Movie-related video games tend to be total rip-offs of other popular games you've played not too long ago. As of late, most of the Marvel movie tie-ins (Ghost Rider, Thor, etc) have been rip offs of los pasty face himself, Kratos from the God of War series. The results are generally middling (Thor was a freaking disaster, main!), but it’s not their fault, when you think about it. Why come up with a whole new engine or play mechanic when you can just slap Thor’s face on a box, make him do combos like Kratos and call it a day? Kids will buy it, people who like the character might also buy it, and it just screams "doll dolla bills, y’all" for the company that gets the rights to the game.
Captain America is the latest Marvel character to get the movie tie-in treatment. Sega’s abandoned the Kratos formula *fist pump* but, unfortunately and surprisingly, looked to a comic book character from a different company entirely—Batman.
By Rich Knight
STORY 
We don’t know yet how the Cap Am movie is going to turn out. From the trailers, we can tell it’s going to feature Nazi’s, Hugo Weaving is going to take off his face, and the guy who once played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies is going to be tossing a shield around. Aaaaand, that’s kind of actually what the story of the game is like. Captain America storms through Germany and kicks ass. Along the way, you’ll talk to Tony Stark’s pappy and find archival videos and documents that advance the story. But more times than not, we skipped those. They weren’t entirely necessary. You’ll probably skip them, too. They actually drag down the game.
GAMEPLAY
Remember when we said this game emulates Batman? Well, it does. In a big way. But that’s not such a bad thing. Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the greatest comic book games ever, if not THE greatest comic book game ever. So for Sega to take a gander at that title and rip off the combat mechanics actually sweetens the deal. The game is built on objectives. When each task is completed, you quickly move on to the next. What’s missing from Arkham Asylum, and you might say, well that’s EVERYTHING, though, is the stealth aspect. You’re not going to be creeping around like Batman or leaping from great heights and landing on Nazis. Cap Am doesn’t play like that.
Cap has a mighty shield, and believe it or not, tossing it around and defending with it, is pretty damn fun. The combat is similar to Batman’s. You leap around multiple enemies and deflect attacks while still maintaining momentum as you jump from one opponent to the next. It’s pretty fun and we actually didn’t get tired of it because it’s spaced out enough in the game that you don’t feel like it’s one fight after another. It could have devolved into that, but it doesn’t.
Along the way, you’ll also do some Prince of Persia-esque Parkour shit and go running up walls and swinging off bars. The mechanics of it are easy, but it’s a nice diversion from the rest of the game, which again, is fun. A lot more fun than it had to be, anyway. Surprisingly, we approve.
BOTTOM LINE
We can’t believe we’re saying this but we like Captain America: Super Soldier. Unlike most of the other Marvel related movie titles out there, this one doesn’t feel cheap or rushed. It feels like Sega put some effort behind it and crafted a playable game. We’re not sure if the movie’s going to be awesome, or if it’s going to suck balls, but we know the game is pretty good, and you could do a lot worse than watching the movie and then picking this game up. Nice work, Sega, nice work.
