Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game Review
PROS
- Nice comic book art style
- Lots on offer
- Basic combat can be entertaining
CONS
- Mishmash of controls
- Movie art sits poorly next to comic art
VERDICT
An average movie tie-in, Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game’s suffers from an awkward mix of control schemes that leave it feeling like a slave to two design philosophies.
- Full Review
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We are willing to bet that Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game is not a direct translation of the source movie's plot. This is because so many of Cap’s iconic nemeses that appear in this game that, were the movie to follow the story, you would need to bring a sleeping bag into the cinema along with your popcorn
The Super Soldier is now operating as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. under orders from Nick Fury. You must guide him and a small two man strike force into a series of battles to protect America from evil.
The combat plays out from a top-down perspective, and with your device held in portrait mode. This setup steers you towards running upwards towards your enemy, as you are unable to see who might be attacking from the side.
This feeling of restriction isn't helped by the clumsy mix of control systems. We are all for choice, but Winter Soldier had us regularly switching between two control methods on the fly. Both work fine in isolation, but the need to switch between the simpler touch controls for combat and the virtual stick to explore levels was cumbersome and frequently left us cursing.
Most of the visuals echo the comic book source, featuring with strong outlines and bright colours. However, the cartoon stylings sit in odd contrast against elements that draw on the movie's visual direction - specifically, any images of the cast of S.H.I.E.L.D. - a juxtaposition which looks slightly sinister.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game feels like a game designed by two warring factions. The two control methods sit poorly together, and the mix of art styles is weirdly jarring. The in-app purchases which clog up the menu don't help matters, either, especially given the game is a premium title. It's not the worst movie tie in we've ever played, but it doesn't leave you feeling particularly heroic, either.
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