You and the Captain make liberty happen!
We’ve been waiting for this day to come; the day when we can finally talk about Captain America’s debut on iOS devices. You see, we played Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty over a month ago at E3, and we were surprisingly delighted by what we experienced. We’ve seen a lot of movie cash-ins come in the form of iOS games, and we honestly didn’t expect much from ol’ Cap, especially after Thor’s poor showing on the AppStore. Disney Mobile surprised us with what looks to be an entertaining and satisfying arcade/action game surrounding our favorite propaganda-laden hero.
The gameplay in CA: SoL feels like a cross between Mirror’s Edge (for iOS), Shadow Complex (XBLA), and Fruit Ninja. You swipe to start moving, then keep going until you double tap- which consequently allows you automatically block incoming bullets/projectiles. As you’re moving, you swipe in various directions to slide, jump, wall-run, and kick some ass in the name of freedom! All the combos and moves are gesture based, aside from a few shield-related moves. You can throw your shield at any time to blow up mines or stun your enemies. As you take down foes and build up your combos you’ll fill up a meter that allows you target multiple enemies in slow motion. At the end of the slo-mo session, you let your shield fly and smash throw the helpless bad guys. It’s awesome. During our hands-on time I felt like the meter filled up a bit too fast, but there are plenty of other combat options that are just as fun.
It may not seem like it from the video below, but pulling off various combos against enemies is extremely satisfying. Whether it’s sliding under them to launch them into the air, bashing through them head-on with your shield, or round-house kicking them to the face in mid-air, the slo-mo take-towns rocked, and really put you in the shoes of the super soldier as you explore each of the game’s three environments. Since the game comes out on July 14th (tomorrow), I’ll keep things brief for the final review, but let’s just say that even our editors from across the pond were seeing stars and stripes when they got their hands on this great comic diversion. Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty looks to be an entertaining blend of 2.5D platforming and satisfying brawling; all in the name of sweet liberty and justice for all.
NOTE: This video shows an early build of the game. Pretty much all of the swipe control response issues have been completely ironed out in the most recent build of the game we played.
