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Player-controlled and computer-controlled ships can have a combination of skills from flamethrowers and explosive barrels to a ghostly summon that drains the health of an enemy’s sails, hull, and crewmen. On a positive note, the action is further emphasized owing to four different skill brackets that also act as equipment. Perhaps the only downside here is that things can get a little too confusing, as I’ll explain in a while. Each particular piece of equipment has its own stats that can boost the offensive and defensive capabilities of your vessel. Moreover, you can equip your craft with various contraptions like masts, hull designs, cannon types, ammo, and more. You speed up by raising your sails, slow down to make quick turns, switch to different ammo types that deal damage to certain components, and fire your cannons at the port and starboard sides. Controls are fairly responsive, at least as long as you’re using a gamepad it’s extremely clunky when you’re using the keyboard. You start out with a tiny sloop, but, later on, you’ll be able to purchase other options such as a flute (fluyt), brig, frigate, and galleon. In King of Seas, what reminds me most of Sid Meier’s Pirates! are the naval battles. Alternatively, you might want to stay on good terms with a few settlements since you can pick up goods in a certain location and sell them for a profit wherever the demand is high. It leads to situations where you can basically farm a nearby town over and over, sinking boats and running back to a friendly harbor.
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If you bombard them too close to any port held by the Merchant faction, only that settlement will be hostile to you for a time. However, since you are a pirate, you’re still able to attack their craft without any penalty as long as you do it on the high seas. Likewise, you can buy upgrades for your ships and dock at their harbors for repairs. You can freely trade with them and undertake quests to help you level up and acquire perks. Think of this faction as independent city-states of sorts.
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Lastly, there’s the neutral Merchant faction. All vessels and towns that belong to this faction will remain hostile throughout the campaign. Opposing you is the Royal Navy led by the ambitious admiral, bolstered by a sycophant captain and a mighty armada. Your character is solely part of the Pirates faction, a ragtag group of buccaneers at the edge of a procedurally generated map. The campaign instead presents you with three factions. From this point onwards, you sail under the banner of the Jolly Roger as you reclaim the throne.įorget the concept of nations in King of Seas. Thankfully, friendly pirates manage to rescue you. This false accusation leads to your character’s ship getting bombarded and sunk. Although the king’s death isn’t explicitly shown, you do realize that an ambitious admiral and several members of the Royal Navy have branded your character a traitor. As your character sets out on his or her first voyage as a captain, you receive word that your father, the king, has died. King of Seas’ campaign starts out with you choosing either a male or female character, siblings who are scions of the royal family. Sadly, certain concepts and features did feel lacking, so much so that it seemed like a more streamlined or simplified version of what I had expected it to be. There’s plenty of stuff to do to keep you engaged for hours. Truth be told, King of Seas does manage to scratch the itch, and I found myself adventuring across the oceans. At a glance, I noticed how it was heavily inspired by the classic and I was enticed to try it out. Enter King of Seas, a new offering from developer 3DClouds and publisher Team17 that’s set to release tomorrow. Since that moment, I’ve looked for other games that could capture my imagination the same way that Pirates! did. Although I missed out on this classic, I was able to play the 2004 remake on the Xbox and PC. Sid Meier’s Pirates! originally released in 1987.