Captain America: Super Soldier Review

When I first heard about the Captain America movie, I wasn’t what I would call ecstatic. Sadly, I also wasn’t that enthused by the news (although not surprised at all) that there would be a game tie-in. I consider this the main reason why I enjoyed the game to the extent that I did.

Steve Rogers, a.k.a Captain America, a.k.a Cap (voiced by the one and only, Chris Evans) is our protagonist if you didn’t already know. From the word “go” you are flung (and I mean literally flung) into the action, that is Captain America: Super Soldier, with very little back story and next to no training - this annoyed me, but I will get to why later. You are captured by the somewhat mad scientist Baron Zemo, and taken to his Bavarian castle.

This is where you will remain for the length of the game, fighting various amounts of Baron Zemo’s creations and running through very samey looking chapters which contain incredibly dull textures. I don’t know if this was purposeful so that Cap would stick out more with his Red, White and Blue-ness, which, by the way, he totally does, but it somewhat takes me away from my gaming experience as I kept thinking I was glitching and walking into the same room I just left.

Right, back to why I was annoyed. I wanted to get into the swing of things as the weedy Steve Rogers. I wanted some character empathy and back story but instead I was thrown into action as Cap without even a sign of a “Howdy Do”. There is also no explanation of how Steve became Cap anywhere in the game as far as I am aware. I take it that we are just supposed to know what went down in that department or try and piece together some underline plot from the collectibles.

Collectibles are scattered everywhere and I mean everywhere. It’s like Baron Zemo has specifically left sensitive intel for me to find! These collectibles will be either enemy dossiers, schematics, video reels, which are optional to watch but do help a tad in putting together why you are after the Baron, or multiple artifacts. Things such as artifacts or dossiers will give you experience points which help you upgrade Cap as you progress through the chapters whilst the schematics give you perks against certain enemies such as weakening them etc. In the earlier chapters intel is literally everywhere which can get a bit annoying, but in the later chapters it seems to dry up, which was good.

There are also puzzles scatted around the chapters which are more or less there to slow down your progress and make the game slightly longer in my opinion. Sadly, they don’t do their job all that well, as the only real puzzle is the Enigma machines which show two sets of random numbers and letters and you have to match one common character in both. The other puzzles aren’t really puzzles at all such as short-fusing machinery but I have lumped them in together as they serve the same purpose - infuriating the gamer at their simplicity.

You may be thinking to yourself right about now that this game sounds terrible and there is no reason for you to play it as all I have done is complain about it so far. Well, luckily I have left the best part till last. The combat system is pretty damn fun if I do say so myself. It mimics that of Batman: Arkham Aslyum so it’s nothing that new and original but it is the main part I was looking forward to as I progressed. It’s not difficult or complex but it’s about placing your punches and hitting the button at the correct moment to keep your flow going. Using your fists, feet and shield, you have to batter seven shades of fecal matter out of your enemies.

Your enemies come in all shapes and sizes but sadly, take pretty much the same tactic to take down (even the bosses!). You must either daze them before pummeling them to the ground or simply pummel them to the ground! Simple, no?

So all in all, Captain America: Super Soldier isn’t anything special. It leaves a lot up to the imagination and has a very dull and dreary setting matches with irritatingly easy puzzle and simple to kill enemies. Luckily, the combat system really does save this game for me and did keep me hooked till the end which is why I actually enjoyed playing this game. So it’s really nothing too challenging and can be knocked out in about 6 - 8 hours but it’s a laugh.