Check out my review of ‘The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit!’
Last month I posted about Life is Strange 2; sequel to the brilliant Life is Strange game developed by DONTNOD Entertainment and published by Square Enix. Check out the post HERE if you haven’t already. In that post I also mentioned that ‘The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit’ was available for FREE. This is a small game / demo episode set in the world of Life is Strange but featuring a brand new character. It doesn’t require any knowledge of the Life is Strange story as it is a standalone demo / game. However, I personally recommend playing the Life is Strange games anyway, since they are great and this game makes some cool references to them as well!
Here is the synopsis for the game as well as the launch trailer:
In The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, you play as Chris, an ordinary 10-year old boy who dreams of being a superhero. Chris has a big imagination that will take him on all sorts of adventures, but on this particular Saturday something truly extraordinary will happen to him… This stand-alone adventure that will also give you a glimpse into what the brand-new story and characters of Life is Strange 2 will be… but only if you’re clever enough to piece the clues together!
REVIEW:
(The review / impressions will contain some minor spoilers. I will avoid any major story spoilers so you can enjoy the game for yourself.)
Story:
The game starts with a young boy, Chris, at home playing with his toys on a Saturday morning during winter. The player can see all sorts of toys, posters and games scattered around the room, as would be expected in a 10-year old boys room. Check out a screenshot below:
The entire game is played through the eyes of the 10-year-old Chris, in a third-person view. Chris likes to imagine himself as a superhero called Captain Spirit who has various powers to control objects with his mind. Captain Spirit has his own team of heroes (who are basically Chris’ toys) and the Captains arch-nemesis is the super villain, Mantroid!
After being called for breakfast and a brief interaction with Chris’ father you are free to explore the house and backyard. As in the Life is Strange games, the developers included a ton of small details and clues for the player to discover. The developers did a fantastic job at setting the scene without making it too obvious what was going on here. It seemed like for the most part, Chris and his father had a solid relationship but his mum was nowhere to be seen
The game starts of very light-hearted and friendly but things do change and the story does take some dark turns (minor spoilers). It is seen in the beginning of the game that Chris’ arm has bruises on it. Chris’ father asks if anyone has been curious about these bruises. This was the moment I suddenly knew something else was going on here and I was desperate to find out more about this situation Chris was living in. The huge number of different interactions and clues you find slowly unravel the deeper story behind this demo. Chris’ father can be seen drinking beer in the morning and the kitchen has a bunch of beer cans scattered all over the place. His father also has a short temper and can quickly become a little aggressive if pushed. The refrigerator contains old takeout containers and dirty dishes have been left unwashed. It felt like every detail in this small world was there for a reason and helped build an overall picture of what was occurring in Chris’ day-to-day life.
It slowly became clear that Chris’ mother was no longer present and had passed away. Chris lives alone with his father who does seem to be trying his best, initially. DONTNOD, as with the Life is Strange games, are great at showing real world issues in video game form. The backstory to Chris’ situation is mature and is far from the light-hearted fun he seems to be having initially.
The game explains what exactly happened to Chris’ mother, why his father is how he is and clearly shows how Chris manages to cope with loneliness and what seems like his fathers alcoholism (a lot of other major revelations must be discovered by the player through exploration / old news articles etc). He doesn’t seem to have any friends to play with on the weekend and is doing household chores. His imagination is what transforms his relatively simple / boring life into an exciting adventure for him. The game perfectly expresses his creative imagination. Simple tasks like clearing beer cans were transformed into ‘target practice’ for Captain Spirit. More about these well thought out tasks will be explained in the gameplay section of this review.
The story also shows how he channels his emotions through this active imagination. An example is how he uses the empty beer cans for target practice and even refers to them as the ‘beer monster.’ This spoke volumes about how Chris hates the fact that his father drinks all the time but he has no one to express these feelings to since his mother is no longer there. He seems to only be able to express his strong emotions through the brave superhero, Captain Spirit.
Another great example is when he plays with his toys he makes up certain backstories to each character and scenarios (this actually reminded me of my own childhood, where I used to play with action figures and create my own mini world with various characters / storylines). The player is given choices on how these scenarios play out. While it is common amongst children to use their imagination when playing with toys; I always had the feeling that in Chris’ case, his imaginary stories were used to deal with his emotions. An example of this is when he is playing with two toys and the superhero defeats a villain, it is up to Captain Spirit to either destroy the enemy or show mercy (i.e he could take his revenge or forgive the ‘villain’). Was this Chris’ way of either getting revenge on those who had made mistakes in his life or was he willing to forgive and move on?
‘Captain Spirit’ was making all the tough choices here, not Chris himself.
Moments like this really made me feel sympathy for Chris. He seemed to be a very smart, imaginative child who is trapped in his environment with no real progression. Christmas is approaching and even though he promises Chris they will go out and find a tree, Chris’ father lets him down again. He seems more fixated on watching a sports game rather than spending the weekend with his son. As I explored the house I found a range of clues providing backstories for his parents and some great links to the original Life is Strange game as well. Examples include letters from Chris’ grandparents offering their support and even offering to take care of Chris until the father gets better. All of these clues are what help develop the story and its characters.
Upon completing his chores, Chris wakes his father up after he fell asleep during the game. The events that unfold really made me feel bad for Chris. Chris’ father felt like a totally different person after drinking. He was much more aggressive and you could feel Chris’ fear. The developers did not shy away from showing the very real consequences of parents suffering from loss and how this loss can affect a child’s development if he / she is not supported. Although Chris’ father is also dealing with problems, he seems to be forgetting how young Chris is and how much support he needs in this difficult time.
Without spoiling anything, I loved the ending to this demo. It made me eager to play Life is Strange 2 and see if they expand on Chris’ story. The events that occur really took this game in a new direction and had me thinking about the game long after completing it. In my opinion, this is a sign of great storytelling, even though it is a relatively short game.
Gameplay:
As with the Life is Strange games, you can interact with various objects around the house. Each interaction is accompanied by dialogue which helps build the story. This style of interactive gameplay compares a little to that found in the Telltale Games as well. I really like this type of story focused, interactive gameplay as it really helped immerse me into the game.
In Captain Spirit, the story unfolds through these interactions. The player must explore everything if the full story is to be known. With certain interactions there are also multiple options to choose from. This adds great re-playability. Some interactions have ‘power actions’ where the player must hold down a button before selecting a power action (L2 on PS4). These result in more exciting interactions. An example of this is when you look at Chris’ superhero cape. The power action is what must be done to put the cape on and become Captain Spirit!
Chris has a ‘awesome things to do’ list which he carries with him at all times. The player can bring this list up and check what needs to be done. Some of the items on the list are household chores. However, these ‘boring’ chores are expressed through a 10 year olds imagination. Check out a photo below of this list:
Each item starts as a colourless drawing. As Chris completes the list, colour is added to his drawings as shown above. I have a great appreciation for how the writers managed to turn simple tasks into mini adventures. For example, one objective is to get the water heater working. However, Chris’ imagination sees this as a huge challenge for his superhero alter ego, Captain Spirit. He must first find his superhero cape then enter the dark room to take on the waterbeast (in reality he is basically fixing the water heater). It shows you how powerful a child’s imagination can be. Adults often take these tasks for granted and just get on with it. Chris, being a 10-year-old, manages to bring excitement into his life simply by creating these stories around himself. He gives his chores and his life purpose. Examples of tasks include:
- Making a Superhero Costume
- Finding Buried Treasure
- Defeating the Snowmancer
- Build a Superhero Team
- Finding and Defeating Mantroid!
My favourite was the objective which leads to Chris ‘crash-landing’ on a mysterious world full of danger where he must confront Mantroid. Check out a photo below which shows an example of how DONTNOD managed to bring Chris’ imagination to life:
Another fun moment is when you manage to unlock Chris’ fathers phone and play a mobile game. This mini-game within a game is actually a lot of fun as I kept going back to it so I could beat my high score!
The game includes many chances for the player to just explore and enjoy the environment. An example is where Chris sits on his cool treehouse and just takes in the environment around him. These nice, calm moments may not lead to any major objectives being completed, but can help the player simply take the time to enjoy the atmosphere in this game and appreciate the art style used here.
Graphics / Art / Sound:
The art style is similar to that found in the Life is Strange games. Everything has a slight washed out look to it. I really like this style as it makes the game feel unique and really helps set the tone for what the developers are aiming for here. The game ran smoothly and I never experienced any technical issues.
The game has a great soundtrack and the music used fits the theme of this game perfectly!
Conclusion:
Overall, I really enjoyed this short game. It made me eager to play Life is Strange 2 in the future. Although I enjoy all kinds of games (RPG’s, first / third person shooters / sports games etc) I especially enjoy these interactive games. I enjoy the heavy focus on story and character development as well as dialogue. Games like Life is Strange appeal to me because they can provide some great humour and light-hearted fun but at the same time are not afraid to tackle some of the more serious issues faced by people in the real world.
The game manages to tackle serious issues such as loneliness, alcoholism and how people deal with loss. However, it also captures the active, creative imagination of a child in video game form and I think the developers did a fantastic job here of making the player actually feel like they are 10-years old again. The game has some very imaginative, fun / happy moments and well thought out tasks as well as great dialogue and story. It kept me interested every step of the way. I would score this a 10 out of 10. This takes into account that this is a completely free demo episode and it got me even more interested in playing Life is Strange 2. This is likely one of the main objectives of this game. It really did a brilliant job of teasing what may be coming in Life is Strange 2 very soon!
Stay tuned to Nothing But Geek for more information about the upcoming Life is Strange 2! Thanks for reading.
RATING: 10/10
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