In a dark, futuristic world, being a superhero is forbidden. Not by the government, but by the only power in King City that matters – the Company. Capes takes the turn-based strategy genre and gives it a comic book feel, putting you in control of a newly hatched group of superheroes trying to mete out justice in a city where justice doesn’t exist. While some of her visuals lack a bit of polish, the actual gameplay in Capes is heroic enough to make up for it.
If you throw The boys and Guards in blender with XCOM 2, what you’ll be left with will be capes. Developer Spitfire Interactive knew exactly the tone it was going for and stuck to it. You start with two superheroes and a grizzled veteran running the shots from a bunker and slowly assemble a team capable of freeing King City from the grip of The Company, which is so evil it doesn’t need a proper name.
The story is never groundbreaking, nor is it bad or predictable. It feels like a wholesome comic book plot that never tries to challenge convention but still doesn’t feel lazy. The writers clearly know the tropes they’re using and how they work well enough that it all feels more like an homage than a parody.
There are lots of little details that make Capes feel like an interactive comic. The speech bubbles, for example, are a great touch that unfortunately become necessary due to some audio balancing issues in certain scenes. We like the game’s willingness to lean on comic book tropes – there are plot twists you’ll see coming, but they fit the world the developers have built. There are plenty of classic comic book references sprinkled in to make you pay attention to the small details of each character’s design.
Not that the presentation always works, though. The visuals in general are extremely dated. The characters in the featured cutscenes have little to no expression and limited movement, leaving much of the emotion to a group of enthusiastic but erratic voice actors. The 2D visuals look better, but they all do the awkward wobble that mobile games use to make it feel like characters are animated when they’re not. Visual issues can make it difficult to tell exactly where your cursor is or to understand exactly why a particular force doesn’t land.
Where Capes succeeds is in gameplay. Each character has powers that deal damage or protect their allies. They each function differently enough that they never feel repetitive, but not so unique that you don’t know what to do with them. Since there’s no chance to hit or miss—each attack hits and deals a certain amount of damage—understanding these powers and using them effectively is the key to winning the many missions your team of superheroes are sent on.
Not only are the characters’ powers unique, but they have an ultimate that can deal massive damage or completely lock down a map if used correctly. It has a wonderful balance with the ultimate moves that we really appreciated. Some charge faster but deal less damage. Others are slower to load but much more useful. Neither is better than the other – it just depends on how you build your team.
Our favorite thing about Capes’ combat system is the use of Team Up attacks. Certain characters can help each other during a mission by increasing their attack power or range, or giving them greater mobility. Facet, the crystal tank of the party, really shines in this regard. Few of his attacks do much damage, but he usually increases damage to nearby teammates. This makes the positioning of not only enemies but also other characters vital to your strategy.
Although you initially start with just a few characters, you’ll quickly gain a whole roster of characters and need to take some time between missions to level them up or unlock skills. Levels can be gained by taking characters on missions and earning XP, while completing optional objectives can earn you SP to upgrade your characters. Some of the optional objectives will be out of your reach the first time you try and you’ll have to come back and try again when your team gets more powerful.
Due to the lack of RNG changing your plans, the missions feel more like a puzzle with a specific solution than unpredictable battlefields. This may not be to everyone’s taste, but we found it less frustrating than when our best laid plans fell apart because the game’s dice rolls worked against us. That’s not to say every mission is easy—there’s a difficulty spike at the start of Act I that had us almost throwing our controller down until we figured out the right tactics. However, even when we failed, it always felt like victory was attainable if we just made a few different decisions, which is exactly the level of challenge we like to see in a strategy game.
Capes won’t win any awards for its visuals, but its gameplay more than makes up for its dated look. It rewards careful planning and smart use of powers, while choosing Team Up powers gives characters a synergy that makes them feel like a group that has worked together before. It’s not the best strategy game on the Switch, but it’s definitely worth picking up.
Conclusion
Despite some visual flaws, Capes is a very solid turn-based strategy game that takes the best parts of XCOM 2 and gives it a superhero attitude. The tactical gameplay will have you thinking about the best way to position your growing roster of heroes at every turn to help save King City from the criminal enterprise. Even the predictable plot doesn’t undermine what a well-balanced and fun game Capes is. Fans of strategy and comics will find a lot to enjoy here.
