‘Captain America: Super Soldier’ (Wii) Review

Game Rant’s William Case reviews Captain America: Super Soldier for the Nintendo Wii

It’s a well-known fact that games based on movies are a harder sell than most titles out on the market. Combine that with the game being based on a movie – that was based on a comic book. Well that’s just a world full of hurt waiting to happen.

Few have made it out of mediocrity, and Captain America: Super Soldier for the Wii tries desperately to be one of the few to find the balance between camp and serious action-entertainment – while still paying homage to its namesake.

Unfortunately, like Steve Rodgers pre-super soldier serum, Captain America: Super Soldier doesn’t exactly make the cut in any way. With debilitating camera controls, cartoonish and comical character designs, and only a semblance of a connection to the movie it tries to emulate, Captain America: Super Soldier is in dire need of heading back to bootcamp for a refresher.

Skipping past the basic training, the needless character development, and a flimsy story that attempts to tie the game to the movie, players take control of Captain America in his beefed-up glory – right in the trenches of the Bavarian mountains. Americans are knee-deep in getting their butts handed to them, and it’s up to Capt to help out.

But it’s not the Nazi’s that are doing the damage, nor is it Red Skull that’s leading the charge. It is Hydra operates – who will frequently attack and pop-up like a carnival game. The antagonist in Super Solider is Dr. Armin Zola, who is creating deranged machines and soldiers of his own to go against American forces, and it’s the Captain’s job to head into his Bavarian Castle of Solitude, and hunt him down.

Doing so, you’ll be equipped with your trusty vibranium shield… and that’s about it. Developers Next Level Games had high hopes to bring something of a Batman: Arkham Asylum-style to the game, with quick-action combos and evades and “high-octane” aerial stunts. Unfortunately, the combat is routine –  reduced to rapidly pressing buttons while occasionally snatching an enemy that’s about to wing you from the side with (or if you’re feeling really chipper, just jumping over their heads and pummeling everything around).

Super Soldier’s combat quickly becomes bland, and once you upgrade some of your simple abilities — and the abilities are as inconsistent as the camera — it becomes almost laughable as players will undoubtedly wipe through enemies. Running through the level’s many platforming sections honestly would have been interesting, if it wasn’t for the fact that the timing is utterly broken – and the controls just stop responding after a few moments if Cap gets moving too quickly.

Tiny environments, coupled with a camera that is impossible to control, make for an especially frustrating experience. In later levels, the game forces players to manually pilot Cap’s shield –  to hit a specific switch or enemy. Time slows down and multiple objects can be targeted but they have to be within eyesight – otherwise the camera will glitch-out.

At least there isn’t much to look at within the halls of Zola’s castle: with little to nothing on the walls denoting his allegiance to Hydra or the Nazis, the game becomes increasingly dull and dreary as players progress. Super Soldier feels half completed – especially considering the Captain never truly sees or talks to another NPC aside from Peggy (and that’s only through the radio).

However Super Soldier does offer a plethora of collectables and challenges to help cut-down the monotony. With the challenges, players are given a specific task  to complete – within a certain time limit (i.e. kill X number of enemies in 15 seconds), earning you experience and unlockable content. The thing is, some of the challenges are so obvious they are too easy – or so convoluted that players will wish they could just skip them.

In the end, this is the main with Captain America: Super Soldier – balance. With unpolished level design, horrendous camera control, flimsy combat and platforming to boot, the best we can offer Captain America: Super Soldier is an honorable discharge.

Captain America: Super Soldier is available July 19th for the Wii, Xbox 360 Ps3, and Nintendo DS.

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Follow Will on his Facebook and Twitter@ Ayreesfoxx.