Game of the Week: The Swashbuckling ‘Sea of Thieves’ Will Have You Knee-Deep in Booty
Arrr you ready to be a pirate?
The highly anticipated booty-plundering pirate game, Sea of Thieves, has captured our consoles this week, and a revisit to a turncoat assassin gives us a 4k dose of American history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1YnzQax8TM
Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves is a long time coming, and we’re damn glad it’s finally here. Microsoft’s exclusive pirate game sets you adrift in a sea of loot, krakens and other plunder-hungry pirates like yourself. The crew over at Rare (the same studio that brought you Goldeneye and Donkey Kong Country) has been at work on Sea of Thieves for years, with the end game here being an enormous and stunning world to explore that’s densely filled with things to do… but still somehow offers up the moody solitude of the ocean.
Sea of Thieves is successful because it lets you choose the way you want to play it. You can captain your own crew, laying waste to anyone foolish enough to cross your path as you cut throats to increase your holdings. Or you can opt for a single-man ship, quietly uncovering bountiful chests along the way but having no real back-up when confronted by another crew. Other players were few and far between in the pre-launch hours of the game, but player interactions, shootouts on ships and islands, are poised to be the highlights that keep players coming back to see what unique moments Sea of Thieves has in store.
It’s also the first major launch game to see simultaneous release via Xbox’s Game Pass, Microsoft’s $10 a month, Netflix-style service, so you may want to consider trying that out before plunking down for Sea of Thieve’s $59 retail price. Whichever way you get it, Sea of Thieves will have you raising your cup of grog in the hopes of fair winds and following seas. (Buy)
Honorable mention
Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered
Assassin’s Creed fans may have let Rogue slip by them back when it came out in 2014. Originally meant for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Ubisoft is giving everyone another crack at it with remastered 4K graphics for the Xbox One and PS4. AC Rogue is probably one of the most interesting stories in the AC universe, putting you in the boots of Shay Patrick Cormac shortly after the events of Black Flag and borrows much from the gameplay of that game.
It’s not the best gameplay you’ll find in the AC series, but Shay’s story makes up for a lot of that as you watch him mistrust his assassin brethren, question their motives and, ultimately, turn on them. It’s one of the most interesting plots we’ve seen from Assassin’s Creed and that’s what makes the game worth playing. Maybe just skip all the unnecessary side quests. (Buy)