Capes is a turn-based superhero strategy game from developer Spitfire Interactive and publisher Daedalic Entertainment that asks what life would be like if the supervillains won.
Capes Story
The premise for the story of Capes is great. What would happen if all of the superheroes were actually defeated by the villains, who then created a world where anyone with superpowers was hunted down?
The story revolves around a group of teenagers, recruited/saved from execution by Doctrine, one of the older generation of heroes who were thrown down. Doctrine is training/using teenagers like Facet, Rebound, and Mindfire to enact revenge against The Company, the supervillain organization that took over after the last superhero was defeated. This story idea will be familiar to anyone who is a fan of comics, with a little bit of X-Men, Batman, Superman, and Watchmen sprinkled in (Doctrine even sports a smiley face pin on his lapel). Despite the familiarity, the concept of a dystopian world with superpowered people is always entertaining, as popular shows like “The Boys” can attest to.
Unfortunately, the execution of this storyline left something to be desired.
It is a little hard to put my finger on exactly what is missing from the narrative. I don’t actually mind the cringe-worthy puns or the info dumps of context. Those things come with the comic book territory; there is just something lackluster about the writing and pacing of the story that keeps Capes from being a 10/10. While many characters feel fleshed out and individual, character motivations are poorly explained, and some decisions make no sense in the larger narrative.
Gameplay
The core gameplay revolves around strategic turn-based combat, where players control a diverse group of teenagers, each with unique roles and abilities. Even though there are more characters than can be used in battle, the game offers a good variety of battle scenarios, incentivising players to swap out the eight characters to use their powers to the best advantage.
Combat is varied and requires players to carefully plan their next moves. Each of the eight characters has a distinct powerset, so even similar characters don’t feel redundant. I particularly like that the game employs a “team-up” aspect, where characters can team up with each other to combine their abilities and devastate the enemies with powerful combos.
One thing that I appreciated was that gamers could replay missions at any time. This is useful when you need to grind out levels to keep all eight of your members in top fighting shape. Replaying levels also unlocks additional perks.
Overall
8/10
Capes is definitely worth checking out, despite the sometimes stilted story execution. The premise, the art, and the gameplay mechanics are great in themselves and help tip the balance to a mostly positive experience.
The ability to replay missions and the game’s welcome variety of challenges will keep fans of the genre returning to try out different character combinations.
Capes is available for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones
I'm a completionist gamer who just needs to find that one last object and clear that final dungeon. I love all video games, from open world sandboxes on a console to a mindless match three on my phone. In addition to gaming and writing, I am a graduate student working on a thesis about the ancient Icelandic Sagas. Feel free to ask me anything about Vikings.
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