Capes

Capes is a turn-based tactics game set in a grim world where superpowers have been outlawed for two decades. Players lead a team of emerging new heroes who must rise up to challenge the villains that have taken control of the city. With a strategic combat system reminiscent of games like XCOM, it combines deep tactical gameplay with a compelling narrative and a distinctive 2D visual style.

Capes: Review

In the sprawling metropolis of video game superheroics, where titans like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Batman: Arkham cast long shadows, a new contender emerges not with a thunderous boom, but with the deliberate, calculated click of a movement tile. Capes, the debut title from Australian developer Spitfire Interactive, dares to ask: what if the villains won, and the only hope was a tactical, turn-based resistance? Released in May 2024, this game is a love letter to the gritty, character-driven comics of the 80s and 90s, wrapped in the demanding, synapse-firing mechanics of a hardcore strategy title. It is a game of compelling contradictions—sometimes brilliant in its strategic depth, sometimes frustrating in its execution, but always ambitious in its attempt to carve a unique niche in the crowded superhero genre.

Introduction: The Last Stand of King City

Twenty years ago, the heroes fell. The city of King City is now a dystopian police state controlled by a cabal of supervillains operating under the guise of “The Company,” where the very existence of superpowers is a crime. From this ashes, a new, ragtag generation of heroes rises, guided by a grizzled veteran from the old war. Capes is not a story of unstoppable god-like beings; it is a gritty tale of resistance, morality, and the heavy burden of power. Its thesis is clear: true heroism is not about raw strength, but about strategy, synergy, and sacrifice. While it stumbles in its narrative presentation and occasionally buckles under its own difficulty, Capes ultimately delivers a challenging and deeply satisfying tactical experience that will resonate with fans of thoughtful, turn-based combat and classic comic book storytelling.

Development History & Context: A New Studio’s Bold Gambit

Capes is the inaugural project of Spitfire Interactive, a studio founded by veterans of the Australian game development scene. The creative vision was led by Creative Director Cade Franklin, with key narrative contributions from Morgan Jaffit, whose previous work at Irrational Games on the cult classic Freedom Force is a clear spiritual predecessor. This connection is not incidental; Capes consciously evokes the same team-based superhero tactics that made Freedom Force a beloved, if niche, title.

Released in 2024, the game entered a market saturated with superhero media, yet surprisingly sparse in the turn-based strategy subgenre. The major points of comparison were Firaxis’ XCOM series and the card-based Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Spitfire’s vision was to differentiate itself by removing the randomness of hit percentages and card draws, creating a purely deterministic combat system where victory is earned through foresight and clever ability combinations, not luck.

Built on Unreal Engine 4, the game faced the technological constraints common to smaller studios. The choice of a 2D, diagonal-down perspective with fixed/flip-screen levels suggests a focus on tight, controlled encounter design over sprawling, expensive 3D environments. This decision allowed the team to concentrate resources on gameplay depth and a large number of unique missions rather than on graphical fidelity. Published by Daedalic Entertainment, a company more known for narrative adventures, Capes represented a significant and daring departure, betting on a core gameplay loop that prioritizes strategic rigor over mass-market accessibility.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: A World Without Hope

The plot of Capes is its most classic comic-book element. The Company, having eliminated the city’s premier superhero team years prior, now rules with an iron fist, hunting down any new “Capes” that emerge. The player leads a resistance cell initiated by Doctrine, a cynical, battle-hardened survivor of the original purge, who recruits a new generation of heroes. This roster includes archetypes like Facet, the crystalline tank; Rebound, the teleporting rogue; Mindfire, the telekinetic powerhouse; and Weathervane, the electricity and wind manipulator.

The narrative explores mature themes reminiscent of runs like X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Boys. It grapples with the ethics of power, the cost of resistance, and the ideological clash between Doctrine’s pragmatic, sometimes lethal, methods and the younger heroes’ idealism. One critical story beat involves the team’s reluctance to kill a captured villain, a stance that feels somewhat hypocritical given the gameplay, which often involves throwing enemies off skyscrapers. This dissonance is noted by critics, with WolfsGamingBlog pointing out the “laughable” nature of this moral quandary.

Where the narrative stumbles is in its execution. While the premise is strong, the character development is often cited as a weak point. The heroes, though visually distinct, are given archetypal personalities that rarely evolve beyond their initial introductions. The dialogue aims for a cheesy, Bronze-Age charm, but the quality of voice acting is inconsistent. Some performances, like Doctrine’s world-weary baritone, are praised, while others come across as overly dramatic or flat. The story, while serviceable and thematically rich, never quite achieves the emotional depth or originality needed to elevate it beyond a predictable “good vs. evil” framework. It provides a compelling backdrop for the action but fails to become a primary driving force.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: Chess with Superpowers

This is where Capes truly soars. The core gameplay is a masterclass in refined, turn-based tactics that draws clear inspiration from XCOM but carves its own identity by eliminating randomness.

• Deterministic Combat: There are no percentage-to-hit rolls. If an ability has a range and line of sight, it will connect. This transforms every encounter into a complex puzzle. The challenge comes not from mitigating RNG, but from perfect positioning and ability sequencing.
• The Hero Roster: The eight unlockable heroes are not just reskins; they are fundamentally different tactical tools. Facet controls the battlefield with crystal walls and draws aggression. Rebound assassinates high-value targets from behind. Mindfire manip enemy vulnerability and hurls environmental objects. Each hero has a unique skill tree unlocked with Skill Points (SP) earned from mission objectives and specific challenges (e.g., “Toss 5 enemies off ledges”).
• The Synergy System – Team-Ups: The game’s most innovative mechanic is the “Team-Up” system. When heroes are positioned within a certain range of each other, they can combine their abilities. For example:
  • Facet can create a crystal for Rebound to use as a teleportation beacon for a devastating backstab.
  • Weathervane’s chain lightning can arc off Facet’s crystal walls to hit additional enemies.
  • Ignis (a fire-wielder) can imbue Mercurial’s (a speedster) sprint with a trail of flames.
    These synergies are essential for success, forcing the player to think about unit placement not just for defense, but for offensive combinations.
• Ultimate Abilities: Each hero has a powerful Ultimate ability that charges based on specific actions (e.g., Facet gains charge by taking damage, Rebound by landing backstabs). These game-changing moves can turn the tide of a desperate battle.
• Difficulty and Pacing: This is the game’s most contentious aspect. Capes is brutally difficult, even on lower settings. Missions frequently involve being swarmed by overwhelming numbers of enemies, with new waves often appearing just as the player believes the end is in sight. This can lead to frustration, as noted by multiple reviewers who felt that some battles devolved into chaotic slogs rather than tactical puzzles. A significant post-launch patch (v1.200.00) addressed this by rebalancing enemy counts and the experience system, which was widely praised for greatly improving the experience.
• UI and Progression: The user interface is functional but has been criticized for occasional clunkiness, particularly in managing turn order. The progression system is lean; there is no base-building or hero customization. The game is focused purely on the combat missions and the narrative that connects them. The campaign is substantial, offering around 20-30 hours of gameplay, with replayability coming from mastering challenges and experimenting with different hero compositions.

World-Building, Art & Sound: A Diamond in the Rough

Capes presents a mixed bag in its presentation. Its greatest strength is its art direction. The comic-book-inspired aesthetic, with bold lines, vibrant colors, and stylish 2D character portraits, effectively captures the spirit of its source material. The environments of King City, from rain-slicked rooftops to oppressive corporate labs, are well-designed and atmospheric.

However, the technical execution is inconsistent. The 3D character models are often described as plasticky and stiff, with animations that lack polish, especially in close-up cutscenes. The sound design follows a similar pattern. The soundtrack features some genuinely epic superhero themes, but the audio mixing and voice acting quality vary wildly. As Game8 noted, the result is a game that can look and sound brilliant one moment and amateurish the next.

This inconsistency is likely a symptom of the studio’s budget constraints. The team prioritized gameplay and content over graphical horsepower, a trade-off that will be acceptable to strategy purists but may deter players seeking a AAA presentation.

Reception & Legacy: A Solid Debut with Room to Grow

Upon its release, Capes received a generally positive critical reception, landing at a Metascore of 72-79 across platforms and a 73% average on MobyGames based on 40 ratings. Critics universally praised its deep, challenging tactical gameplay, innovative synergy mechanics, and respectful homage to comic book tropes.

• Praise: Outlets like IGN (8/10) called it “clever and challenging,” while PC Gamer (80/100) declared it “one of the best turn-based strategy games of recent years.” The strategic depth, hero variety, and satisfying Team-Up moves were consistently highlighted as standout features.
• Criticism: The primary criticisms centered on the uneven narrative, underdeveloped characters, punishing difficulty spikes (pre-patch), and the inconsistent presentation. Some reviewers felt the mission design could become repetitive, and the lack of a strategic “meta-layer” like XCOM’s base management was noted as a missed opportunity.

The game’s legacy is still being written. As a debut title, it serves as a powerful proof-of-concept for Spitfire Interactive, demonstrating a strong command of tactical systems. Its deterministic approach to combat and focus on ability synergy could influence future games in the genre. While it may not have achieved mainstream breakout success, it has been warmly embraced by turn-based strategy aficionados looking for a serious challenge. The post-launch support, particularly the major rebalancing patch, shows a developer committed to refining its vision based on community feedback—a promising sign for future projects.

Conclusion: A Valiant First Effort

Capes is not a perfect game. It bears the marks of a ambitious debut project: a stellar core idea sometimes hampered by budgetary limitations and a few design missteps. Its story is predictable, its characters thin, and its presentation uneven. Yet, to focus solely on these flaws is to miss the point. At its heart, Capes is an exceptional tactical RPG that understands the fundamental thrill of superhero teamwork better than almost any other game. The moment-to-moment gameplay of orchestrating a perfectly synchronized assault using Facet’s crystals to amplify Weathervane’s lightning, while Rebound teleports in for a killing blow, is nothing short of exhilarating.

It is a game that demands your patience and strategic intellect, rewarding you with a profound sense of accomplishment. For players who value deep, challenging mechanics over cinematic polish, Capes is a hidden gem. It may not wear an Avengers-level budget, but it possesses the heart and strategic brains of a true hero. It establishes Spitfire Interactive as a studio to watch and secures its place as a worthy, if flawed, successor to the legacy of tactical superhero games like Freedom Force. In the annals of video game history, Capes will be remembered not as the game that saved the genre, but as the valiant, compelling proof that the turn-based tactics genre still has new, exciting stories to tell.