Having played several beta versions just before its launch, I knew Sea of Thieveswould be a difficult game to review. A lot of its successes rely largely on elements away from game's control, and Rare has been promising since before launch more content was still being in the future. Things i didn't realize was how littlecontent there would actually be in the outset.
Sea of Thieves is an online-only, shared-world, first-person adventure game in which you take on the role of the pirate. You start the game within the world's several taverns located on outpost islands, and as soon as you raise your head, what your pirate does-and, by extension, who your pirate is-is entirely your decision.
“It's much more about your way than the destination” is really a line no doubt you've heard repeated about Sea of Thieves ad nauseum running up to its release-and, truly, your way could be spectacular in Sea of Thieves. The world itself, a minimum of while you are on the ocean, is often stunning and often breathtaking. It might appear to be a cliché by this point, however the water in Sea of Thieves is really a technical and artistic achievement. The digital waves here behave the way in which you'd expect real water to behave, and staring out in the endless horizon in the bow of your ship can feel as awe-inspiring as staring out at the unbelievable vastness of the real ocean. It doesn't hurt that the lighting itself is also excellent; the sun or moon glittering on the water is a marvel.
Thankfully, sailing that ocean is among the most fun you will have with Sea of Thieves, whether you're playing alone or with friends-in part because the game's sailing mechanics are a revelation. Unlike other games which involve naval combat, the ships in Sea of Thieves don't function as extra time of your character but instead like a tool that players must manipulate to get where they have to go. You do not just turn left or turn right, pressing one button to gain speed or any other to fire your cannons. Devoting mechanics to setting the sails, checking the map, and steering the wheel-all while enabling you to freely roam around your boat and rock together with it-turns the ship into its own little island. Unlike most games, by which sailing feels a lot more like driving a vehicle, Sea of Thieves truly captures the magic and ever-present danger to be on the water.
It's when you dock your ships on a single of the world's islands-you know, whenever you reach your destination-that Sea of Thieves' beauty fades away to reveals its thinness. It isn't the islands aren't visually appealing, because they are, but there's just so much adventure that's hinted at rather than delivered. Scarecrows made from crucified skeletons or mysterious paintings on the sides of rocks only function as clues to where you will find buried treasure, and the only enemies you'll ever encounter are the skeletons of dead pirates and stationary snakes who spit poison at you. Beyond that, Sea of Thieves' islands are without life or mystery, and the sandbox nature of the game feels more like a clear box without the sand.
Sea of Thieves' quest structure truly is affected with the emptiness of their islands. Any time you start a new adventure, you'll start on an outpost island where you can get voyages in one from the game's three trading companies: the Gold Hoarders, the Order of Souls, and the Merchant Alliance. While all these trading companies will offer you superficially various kinds of quests-the Gold Hoarders want buried treasure, an order of Souls wants the skulls of dead pirate captains, and the Merchant Alliance wants supplies like chickens and gunpowder-they all add up to simple randomly-generated fetch quests. Venture out, get this thing, and produce it back without letting other players steal said thing. The very first time you discover buried treasure is fairly exciting, however the more voyages you are taking on, the greater you understand you're doing the same thing again and again and also over and also over again. This simple quest structure wouldn't be this type of problem if visiting islands offered a range in what you encountered when you landed, but the repetitive quest structure and the starkly boring islands mean that Sea of Thieves' voyages will get old within the initial few hours.
Another problem with Sea of Thieves' repetitive quests is that the satisfaction you feel from completing them will largely rely on just how much you care about putting on a costume your pirate, as the game's progression system is entirely cosmetic-based. The greater quests you complete, the larger your rank with each from the trading companies can get, and the more gold you'll earn with each quest, unlocking more cosmetic items that you should purchase with said gold. The idea behind this cosmetic-based progression product is to flatten the playing field, never preventing lower-rank players from integrating with their higher-rank friends. But, without gameplay associated with these cosmetic items, the rewards don't seem worth the monotony from the quest structure, making the entire game seem like you're doing chores instead of playing a game title. You also don't fully create your own pirate, but rather choose your pirate from a randomly-generated choice of premade pirates which can be refreshed until you find the correct fit. It's a system I personally didn't mind, however it will certainly make some players feel less linked to their characters, making the cosmetic items you earn on their behalf even less worthwhile.
The blankness of Sea of Thieves core gameplay loop means that your enjoyment of the game will rely solely on the fun you make together with your friends. You can play solo, plus some people might find the mixture of peaceful isolation on the sea and the ever-present danger of running into a complete crew of pirates while transporting a bounty of treasures equally relaxing and tense, but the game definitely appears to favor full crews. Not only will joining a crew of 3 or 4 give you a bigger, stronger ship (an eight-cannon galleon instead of a two-cannon sloop smaller sloop), but it will even give you the chance to simply goof served by your friends, which will distract you from the oppressive mundanity of the voyages which you're embarking. It will likewise provide you with a “strength in numbers” advantage from the other players on the ocean, who never wish to seem to communicate with you by any means other than immediately attacking you-which itself quickly becomes repetitive because of the limited combat mechanics and lack of variety in weaponry.
For a game title that's so focused on multiplayer, the matchmaking product is maybe one of the most baffling aspects of Sea of Thieves. I'm not talking about a few of the connection issues that the sport faced at launch, that have been definitely annoying; I'm referring to the particular matchmaking system, which can make you start games together with your friends if you want to play. Before jumping into a server, you'll decide whether you want to play solo on the sloop, double up on a sloop with another player, form a three-person crew on the galleon, or set out using the full four-person galleon crew. However, should you start playing a solo game and your friend really wants to join you, they will not have the ability to jump into the game. Instead, you'll have to quit out and form a two-person crew together in the main menu. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, but when you're transporting a swath of treasure and also you haven't returned it to the outpost, quitting out of a game title will effectively cause you to lose all that treasure and experience. At that time, either your friend will need to wait in the main menu for you to finish your voyage, or else you will have to forfeit a lot of treasure that you just spent several hours collecting. So, again, employing this type of matchmaking system seems totally misguided for a game that's based entirely around multiplayer.
On a superficial level, the planet of Sea of Thieves promises hours of open-ended multiplayer adventures using its expansive horizons and sunken treasures. But, after a couple of hours, it felt like those promises were empty-literally. Sea of Thieves has potential, and it can be fun based on desire is in your crew, but as far as what the game offers in is current state, there's too little to do and an excessive amount of repetition in what there is to do. I wanted to like Sea of Thieves, because sailing its vistas is definitely an experience unlike any I've been on a video game, but when I acquired to where I had been going, it too often felt like I'd gone nowhere at all.
