REVIEW: Capsized (PC/XBLA) 3
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely LOVE ‘dual stick’ shooters. I knew my love for them was kind of alarming when I noticed that a good chunk of my games from the PSN/XBLA are dual stick based. It made me wonder if this was a genre that will always be a safe bet for myself to enjoy because not once was their a game of this type that I did not enjoy immensely. This theory of mine was debunked once Capsized hit the scene.
Capsized’s story is about a group of lost astronauts that crash land on a unknown planet and are greeted, naturally, by the hostile natives. In this ‘Dual Stick’ like shooter you traverse through the levels finding your crew mates, rebuilding your equipment, and eventually make an escape off this god damn planet. The world you crash on is absolutely beautiful and are in a Metroid like layout. The colors of the scenery are crisp and as vivid as can be and the environments range from dark claustrophobic caverns to a gorgeous sunset-lit swamp. The beauty of it all is accompanied by incredible ambient music that is played non-stop, from the main menu, to the game, and back again. Its this subtle touch that really sets this game apart and kind of makes it unforgettable by really selling this atmosphere to the game player.
But Anthony, in the beginning you led us to believe you didn’t enjoy this game, well yes the enjoyment pretty much ends there. With all this slow, moody music, comes hectic gameplay. And why they thought having a chilled atmosphere with, at times, madness is beyond me. In this game all sorts of insects are gonna swarm you, and tribesmen are gonna attack you with everything they’ve got. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but your in an astronaut suit hopping around slowly, trying your best not to get knocked around by the enemy fire but most likely your efforts will be futile. The slow movement and fast enemies is a poor combo, and a frustrating one. There are multiple ways to move around however. You’ve got a grappling hook that improves your mobility greatly, and a jet pack when there’s nothing to grapple, but your still guaranteed to get pushed around.
The game just doesn’t have any kind of fun factor. There aren’t any climatic moments or interesting puzzles to change up the action. Your basically just making your way through these levels killing whatevers in your way. No rewarding aspects whatsoever. Its a shame though because they really nailed it with the atmosphere. Its just too bad the actual gameplay is meh. If your into dual stick shooters I’d check this game out because many people are saying that the controls are tight, which is blasphemy imo. But for all others your not missing much here.
