by David Arroyo, Guest Reporter
On Friday I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at two eagerly awaited games for geeks everywhere. Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier. All brought to you by a corner stone of the gaming industry Sega. We all got a glimpse of both games last year at New York Comic Con. However this Friday I was able to actually try my hand at both games on each system.
Lets start with the son of Odin, Thor. It took two years for Sega to produce this game and I have to say for the most part they did a pretty darn good job. As Thor it is your duty to smite the enemies of Asgard. Your kingdom faces threats from all of the nine realms. With your mighty hammer Mjolnir, you wield the powers of lightning, wind and electricity. Its up to you to travel to all the realms and defend your kingdom from an unspeakable evil. Pretty cool, huh? I am a huge Thor fan and I have to say over the years I have been pretty peeved about the lack of video games featuring one of marvels biggest powerhouses. The game features an original story by rising comic book star Christos Gage. I don’t think as a comic fan, you will be disappointed.
The game features a ton of Thor’s rogues gallery and allies. You will wind up going head to head against formidable foes like Ulik or Surtur. The environment is pretty breath taking, there was a lot of attention to details in each realm. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions don’t differ by much the Wii version features an exclusive bonus level and the existing levels will differ from the other consoles. While Thor does fly, I wouldn’t hold my breath about that being a regular feature. Although I was told that the Wii does feature more flying interactivity. You will be glad to hear the both Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston provided their voices to the game. Also you will be able to unlock new costumes for Thor like the classic Kirby and Ultimate Thor. The only drawback I saw to the game was that I found the controls a little difficult to get a handle on. Its not one of those games you can just jump right into. I think it will take any gamer a few tries before he gets the hang of smashing opponents. To be honest I found myself smashing buttons at random while I faced off against bosses. Then again I am not a experienced gamer. Still I think this definitely deserves a rental and wont be a purchase that you will regret.
ComicsOnline gives Thor: God of Thunder 3 out of 5 Uru hammers.
Lets face it Captain America has had a pretty abysmal track record in the world of video games. I can only remember two games that featured him. Captain America & The Avengers a decent side scroller and Marvel Superheroes (and later its vs. campcon sequels.) Which always annoyed me since Cap is supposed to be the ultimate soldier and he is the worst character in the game. With all of that said, this is finally the Captain America game I have always wanted. You play Steve Rogers, Americas first and only super soldier. Fighting against the evils of the third Reich you are a living symbol of the American dream, you are Captain America. This game is awesome! The game takes place in the 40’s during world war II and Cap is hard at work busting Nazi skulls. Its an original story and best of all most of the cast of the film contributed their voices to it. Including Chris Evans but sadly not Hugo Weaving which is fine since they got Mark freaking Hamill! Yes that’s right Mark Hamill is voicing the Red Skull. That’s not all, expect to see some classic Marvel characters.
The combat system is the gem of this game though. As Cap you have a variety of cool attacks both hand to hand and of course with his classic shield. You can both aim the shield at a specific target or you could just do a quick attack by letting the shield bounce around the room taking out Nazis. One of my favorite features is when you turn the tables on one of the minions and not only use him as a human shield but force him to shoot his comrades. The controls are superb in minutes I was kicking Nazi ass. The detail is pretty amazing, when a enemy is on his last legs you can do a finishing move in slow motion that is just stellar to watch. My only complaint comes with the navigation. While in games like Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia you can find your self hanging from ceilings or jumping to safety before your caught in a explosion. In Captain America that’s not the case. Instead of mastering jumps or timing all you do in these situations is point and click x. Which is a bit of a let down considering every other part of the game is wicked. The puzzles I came up against where also rather simple. Captain America has a tactical vision that gives you clues through out the game on how to solve the puzzles or navigate the level. This is pretty cool but can also take a little away from figuring things out yourself. Still this is just a minor gripe, because the game is really worth investing in.
ComicsOnline gives Captain America: Super Soldier 4 out of 5 star-spangled shields.
Lastly I was able to play the DS version of Captain America and I have to say I found it pretty entertaining. It has a separate original story also featuring Chris Evan’s voice talents. This game is based more on the classic silver age Captain America comics. It’s a pretty neat little side scroller. You can throw the shield to do various attacks and its very simple to catch on to the controls. This is a great game that I can see you getting many hours of entertainment from. In my brief time playing it I have to say I was pretty impressed,
ComicsOnline gives Captain America: Super Soldier on Nintendo DS 3 out of 5 stars.
So there you have it guys two games to look forward to this summer. Thor God of Thunder hits selves May 3rd. Captain America: Super Soldier will be released July 19th both games will be released on all platforms.
Pre-order your copies of Thor and Captain America at Amazon by clicking the images below:
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