Captain America Super Soldier Review

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Written by Sm1tty Sm1t

When a comic book character has a game created about him or her, it’s hard to get excited.  Time after time fans have been disappointed by lackluster gameplay, shoddy stories, and terrible controls.  Batman: Arkham Asylum broke that mold with its release in 2009; it showed that characters from the Marvel or DC world can be put into a fantastic game.  Next Level Games has continued that trend with Captain America: Super Soldier.  Using wonderful combat, easy controls, and varying gameplay, we’re again reminded of the fun we had at 5 years old acting out our own superhero adventures.

Captain America’s story is straightforward:  stop HYDRA, and their evil leader Red Skull, from taking over the world.  To do that, the Captain must infiltrate a secret HYDRA castle, punch, kick, and shield-bash countless enemies, and solve multiple puzzles in order to stop Dr. Arnim Zola from completing his own super-soldier experiment.  With few plot twists, the story, while keeping the player involved, is average at best.

The game is visually stunning, especially considering the high-flying acrobatics of Captain America.  There is little frame-loss when experiencing the multiple explosions that Capt. will trigger, nor are there any lags when fighting multiple enemies on screen; late in the game you may fight up to 10 henchmen with four or five mini-bosses all on screen at once.   Further, Captain America’s signature item, his shield, is gorgeous.  With a look of brushed steel, the light reflects and rotates around the shield as expected and players will find themselves not only appreciating the mayhem caused by the shield, but the visuals included with it.

What truly makes Captain America Super Soldier a great game is the combat.  Following a Batman Arkham-esque fighting style, Captain can anticipate enemy attacks and appropriately defend against them.  The controller layout is smooth, with attack and defend easily accessible with “twitch-maneuvers,” and a multitude of attack options keyed by one button press removes the feel of monotony.  Attacking may punch, kick, or shield-bash an opponent, and each of those has varying styles leaving the player truly feeling like a superhero.  As Captain America builds more combos without being hit, a small meter increases to a maximum of four bars.  Each bar will allow the Captain to perform a “power-move” triggering a small cut scene showing a HYDRA henchmen getting his teeth busted out, or a mini-boss being power-kicked in the face.  Further, Captain America can one-shot mini-bosses if he has at least two bars filled, by overpowering them with his strength, or outsmarting them with his wits.

Overall, Captain America Super Soldier is an action-packed thrill ride that has been regrettably overlooked.  Players fear a “movie tie-in” game, and have strayed with expectations of the normal sub-par licensed game that have become a norm.  Next Level Games, however, have removed that fear and created a phenomenal entry into the world of Superhero games.

Overall Score (Out of 5) - 4