Sea of Thieves Reviews

Sea of Thieves is ranked in the 37th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
GameMAG
KOZIK
Top Critic
7 / 10
Apr 3, 2018

During first few days Sea of ​​Thieves feels like a brilliant pirate adventure game. Beautiful world, unique co-op mechanics, complex ship management from the first person view, great compass system without any mini-maps with marks, and battles between the players create a huge number of interesting situations. But then you begin to understand that exploration element is underdeveloped, the world is barren, and there are too few opportunities for new fresh adventures. Basic mechanics are incredibly cool and promising, so Rare needs to act fast and create new content updates and expansions.

Review in Russian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Apr 4, 2018

This historian notes the progression in the pirate's attitude. At the outset, she is optimistic at best and infuriated at worst. Her outlook seems to peak when she first joins a crew and sails with friends, but she cannot maintain that energy, and eventually devolves once again into frustration—primarily, it seems, with other pirates of the time, who show little to no restraint in their violence for no reason. However, she maintains a constant love for the sea, and seemed to greatly enjoy the time she spent in a full crew; even throughout misfortunes, such as lost ships and chicken mishaps, there seemed to be great amusement. Perhaps, had she a more accessible and constant crew, her piracy might not have ended so soon after her arrival in the Sea of Thieves.

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6 / 10.0
Apr 8, 2018

Sea of Thieves is a daring attempt by Rare but also a lacking one on so many fronts. While the graphics are fantastic and the game has a unique charm, ultimately the world feels empty, devoid of content and features. Sailing with friends can be an exhilarating experience at first, but when there's not much to do the fun dies down pretty quickly.

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9 / 10
Apr 29, 2024

Sea of Thieves is a blast when playing with friends. With its focus on cosmetic customisation, we slipped into the pirate's life with ease – even after six years of updates and seasonal changes. Its natural and immersive approach to navigation makes it a seafaring sandbox well worth visiting, and a focus on cosmetics over high-tier loot make it a game you can play at your own pace. It's a delight to steadily come to grips with the mechanics of the game too, whether that be how to outmanoeuvre enemy ships or sell your loot with quickened efficiency. It might not have the same level of grind that a lot of players look for in a live service game, but there's endless pirate fun to be had here, and we're glad that PlayStation players finally have the opportunity to join in on the swashbuckling chaos.

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8.5 / 10.0
May 2, 2024

Rare charted its course, and created a true treasure in Sea of Thieves. Its only lows found in solo gameplay, and its one dimensional melee combat. It is the king of emergent gameplay, and boasts a timeless aesthetic. With other issues such as the tedious downtime fixed, and a great many quality of life and accessibility changes, through years of dedication and continued support, Sea of Thieves is the best game as a service on the market.

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Mar 20, 2018

Can Rare make this Xbox exclusive last?

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8 / 10
Feb 21, 2019

A year of updates has helped fill out its light content, but the real magic was there from the start. Rare's take on cartoon piracy encourages you to behave as a cartoon pirate should: a little bloodthirsty, a little silly, and almost always drunk.Dustin Bailey

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ACG
Top Critic
Wait for Sale
Mar 21, 2018
Sea of Thieves Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" video thumbnail
3.5 / 5.0
Mar 23, 2018

Having fun in Sea of Thieves is a slow burn at the moment. Most of the game involves you just chilling on your ship while looking for other pirates to steal from, or for the raids to start.

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EGM
Top Critic
6 / 10.0
Mar 23, 2018

Sea of Thieves' world isn't completely lacking in achievement, thanks to its luscious visuals and excellent sailing mechanics, but it feels completely undercooked in terms of actual gameplay. Perhaps ironically, Sea of Thieves feels like the skeleton of a game rather than a fully realized experience. Rare promises that more content is coming, but judging on what the game offers now, it's a journey not worth taking—at least not yet.

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Mar 23, 2018

With Rare having spent the majority of the last decade more closely associated with the Kinect Sports franchise than the whimsical and inventive likes of its earlier years, Sea of Thieves feels like a return to form. It's packed with the studio's trademark charm and humour, while providing endless opportunities for adventure.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 26, 2018

Sea of Thieves has a startlingly gorgeous presentation and well-thought-out pirate simulation for you to get excited over. But its spell on the high-seas is short-lived, with a lack of incentivising quests and lacklustre combat forcing you to make your own compelling reasons to stick with it rather than it not loosening its grasp on your attention.

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72 / 100
Mar 26, 2018

Permanently monotonous, but due to its unpredictability also enormously fun open-world pirate adventure with great optics.

Review in German | Read full review

7 / 10
Mar 26, 2018

Sea of ​​Thieves is absolutely great, but great for just a few days (for four days for example). That's how long it takes to realize that there is a big problem of content that makes the game quickly ultra repetitive

Review in French | Read full review

Atomix
Top Critic
78 / 100
Mar 26, 2018

Sea of Thieves is a very risky game. Not only it comes out after very successful multiplayer projects like Diablo, Borderlands and even Destiny, but it has some difficulties while trying to play with other users and some confusing progress mechanics. But when you are able to play it with people willing to achieve the goal missions and be communicative, the experience changes completely for the best.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Mar 26, 2018

U.K.-based developer Rare has crafted an experience that's as wide as an ocean but only as deep as a puddle.

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8.3 / 10.0
Mar 27, 2018

For now, it's a wonderful social experience that kept me wanting to see more. And when I wasn't playing, I was looking forward to returning to the open sea.

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Justin Woo
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Mar 26, 2018

Sea of Thieves has glimmers of promise and is gorgeous to look at, but single player play is virtually worthless, and the repetitive nature of the quests and empty world leave the game feeling incomplete and overpriced.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 22, 2018

Sea of thieves is one of a kind, a very rare game that will be a sea of joy for ones, and a strange and empty game, that lack some of the basics of modern games. For me is a total success, that has filled my hours with plenty of unforgettable moments.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

4 / 10.0
Mar 30, 2018

At the end of the day, Rare promised a grand pirate adventure, but missed the mark on so much they could have done.

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