Capes Preview: Heroes Come In All Capes And Sizes

Balaclavas, fishnets, thermal underpants, but no capes. That’s the attire one can expect from a superhero, not the superfluous fabric that blows helplessly in the wind each time a villain attempts to thwart their heroic plight. ‘Tis true – it’s on the internet.

This little slice of the internet is based on Capes, coming to PC and consoles, featuring all manner of goodies in its teenage phase. A turn-based strategy from Spitfire Interactive and Daedalic Entertainment, and in the style of XCOM, you lead a band of heroes as they aim to take back King City from the wrong ‘uns.

We haven’t missed an epic skirmish in which a group of villains overran the goodies and briefly took their castle. Instead, we join 20 years after the heroes were defeated in a city now run by villains and a superhero-free zone. The heroes that you play are the minority, and like Spider-Man and thermal underpants, they are very much misunderstood and underappreciated.

Capes Preview (Via Steam) – Wait Your Turn

The good news is that the characters you play in Capes aren’t wannabes or Mystery Men – their powers are authentic and, forgive the pun, pack a punch. The enigmatic Doc leads the crew – a veteran from the golden age of heroes, thought to be dead, but secretly forming his own Frat Pack of young ‘uns eager to prove themselves. It’s a simple mission statement: take back King City, be rid of the baddies, and wait your turn.

Capes is a team game (solo play, of course), and as stated, quite a challenge

Embarking on the first few missions, it becomes apparent that the villains are either a force to reckon with or this will be a challenging game. The tutorial introduces the turn-based mechanics we’re all familiar with, such as action points, movement, what happens when your team falls (game over), and collabs. Wait – what do I mean by that?

As long as you are within a few spaces of your fellow teammates, you can collaborate with a special move, giving a little extra sauce to attacks or increasing movement spaces. These moves are beneficial for crowd control, pending you strategise your movements, and can, in turn (ha!), build up the ultimates in Capes. 

An Ultimate Display Of Power

Ultimates aren’t a subsidiary of your squad but a special, sometimes overpowering move that gives a further advantage. Depending on which hero you use, they can take out multiple enemies in one attack as long as they are within reach. However, all this talk of special powers and devastating moves makes Capes sound like child’s play—especially when you’re up against non-supers. That’s not true: you still have to play the game like a spot of chess.

Each character has a particular style of play—be it offensive, defensive, or support. While defensive is one of my favourite plays, it can be a little boring, so sending in the starting hero Rebound, you can backstab an enemy, dash away, and then repeat. This isn’t the hack it may sound, as her health meter is poor, so you need Facet to get in between her and an enemy to take the flack.

Capes is a team game (solo play, of course), and as stated, quite a challenge, albeit welcome. Besides the main objective in each mission – of which there is a variety in addition to the primary campaign – there are optional objectives that unlock SP to spend on your characters and/or team skills. The stat increases seem marginal but can change the course of a game, meaning you can revisit stages to unlock previously tricky objectives.

A Team Building Exercise

Earning SP does take its time, and as Capes is a turn-based environment with plenty of set pieces—i.e. introducing new waves of enemies when you think you’re done—there will be a lot of time to invest in finishing a mission and, more importantly, upgrading your skill set. This element is excellent and will offer much replayability—including customisation further down the line!

Capes is a decent turn-based strategy even in these early stages

I played Capes entirely on the Steam Deck, and it worked perfectly. It also encourages plenty of opportunities to play on the go. Bear in mind that these aren’t quick-fire rounds, yet being able to sit with your feet up and chip away at those SP challenges makes it all worthwhile. 

Presentation-wise, it looks nice. The in-game graphics are good, the visual novel-like illustrations a highlight, and practically everything is voice-acted—some great, some… okay. Capes is a decent turn-based strategy even in these early stages, and as stated, a decent turn-based strategy to play on the Steam Deck (so no doubt, decent on a console, too).