Retro-Review: Captain America: Super Soldier

Captain America: Super Soldier, based on the popular movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, is a third-person video game published by Sega in 2011. The game takes place during World War II, and during the events of the film, between the Captain’s missions to take down HYDRA bases, as well as the climax of the film, where he crashes the HYDRA aircraft into the Arctic. Characters of the game include both characters from the movie, such as Captain America himself, Dum Dum Dugan, and Bucky Barnes, as well as notable enemies in the original comic books, such as Madame Hydra and Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker.

While the plot is interesting, intense, and engaging-- much more so to the Captain America fans-- it is not long. The storyline takes five to six hours to complete. There are many collectibles such as dossiers and film reels to pick up, but they do not do much in terms of adding interest to the game. In addition to the main story, there are challenges to complete. The challenges are simple, such as beating enemies within a certain amount of time, and they give Cap more points so he can be upgraded during the main storyline. However, that is just about all the game has to offer.

While the game is no Batman: Arkham City, CA:SS has a similar combat system that is smooth and controls that are simple to grasp. The only thing close to a weapon that Captain America has is his shield, but it is not as dull as it sounds. As any comic book fan might know, Cap’s shield is made from a specific metal called vibranium, which is practically impossible to destroy. This shield allows Cap to deal stronger attacks to his enemies, as well as block gunfire, even being able to aim his shield and return the fire back at his enemies. As Cap gains more experience points fighting off his enemies, the player is able to unlock more upgrades and moves to improve Captain America’s combat ability; although, they are not able to customize the path which they unlock their upgrades-- they have to unlock the first level of each upgrade before unlocking the second level, for example.

There are points throughout the game where it turns into a platforming game, in which Cap must climb from one ledge to the next, performing wall jumps and swinging off poles in the meantime. Cap’s destination during these sequences are highlighted by glowing prompts along the way. The platforming portion of the game can feel tedious to some, while others do not lose interest.

The audio and graphics of the game is impressive, as far as superhero video games go. The sound effects are realistic with little flaw; and the voice acting is believable. To make the voice acting even more impressive, in fact, a few of the characters are voiced by the actors who portrayed them in the video games, such as Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell. The graphics are not absolutely intricate in comparison to games with more stunning graphics such as Assassin’s Creed; although, they are still pleasing to the eye and still are detailed to a point. The game does well to capture the fact that it is set during World War II.

Captain America: Super Soldier certainly was not deserving of any awards, but it was one of the better movie-based games in the Marvel universe that fans had seen at the time of its release. Although it was a good game to comic book or MCU fans, it may not capture the same attention of other gamers due to its short storyline. Overall, I rate the game an 8.5 out of 10.