Captain America Super Soldier is another "gem" of a movie tie in game to get us through the long empty summer months. While the quality of movie games is generally in the gutter, Wolverine broke this trend somewhat in 2009. With the potential of the marvel universe and lore I had hoped that Captain America could follow Wolverine and beat the curse of movie license games. Sadly this is not the case.
The game follows the recent movie license format of differing from the film it is based on in the story. As the Captain, you must search a German castle battling the plans of the evil organisation called Hydra, who are inexplicably able to wield the logistical clout to wage a war without the support of the German government or state. The story is completely empty, with no explanations for events or set up for the game. The characters are emotionless blank mannequins, the script is dire and the whole adventure boils down to a wank fest around a castle.
The graphics can be kindly described as lacking. Textures have very little detail, character models are ugly and are animated very poorly and the games locations are mindlessly copy and pasted industrial corridors of the same colour scheme. To be honest the game looks like a PS2 game, and an average one at that. For the amount of things they could have done with this game, Next Level Games decided to give a bare bones visual presentation with no style or class. The game does include a 3D option [yay...] but the game looks poor anyway so maybe they should have spent their time making it look a bit more impressive.
Voice acting is laughable, with poorly delivered lines lacking emotion or effort. The music is rubbish and its all a forgettable mess that adds nothing to the game. The enemies speak English in horrid German accents when really they should just be speaking German, and the sounds of guns and explosions are all comical.
The actual combat of Captain America borrows heavily from Arkham Asylum. The shield is the most unique thing about the game, and it gives Captain America a throwing weapon that is extremely useful for enemy takedowns. A quick double-tap of the right trigger will cause the shield to ricochet around enemy groups, which allows for more effective control in larger encounters. There is a KO animation that was ripped directly out of Arkham, and quick time events that are very similar in situation and purpose to the God of War series. Sadly, the games combat and upgrade system lacks any of the depth that the games it is taking from had, and repetitive enemies do not help. There is no strategy involved, its just a button mash that looks interesting with Arkham style combo animations.
There are no fun gadgets or power ups to acquire. The level layout is extremely linear, and though the game opens up as a free roamer towards the end there is nothing really worth seeing or exploring, despite an assortment of pointless collectibles. Combat never develops during the game, every fight is the same and this gets boring. There is some platforming and simple puzzle solving but its not fun and its not challenging. They fail to add variety to the games package and really just provide padding to the game. There is no multiplayer component and the campaign took me just over 4 hours. There are challenge rooms but a 4 hour campaign is pathetic and a slap in the face for what is supposed to be a finished polished product that they are having the cheek to ask money in exchange for.
This game is a complete shambles to be a full priced product. It might be worth a rental at best, but I would not even recommend that. Its measly 4 hour campaign is boring and repetitive. Its combat is the best thing about it but even that is shallow and derived from much better games. Avoid this mess of a game.
Pros:
- Some fun combat elements
- Nice juggle combos
- The shield adds some flavour to the game
Cons:
- Poor graphics that lack detail and artistic design
- Horrible voice acting
- Inconsequential story
- Repetitive enemies
- Padded game length with pointless collectibles
- 4 hour campaign
- No multiplayer
- Poor platforming
- Very low production values
Wtf:
- You think that people want to play this game in 3D?
Score:
- 2/10
Another game following the proud tradition of movie licensed games