First, what an easy mode puzzle it is? Kevin basically said: do this and you'll solve a puzzle. Sure, sometimes players can fail even that, but if Chris is one of those... Actually, I remember how the movie ends and take back my complain.
Second, the soldier's job is not to think. If soldiers starts to think, they can start questioning orders. Officers are the one that need to think the most efficient way to complete the mission. So, if this scene shows anything, it's that Steve is not a very good soldier. He has a potential to be a good officer, but he never attended any military academia, and there is not much time for him to learn how to became a proper commander, as the war is already going.
This is the first thing I don't like about this movie, but certainly not last. It will hurt more later.
I want to argue that they were looking for a Super Soldier with intelligence to figure out how to solve impossible problems. On the otherhand, they weren't initially trying to make just 1 Super Soldier, they got angry they weren't able to get more of them.
So I see both sides of the argument. I guess it's because Erskine was looking for a certain kind of person for his first Super Soldier, because he'd seen what kind of man made the Red Skull, and he had some sway in the testing process. And we've seen being a Super Soldier can make one smarter, so it can fill in the gap not going to a military academy could create.
But I agree with Nukem, this felt like too easy of a gimme by the GM. Yeah a perception check is a good idea, but it would have really been more impressive if Chris came up with the removing the bolt himself without the GM basically spoonfeeding the whole "simple support pin could easily be undone." Doesn't really make Chris seem that impressive at puzzle solving or as bright.
I do like the willingness to bring up his flaw even if it disadvantages him.
Author Notes:
Also I decided to drop the Iron Man Retrospective earlier than I originally planned, it can be found here if you'd like to read it.