Any fan of 2D platforming games will find everything they want from Capsized as it successfully ticks all the boxes of what you’d like to see in such a title. At no stage does it try to be something its not, nor frustrate you with impossible puzzles, bosses or challenges and yet there is plenty to sink your teeth into if you’re after something difficult.
Story: “survive, regroup, escape” 6.5/10
The story is pretty simple and relatively engaging for what it is and while I never really find 2D games engrossing, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I wanted to press on to find out what happens. The game starts off with some cartoony montages that introduce you to the crashing of a spaceship on a mysterious alien planet. You then start your first level by popping out of your escape capsule and start exploring the lush and beautiful world. The story then develops from surviving and finding crashed shipmates to exploring and collecting salvage to build a ship and escape. The game does a good job of contextualising every level meaning that not only do you always know what you’re objective is, it requires a somewhat different approach and play style every time.
Gameplay: “easy to learn, hard to master” 8/10
I always thought story is almost irrelevant in 2D platformers since the strength always lies in level design and engaging gameplay. Thankfully, Capsized does a good job of keeping the story moving and changing up the levels with it in order to stop every stage becoming a simple get-from-A-to-B affair. With so many platformers out there nowadays its easy to find a game that simply takes you through a two dimensional space only to move onto the next area to do the same. While Capsized avoids this problem and is relatively short as a result, it doesn’t get repetitive.
The best thing about the game is that the controls are simple to learn and hard to master. You control your little space man as he hops about through the levels trying to complete a variety of objectives. You have a machine-gun and gravity hook at your disposal but you’ll find lots of different weapons and power-ups as you explore. The gravity hook functions in two ways, primarily as a grappling hook and secondly as a ‘pogo’ like thruster. Using the hook you can swing and navigate the world a lot like using a ‘ninja-rope’ in a Worms game and the level design somewhat reflects a similar design focus. You can grapple and manoeuvre small objects in order to complete puzzles, clear passage ways, or launch debris at enemies. Thanks to a solid physics system its all very simple to get the hang of but in the hands of a seasoned platformer its a skill ready to be mastered. You’re also granted a jet-pack which, provided you can find fuel, allows you traverse the level much faster and gun you way to the end of the level. Given that fuel is always limited, its best to use the gravity-hook and only jet-pack when getting frustrated or seeking hard to reach areas.
the details in the environment make you want to play very close to the screen
You also get a large variety of weapons in the game that is well supplemented by no shortage of alien enemies. At times your screen fills with aliens pouring your direction hoping to destroy your feeble attempts at a planetary escape and you’ll be leaping and launching yourself in low-gravity to keep them at bay. Its fun and stressful but never lasts so long that you grow tired of being harassed. While I usually blasted away with whatever weapon I had equipped, more dedicated players will have a lot of fun testing the different weapons (as well as alternate fire mode!) and mastering the right one for the right moment. Thankfully again, the game supports an auto-aim function to help you target your enemies when en-mass but pros can easily opt out and use manual aim for a more hardcore experience.
Over all, the game play is very simple and easy but with a lot of depth under hood waiting to be mastered. Its an ideal experience for any gamer because none of the enemies or puzzles are ever so hard that they restrict the progression of casual players but solving all the puzzles and finding the secrets in each level will take a whole different calibre of platformer.
Graphics and Visual Art Design: “Rich details and varied levels” 8/10
Graphics in a 2d platformer are never about photo-realism or ground breaking technology and more about art style and design. Here again, Capsized does a lovely job of setting the scenes for some nice looking levels. The theme is an alien jungle (inspired by deep ocean ecosystems) filled with curious plants, vines and creatures and combined with excellent lighting effects makes for a visual treat from start to finish. Creatures pop in and out from behind scenery as you approach and react to your presence (no this isn’t Call of Duty: Ghost’s next gen fish!) and its neat. The ‘worms’ like level designs have you jumping through clear spaces in which an alien sun sets in the back-ground to night time levels in which you’re scurrying through tunnels, flash-light in hand. It never fails to look interesting and the balanced pacing of action and exploration means you’ve always got a chance to appreciate the fine detail.
Sound: “Atmospheric” 7/10
Capsized has a brilliantly atmospheric soundtrack as well chosen environmental sound effects. As you move through he levels exploring you’ll hear all sorts of sniffs and snuffles, drips, drops and buzzes which help build the ambience of the jungle you’re exploring. While all the sounds are limited, including weapon and enemy grunts, the overall variety of game play pace means you never really have long enough to grow tired of it. It would have been nice to have a larger collection of musical themes as you hear the same notes an awful lot but it is pleasant and in no way intrusive enough to really warrant lowering the music in the settings.
Overall Experience: “A lot under the hood” 8/10
In general, Capsized is a game that accomplishes a great deal considering its size. It is difficult to create a hardcore platforming experience for 2D fans while simultaneously producing something that a casual could play. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the game and completed the 12 story levels in a little over 2hrs. Now before anyone shudders at the thought, that was focusing strictly on story to make it through the game for this review. I found only 4 out of a total 60 secrets and barely reached 5/10 stars on each level so I missed an awful lot. I never grew frustrated with the difficulty of puzzles or challenges but appreciated the depth of what I was letting slip. Anyone with a completionist mentality and a desire for more will find a lot to try and accomplish though finding secrets and earning 10/10 on every level. Whats more, the game supports an arcade mode that adds time trials, takes away your weapons, or tasks you with simply clearing the area of enemies. Add this all together and for 800 msp, you’ll get 5 or 6 hours of entertainment from it at least!
FINAL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10
I often grow frustrated with 2d platformers when my level of interest in the story and progression is hindered by an irritating puzzle, boss or reliance on control mastery. Capsized stumbles at no such hurdle and kept me entertained from start to finish in an enjoyable if not entirely predictable story. While the game’s price certainly reflects its length, it by no means displays its depth and hardcore platformers will have fun discovering all there is to see. The game is well paced with moments of tranquillity and action and the difficulty settings scale well. Within a deep and rich environment there is little to dislike and the developers should be applauded for successfully shunning the clichés many 2D games employ.
Simply put, Capsized is captivating
Xplore Gaming 