Sea Of Thieves – A Review In A Bottle
Nothing quite beats the feeling of taking the helm of your own ship, having the wind brush through your hair, setting sail into the great unknown, and having your crew raise a glass in your name while singing the songs of the seas.
Or at least that’s how I felt when I first started playing Sea Of Thieves, a game that was gifted to me by friends while I was on the hunt looking for a new game I could enjoy. Somehow I seemed to find just exactly everything I wanted and needed from this deadly PvP pirate game after I was shown around by a friend.
When I first started up the game, I made my first attempt alone, and that did not go down so well… I had no clue as to what I was doing even after I played the tutorial. It can take me quite a while to get used to the new mechanics of a game. Playing alone, the game did not catch my attention, and setting sail on the open waters brought out every nightmare and fear I’ve ever had about the ocean.
Sea Of Thieves adds a lot more to that fear by adding a few mythical creatures and monsters into the game, like fights with deadly Krakens, getting chased down by a weird-looking megalodon and skeletons waiting to shoot you when you don’t pay attention. It doesn’t help that I am actually quite scared of open water, so one of the scariest things about the game for me is when you swim to loot that’s floating in the middle of the ocean and try to pick it up. All while trying to avoid the what lurks in the world filled with water beneath your feet. If you look down while swimming, you see nothing, it’s just water as far as the eye can see.
One time as I took a dive under the sea to find more loot, the music suddenly changed and I thought that I was running out of air because I’d been under the water for too long. Gasping, I flicked the mouse left and right to try and see why the music had changed all of a sudden, just to be almost scared to death by two sharks getting ready to attack.
Alone this sounds a lot scarier than I’m making it look, but believe you me, this game makes me anxious when I play it by myself, ultimately taking the fun out of it.
Having the opportunity to play with friends made my next experience of the game so much better for me. And it quickly became a game that I would like to play every day, leaving all of the responsibilities to the rest of my crew. At the same time, while they worked hard, I simply take out my instrument and play getaway music.
When its time to hand in all of our treasures, we raise a glass thanking our boat for staying good to us. Afterward, we set her alight and watch her meet her fiery end and log off for the night. After every successful catch, hunt, and loot, you cannot help but want to do it all over the next day, despite all the fears you have about jumping into the water or coming face to face with a Kraken and a few sharks spawning. If the sense of boundless adventure isn’t what gets you coming back to the game, then it definitely has to be the beautiful ocean views and fiery sunsets. The art style in this game works so well and looks so stunning every time I log in to play it.
With all the beauties of the game, there are still a few cracks that will leave you running around like a headless chicken at the beginning of the game. Finding your feet in a PvP game like this can be somewhat scary because you have to be at the top of your game from the second you log in. When you are playing alone, you will spend more time running around on your ship, trying to stay afloat rather than drinking and having the time to enjoy your loot.
A Pirates life is a hectic life, and you’ll have to be quick on your feet to avoid oncoming fire, megalodons ramming your ship and other PVP players trying to sink your boat. Nobody tells you how to do any of these things, it’s an ‘on the job’ learning experience. The minimum basics are taught in the tutorial, things like how to use your shovel, and how to swing your sword. But right after that, you are on your own!! Learning about all the missions and quests can be a walk in the park if you have someone skilled and has played for a while now to teach you. But otherwise, you’ll be left to your own devices!
I still have to experience the game to its fullest potential with a whole crew for longer than maybe 30 minutes. I’ll get my ragtag team of trustworthy pirates someday but there is just something very appealing to being part of a team of pirates. I know my role will mostly be that of the clumsy, fall off the ship kind of player, so the other positions can be filled around my clumsiness! Like steering the ship and its crew to victory while trying to avoid small shallow lands, or perhaps you would like to man your cannons and harpoons to help your team defeat all of your enemies. Maybe you would like to have the hardest job of them all, and that is to navigate and tell your captain where to go.
There is a role for everyone on the ship, and you will never have a dull moment onboard once your boat starts taking cannon fire. Like in every pirate movie, we see a lot of running about onboard. Scooping out water and fixing holes from below deck to ensure the ship does not sink, to looking for every advantage like having the sails filled with the wind to help you escape.
Overall the game is a lot of fun with others, and it has helped me enjoy the game a lot more from my first experience! I would highly recommend this game to others that enjoy playing video games together as a team.
I definitely feel like the life of a pirate is something everyone needs to experience, and Sea Of Thieves offers just that. So grab your shovel, a few friends, and search for treasure and sail the deadly seas together!
Lots of Love
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