While Thor has hammered the competition in theaters, it looks as though this will not be the case for the console release of the tie-in game Thor: God of Thunder. Archaic visuals alongside punishing and repetitive gameplay place Thor: God of Thunder amongst the list of failed movie to game tie ins, though the story doesn’t directly coincide with that of the Thor motion picture.

Gameplay:

Thor: God of Thunder attempts to model itself around other successful action games such as God of War or Dante’s Inferno. Players make their way through specific pathways in levels where they hack and smash through redundant hordes of faceless drones.

Thor uses standard melee attacks alongside his powers of wind, thunder and lightning and hammer throws to defeat these enemies. The downside to these god powers is they aren’t exactly very powerful and Thor’s Odinforce (think of it like Mana or Action Points) quickly depletes, leaving him with only a few sparks to shoot off over the course of combat. The rest of the time, players can simply button mash the standard attack button until grapple options become available.

As mentioned previously, Thor combats larger enemies by actually climbing up them and attacking specific spots on their body to inflict more damage. This, much like the rest of combat, becomes quickly repetitive in finding a way to dodge enemies until they are stunning to where Thor must repeatedly beat their armor off of them to uncover their weak spot. Though different enemies have different spots that must be destroyed, the principal doesn’t change.

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A character with the first name of Nikolai who has a weapon with Tesla in its name. No not the most creative character concept ever but still effective none the less. In this latest trailer for Anarchy Reigns, SEGA gives a peak at Nikolai, a cyborg fighter with a back mounted reactor allowing him to channel electrical currents through his fists. The result is an angry Russian who is ready to let the sparks fly.

This is also the first trailer for Anarchy Reigns that gives a look at what may be the game’s “fatality” system, for lack of a formal title yet. While it has been shown that the game will use the environment to kill off competitors, this is the first time a trailer has shown anyone get finished off, as seen by two of Nikolai’s moves below.

So what do fatalities mean for Anarchy Reigns? Depending on how they are implemented, fatalities could become epic tide turners in matches if they can be pulled off at any time and not just when someone’s health bar has been depleted. Especially in multiplayer modes, this could completely shift the course of match-ups. On the other side, it is possible that these fatal moves could quickly become repetitive and lose their luster after seeing them in every match a player competes in.

Again, much of this is just speculation but take a peek after the jump at Nikolai’s screen shot gallery as well as his debut trailer. Stick to the Flickcast for more on Anarchy Reigns, coming soon to the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 from SEGA and Platinum Games.

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Only a few weeks away, Thor: God of Thunder crashes down upon store shelves on May 3rd. But before the release of the game that coincides with, but doesn’t depend upon, the Thor movie, SEGA has released a special behind the scenes video for the game. SEGA has been doing everything they can to show the quality of this title before its release to help get the horrid aftertaste of Iron Man 2 out of gamers’ memories.

In this behind the scenes trailer, producers give some insight in to how the game’s combat will be structured. The main crux of Thor: God of Thunder’s action will rely upon his hammer as a melee weapon with the god powers acting as support. The thunder powers seeming will affect enemy statuses with stun effects, wind powers will help control groups of enemies and lighting will act as a damage dealing source. These powers also look to combine with Thor’s famous hammer Mjohnir as can be seen in some of the special attacks in the video.

The grapple system is also an interesting aspect to the game as it seems like a smaller scale version of Shadow of the Colossus. Players don’t just fight these enemies that tower over them. They must actually climb their way up to deal a fatal blow against their opponents. These gigantic fights help players feel like they are a part of the Thor world as these epic encounters are part of what makes Thor different from other “street level” heroes. While Spider-Man or Captain America may occasionally be forced to take on a gigantic monster or robot attacking their city, it is commonplace for Thor. It allows players to feel the power of the god they control on screen.

The only real red flag that comes up from the BTS video is the graphics of the Wii version. While the look of the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 versions are not exactly mindblowing, the Wii continues to look farther and farther back in time in terms of visual quality as more time passes. As a result, the Wii version of Thor: God of Thunder isn’t a very pretty game at all.

Take a peek after the jump of Thor: God of Thunder and stick to the Flickcast for more news as it becomes available.

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This summer, Marvel films will be releasing two blockbusters with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger on the way to their ultimate team movie, The Avengers. And with summer blockbusters comes the inevitable movie tie in games.

Comic book movie based video games have had mixed success in the past. Some titles like Spider-Man 2 were considered awesome games. Some like Wolverine: Origins received arguably more praise than the film they were based off of. Some, specifically Iron Man 2, were considered abysmal failures.

SEGA looks to fall in to the former of these categories with the rights to both of Marvel’s summer titles with Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier. Recently, we reported rumors that both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans will reprise their respective roles from the feature films as voice actors in the video games. This is very good news for anyone who saw the live demo of Captain America: Super Soldier at New York Comic Con and heard the placeholder voice behind Cap.

Now SEGA has released a pack of screen shots of both titles. In each batch, there are screens from XBox 360 and the PlayStation 3 before a drastic drop off in graphic quality when the Nintendo Wii screens start popping up. And of course, the old school looking graphics appear on the Nintendo DS. Both the XBox 360 and PlayStation versions of the games will be playable in stereoscopic 3D.

Make sure to check them all out after the jump and check back right here for more news on Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier as they both quickly approach launch.

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In our last Anarchy Reigns post, we saw hints of a few new characters in screen shots that would be joining the cast. Today, we reveal two of these new brawlers with Blacker Baron and Mathilda.

Blacker Baron

The personality and trappings of Huggy Bear. The body and wrestling ability of Bobby Lashley. Ryu’s dragon punch attack. And the dance moves of the late King of Pop. But them together and you get Anarchy Reign’s highly focus tested stereotype of Black Baron. A cyborg with Super Sexy Fists of Fire as his weapon, Blacker Baron is without a doubt the most outrageous and over the top of any of Anarchy Reign’s current cast.

If anything, Blacker Baron proves that Anarchy Reigns will bring a level of diversity through its character roster, no matter how offensive it may be to some. Take a look at the trailer for this blinged out badass below.

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Tsunamis. Carpet bombings. Giant sea squids. Not the way you normally see a round end in a fighting game. But from the looks of things, Anarchy Reigns isn’t going to be your average fighting game. With an already eclectic assortment of revealed characters (as well as some new unnamed ones seen below), Anarchy Reigns looks like it will be the Twisted Metal of open street combat.

Over the top doesn’t seem to be a problem here as utter chaos seemingly engulfs this world. There are still lots of questions left unanswered like just what the whole point of Anarchy Reigns will be and why its combatants are fighting to the death. But, what little we have seen so far has caught our attention.

In the new “Fight to the Death” trailer below, you will see the first look at the game’s ATE’s (Action Triggered Events). These will be massive set piece events that can change the pace of a battle dramatically and look to set Anarchy Reigns apart from other brawler style games.

Also below, take a peek at some new screens featuring some of the ATE’s as well as some new characters including an orange clad pimp, Big Bull’s purple brethren and a girl with a very dangerous looking spiked belt.

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We’ve already seen him don the giant “A” and wield the shield in the trailer for the upcoming film. But now, Chris Evans is getting to stretch his acting chops into the world of video games as he voices his character in the upcoming release from SEGA: Captain America: Super Soldier.

No other voice talent has been announced for the game but with Evans leading the charge, you can expect SEGA to probably pull in his fellow cast members too. From the press release we know the game takes place around the time of World War II, in tandem with the film’s plot. Here’s the official synopsis:

In Captain America: Super Soldier, players become Captain America as he faces the Red Skull and his Hydra army in an epic third-person action adventure set in the darkest days of World War II. Wielding Captain America’s legendary shield, gamers will engage in free-flowing combat and acrobatic platforming to infiltrate a mysterious castle overtaken by Hydra forces, where they’ll battle a host of nefarious enemies serving the Red Skull, including the infamous Iron Cross, Baron Strucker and Madame Hydra. Players must defeat the evil scientist Arnim Zola and his wartime experiments, combining powerful melee combos and shield attacks to devastating effect.

The game is set for release later this year, closer to the time Captain America: First Avenger hits theaters. It will be available for all major gaming consoles.

So this is a new genre we haven’t heard of before. A “massively multi-player beat ‘em up.” Color us intrigued.

Recently, PlatinumGames and Sega announced their latest title coming to the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 titled Anarchy Reigns. Little information was given about the game other than a brief teaser trailer featuring some over the top looking characters and the brief PR blip:

With ANARCHY REIGNS, PlatinumGames will be using their hallmark creativity and technical excellence to challenge the boundaries of the conventional brawler genre by allowing multiple players to get involved in heavy-hitting action simultaneously.

ANARCHY REIGNS incorporates a diverse range of multiplayer modes to provide players with different challenges, including Tag Team battles and Battle Royal, where players can challenge others in a full-on fight for victory.

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Back at New York Comic Con, we got the chance to get an exclusive interview with some of the developers of Sega’s upcoming Thor: God of Thunder. In the interview, one of the topics that could not yet be touched upon was bringing on the actors from the film to do the voice work in the Thor: God of Thunder video game.

Now, Sega has formally announced that this will be the case as Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will lending their voices to the digital adaptations of Thor and Loki respectively. In addition to their voices, the on screen likenesses will be based off of both Hemsworth’s and Hiddleston’s appearances in the Thor movie.

“Bringing in Chris and Tom to star in Thor: God of Thunder gives us AAA talent that will create a truly cinematic interactive experience,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe and Segaof America. “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.”

Thor: God of Thunder is being penned by current Uncanny X-Men scribe Matt Fraction in a story that is totally different from the movie as Sega has told us. Fraction was recruited early on in the project as his story lead to much of the associated gameplay and villains that needed to be created for Thor: God of Thunder.

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At New York Comic Con, we had the pleasure of stopping by the Sega booth to take peeks at both the new Captain America game as well as the upcoming Thor title (stay tuned for that story!). When we got to the Sega booth we were given a hands off demo from Brandon Gill from Next Level Games, the developers of Captain America: Super Soldier which is being published by Sega.

We were told right off the bat that one of the most fun parts of the creative process was working with Christos Gage on an original story as opposed to being shackled to the storyline of the movie. The version we saw will be on the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 but there will be a Wii and Nintendo DS version as well.

The entirety of the title takes place during World War II after his origin. One thing that quickly stood out was the change of Nazi villains to Hydra. In keeping with Marvel’s family friendly image and the youth skew that game may take, it isn’t surprising that they went this route. The entire game takes place with Hydra entrenched in a Bavarian castle with Cap running in to tear them down.

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Comic books are a ripe source of material for video games, yet it seems like it takes a major motion picture in order for singular characters to get their 15 minutes of pixelated fame. It worked with such franchises as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and even Iron Man, and now SEGA is going red, white, and blue with Captain America: Super Soldier. From a SEGA press release.

Players will become Captain America as he faces the Red Skull and his army in an epic third- person action adventure set in the darkest days of World War II. Wielding Captain America’s legendary shield, gamers will engage in free-flowing combat and acrobatic platforming to infiltrate Hydra’s mysterious castle and battle the infamous Iron Cross, the forces of Hydra, and a host of nefarious enemies serving the Red Skull.

As the First Avenger himself, players must defeat the evil scientist Arnim Zola and his wartime experiments, combining powerful melee combos and shield attacks to devastating effect. Captain America: Super Soldier combines a highly athletic combat system with fluid platforming and a highly tuned suite of shield attacks, as Cap explores a massive castle turned military installation. His shield can be employed in numerous ways: taking out multiple enemies at once, deflecting incoming fire back at enemies, solving puzzles, and scaling walls.

Comic veteran Christos Cage is penning the story for the game, and will take place inside of the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger universe. No word on voice talent, but don’t be surprised if you see Hugo Weaving and Chris Evans step in to voice Red Skull and Cap in the game as well as the film.

The game is currently in final development, with an estimated release date close to the film’s release on July 22nd of next year. Expect to see the game hit XBox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, and Nintendo DS’s everyhwere. In the meantime, you can check out a handfull of great screenshots from the game after the jump.

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XBox 360 (Also available on PlayStation 3 and PC)
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
$59.99
Score: 7.0

Alpha Protocol is a great example of a game that tries hard to do a lot of things and ends up pulling some of them off. When you look at what Alpha Protocol is attempting to do on paper, it is a pretty lofty list. Being the first espionage RPG, the game gets to define itself. Is it a spy game? Is it a shooter? How much roleplaying is actually involved? The truth is that Alpha Protocol almost gives too many options in how it approaches this concept.

Gameplay:

Alpha Protocol is all about options. Much like other RPGs, character customization is a big deal. Not in the way of appearance but in terms of skill sets, selection of characteristics plays a huge part in how each person’s Alpha Protocol experience will play out. There are two very distinct ways that players can progress through missions.

The first is guns blazing. For Gears of War or Halo fans, this may be their method of choice. Shoot their way through and ask questions once everything is dead. Using any pairing of either a pistol, SMG, shotgun or assault rifle, players get the opportunity to use special weapons abilities that help them progress through waves of enemies.

Along the way, players can also use stationary sniper rifles or turret guns to aid in their mayhem. This is one of the more rewarding and visceral experiences of the game as enemies fly off their feet after shot gun blasts or crumble to the ground with a series of well placed headshots.

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