The Mighty Thor #22 Review

Matt Fraction's Mighty Thor run has never shown the clear sense of unified purpose and direction that his Invincible Iron Man run did, and so the finale issue lacks some of the sense of purpose and immediacy that many other recent finales have had. On the other hand, Fraction's final chapter is much more uplifting and optimistic than his last Iron Man issue or Kieron Gillen's Journey Into Mystery finale.

The gist of this Everything Burns epilogue is that Thor is put on trial for the crime of pissing off his father. It's worth noting that much of Fraction's early Thor work was characterized by an oddly hostile relationship between Thor and Odin, and that dynamic is back in full force here. As before, Fraction eventually brings the story around and offers some justification for Odin's behavior, but it is strange nonetheless.

But if Fraction doesn't have any great conflict or emotional struggle to bring to a close as Gillen did with Loki last week, he does manage to end his run on a heartwarming note. There are characters pulled in from practically every story arc, and even references to material from Secret Invasion: Thor and J. Michael Straczynski's run. The issue essentially asks the question, "Must there be a Thor?" And though the obvious answer is "Well... yeah. Why not?" it's nice to get a little reaffirmation. Fraction could have used a bit more page space to work with, unfortunately. The ending feels somewhat truncated, and there are a couple scenes (particularly those involving Bill and Kelda) that deserved more attention than Fraction was able to give.

Barry Kitson helps Fraction close out the series. With Jay Leisten providing finishes to Kitson's breakdowns on some pages, the overall look is less sharp than it might have been. Facial work tends to suffer the most when Kitson isn't handling the panels himself. But the general storytelling is still strong and heavy with emotion. The series ends much as it always existed - with an uneven execution but plenty of high points along the way.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Diablo Meets Tower Defense in The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot

Judging from Diablo III's sales numbers, pointing, clicking, and looting are all clearly activities that gamers enjoy. For the just-announced hack-and-slasher A Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, the developers at Ubisoft Montreal -- normally folks who spend their time crafting eight-figure-budgeted blockbusters that set you back $60 apiece -- have a rather simple question for you:

Would you like to point, click, and loot for free?

Such is the unique offer that Mighty Quest makes, though it's far more than a simple free-to-play Diablo clone. It's actually a two-sided affair of attacking and building. The former you're already quite familiar with from years spent playing Blizzard's devilishly successful franchise and its countless imitators. It even lifts Diablo III's interface almost exactly, with a health bar, mana bar, and four skill/attack slots. So it's the latter that sets Quest apart. On defense, you'll create your own dungeons using a handy level-creation tool, easily dragging, dropping, rotating, and populating challenging scenarios that other players will be faced with navigating and completing when they go into Attack mode. It's true that the team at Ubi Montreal will provide a batch of pre-baked scenarios for all to both traverse and study using either of the two included character classes (Knight and Archer), but the bulk of Quest's content generation will come from gamers themselves.

As in any good tower defense game, you won't simply be able to pile everything and the kitchen sink into your dungeon in Defend mode. You'll be on a budget, which both maintains competitive balance by keeping you from loading a room with every boss in the game simultaneously and prevents you from soaking up every drop of RAM from the PCs of your map's visitors. But you can add a healthy selection of monsters and trap-laden structures. Some of them are even themed, like a forge that featured flame-spewing ovens, which led to a final room guarded by a fire-breathing dragon named Mr. Firesly.

Interestingly, your character level and castle levels are separated. The idea is that you're meant to have to play the Defend mode in order to advance in it and unlock new and better fortifications and not simply rely on your offensive skills in order to hack-and-slash your way to an über-castle. And the longer players spend in your sanctuary of sadism, the more you'll be rewarded. In other words, the tougher you're able to make it on your fellow gamers, the better you'll be compensated. And you're asked to rate each castle you complete on a five-star scale, pushing the better designs to the top of the community's virtual bulletin board and earning gold for skilled builders. Better still, you're able to easily create bets with your friends. Challenge them, for instance, to get through the castle you just completed in under a certain amount of time, and bet the gold amount of your choice on it. To even the odds, you'll be able to set the character level for the both of you, so if you're level 20 but your pal is only 12, you can set it to 20 and give your buddy a taste of what's in store for him when he spends a bit more time with the game.

Fittingly, you'll see that, as the title indicates, A Mighty Quest for Epic Loot doesn't take itself too seriously. It's an intentionally tongue-in-cheek take on genre tropes, even if the core gameplay is plenty serious. Beta keys are starting to go out now, so you'll soon have the chance to judge for yourself if Mighty Quest is a laughing matter or not.

Ryan McCaffrey is the Executive Editor at IGN Xbox. He used to own a DeLorean, which is weird. Follow him on Twitter, on IGN, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Mighty Thor #19 Review

After two full issues and a prologue chapter, it's clear that Everything Burns is not overly friendly to Thor fans who have only been reading The Mighty Thor. This crossover is building on seeds laid mainly in Journey Into Mystery, to the point where many of the key developments in this chapter might go completely over the heads of those who haven't been reading JIM. And it certainly isn't welcoming for those hoping to dive into the Thor franchise head first. That said, the crossover is a thrilling read for the initiated and an example of how to handle event-level storylines. And really, if you haven't been reading JIM before now, you deserve whatever miseries life chooses to heap upon you.

The previous chapter of Everything Burns set the stakes marvelously high, as it seemed Loki and Thor were untied against the entirety of Asgardia. Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction step back from that ledge somewhat, allowing Thor to play the diplomat for once. That's not to say the writers don't deliver some enjoyable moments of Thor beating on his allies, but the focus quickly shifts towards mounting a united assault on Surtur's forces. I didn't mind the change of focus, except that the overall sense of plot progression is a bit lacking compared to the previous two chapters. Also slightly disappointing is that the writers gloss over the battles raging across the Nine Realms, with many only unfolding across a single, hurried panel.

Regardless, there's plenty of juicy material to dive into with this chapter. A new flashback scene explores the fallout of Odin's arranged marriage ad how it didn't exactly patch up relations between the Aesir and Vanir as planned. There's also some more heart-wrenching interaction between Thor and Loki. As much as this material might be redundant in light of the previous chapter's Thor/Loki scenes, their bond really forms the heart and emotional center of this storyline. And then there's the twist ending. This image sums up my reaction best:

As before, Alan Davis is the artist tackling the Mighty Thor side of the crossover. Unfortunately, the transition from Davis to Carmine di Giandomenico and back is less than smooth. I really wish the editors could have found two artists whose styles are more of a match. Still, it's hard to complain about seeing Davis tackle the Thor universe again, even if it's only for half of a story. He captures all the emotional drama and epic action the writers throw at him. This is the best The Mighty Thor has looked since Olivier Coipel helped launch the series.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com