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Cape

by Bruno Dias profile

2015

(based on 45 ratings)
8 reviews

About the Story

Cape is a superhero origin story for the cyberpunk dystopia we're all living in.


Game Details


Awards

Nominee, Best Story - 2015 XYZZY Awards

5th Place - 21st Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2015)

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Member Reviews

5 star:
(11)
4 star:
(17)
3 star:
(12)
2 star:
(4)
1 star:
(1)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 8
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Most Helpful Member Reviews


4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Strong themes and excellent use of medium, December 27, 2015
by streever (America)

Cape is an engrossing take on the superhero genre, avoiding or subverting many of the worst tropes, while remaining faithful to the more noble themes from the genre.

Bruno Dias explores themes of class conflict, gentrification, and the corruption of authority in this impressively long choice-based game. Interactive elements feel meaningful and clearly telegraph your agency as you tell the origin story of a superhero.

There is no sense that you're closing off parts of the story, and the writing is fairly clear around choices, so you may or may not feel a need to play this one twice. I felt completely satisfied with my choices; the excellent writing made all of my decisions well-informed ones, and the sense that the story didn't change (just my character) left me feeling satisfied that I'd learned all there was to learn.

Plot-wise, the climax was less satisfying than expected; the writing is solid throughout (both in characterizations and plot development), but the ending feels somewhat quick and unsatisfying. This may be a very subjective bit of criticism; others may enjoy this as a self-contained setup for future stories (which seems to be the intent), but I couldn't help but feel like the pacing loosened up at the end.

To be frank, this is a quibble, and shouldn't detract from the rest of the experience. Cape is friendly and welcoming for newcomers and veterans alike, and is an excellent way to spend your time. I highly recommend it.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
"Review-Man" Sighted in Yeats Island, June 19, 2019

Cape is a story about the making of a superhero, rising from petty crime to be the scourge of a corrupt city. A thief down on his luck finds power from an unexpected source and becomes a vigilante. A familiar tale, but slickly executed and told. The quality of writing is obvious, and you get drawn in by the details pretty quickly, until the story itself draws to an all-too-soon conclusion that leaves you wanting more.

The only thing dragging it down, in my opinion, is a lack of actual choice and interactivity - the only things essentially up to you are your powers and your cruelty, which in most circumstances would suffice, but I think perhaps it should have been expanded on further. I did explore all possible choices, and while there are slight variations there's not much other than flavour. It's up to you whether you go back for further readthroughs, though I do think it is worth it.

Nonetheless, it was a great read from beginning to end, and I only wish there was more of it. Four balaclavas.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A grungy look at superhero origins in Undum, February 3, 2016
by MathBrush
Related reviews: IF Comp 2015, about 1 hour

Cape is, in my opinion, one of the best web-based interactive fiction games of all time. It is an engrossing story about a young petty criminal who has 'greatness thrust upon them' as a result of their crimes.

The most influential choice you make in this long Undum game is the choice of your super powers. I've heard some people say that the powers end up seeming the same, but I felt that all three big options were very different from each other. I think what people are talking about is a fact that the actual story is the same; just the details of it change from choice to choice.

Your superhero comes to grips with their powers and their crime-fighting. They are simultaneously uncomfortable and thrilled by their powers. There is an interesting mystery leading to a thrilling climactic confrontation.

The feel is grungy, dark; I lived in Manhattan for a while, and this really reminds me of the feel of the Lower East Side at night. I just loved this game. Loved it loved it loved it. (Note: whenever someone hypes up a game to me, I am always disappointed in it, so you might not like it as much as I did. I just happen to really like grungy superhero stories).

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Cape on IFDB

Recommended Lists

Cape appears in the following Recommended Lists:

Best of each authoring system by Denk
I intend to try the best games of each authoring system, so there will no doubt be many changes to this list in the future. So far, I think the following games are the best for each system I have tried: (games in alphabetic order)

A starter pack for those new to interactive fiction by MathBrush
I had a list like this before which I deleted, but I noticed it had a lot of views on intfiction, so I thought I'd make a new one to help people out. It has 10 web-based games, 10 parser games for beginners and 10 parser games of medium...

Best superhero games by MathBrush
These are games featuring superheros, with my thoughts on them. I haven't tried the Frenetic Five games yet.

Polls

The following polls include votes for Cape:

For Your Consideration - XYZZY-eligible PCs of 2015 by verityvirtue
This is for suggesting player characters from games released 2015 who you think might be worth considering for Best PC/Best Individual PC in the XYZZY awards. Leave the name (or namelessness) of the PC (or PCs) in the comment on your...

For Your Consideration - XYZZY-eligible writing of 2015 by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
This is for suggesting games released in 2015 which you think might be worth considering for Best Writing in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. The category will still be text-entry, and games not mentioned here...

For Your Consideration - XYZZY-eligible stories of 2015 by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
This is for suggesting games released in 2015 which you think might be worth considering for Best Story in the XYZZY awards. This is not a zeroth-round nomination. The category will still be text-entry, and games not mentioned here will...

See all polls with votes for this game




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