likeness and voice to Thor.

Now if only “God of Thunder” could have been as good as the “Thor” movie. Oh well, the game was better than you would have thought … marginally. – Greg Prince