Update: A minor correction that Thor: The Dark World has always been free to download. I have updated the article accordingly. For Android folks, you will be happy to know that the Android version is out today.
Thor: The Dark World is a movie opening this November 8th, but it’s also a mobile game developed by Gameloft. With movie coming up real soon, I thought it makes sense to take the game for a spin.
The game puts you in the godly shoes Thor Odinson as you lead the Asgardian forces in against the Dark Elves to save The Nine Realms. To move, you simply tap where you want to go. To attack, tap the creatures. To do range attacks, just tap the creatures with two fingers. The game controls to move around are neat, but attacking creatures becomes less fun over time because I felt as though I wasn’t really in control. Does tapping the creatures more equate to more attacks? It sure didn’t feel like it; the tap and the swing don’t feel synced.
Having played Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter series, fights in Thor: The Dark World feel a little less exciting. Both are similar hack-and-slash games but Dungeon Hunter follows the standard virtual joystick and buttons approach, which gives the gamer a better sense of control.
Thor is strong, but the game can get pretty tough and you’ll often have to summon some of the Asgardian forces as backup. When your health is low, Thor can lay low and shoot from afar while the fighters tank the damage. You are also able to summon healers to aid in your battle. Besides summoning troopers, you can hire some of the stars of the comics like Odin (Thor’s father), Loki and Fandral to fight alongside you. Each of them is strong against certain types of creatures, so you have to choose wisely. Unlike most hack-and-slash games, Thor: The Dark World does require some strategic thinking to advance through the stages, which I personally found quite fun.
Going through stages, you earn gold to unlock and upgrade your troops, weapons, and armor. But the best stuff requires paid materials: URU and ISO-8. Healing requires URUs, so that is quite a pain in the arse. At one of the stages, the game gets quite tough as the map is dealing intense fire damage. The game smartly lets you know that Golden Armor will be able to protect you from fire. But of course, it costs 50,000 gold which it is quite impossible for a new Thor to purchase. You could, however, pay to buy URU to get that Golden Armor for about $2.58. The only other way is to keep grinding the same early stages over and over to save up that 50,000 gold.
Thor: The Dark World is a decent game and I can imagine Thor fans will enjoy it. But the controls could be a little tighter so gamers can feel the fight, and the in-app purchase system could be a little milder at the beginning to keep users sticking around a little longer.
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