Sea of Thieves Reviews
Rare’s latest game has been unshackled from beta for a few weeks now, and lately, I have been trying to pioneer the PSVG Squad into playing more and more of this game to see what it offers. Some of our team members have also played the beta version of this extensively, and so they knew what most of this game offered from the get-go. Having only played it fresh from its official release myself, I have seen a metric crap-ton of what the game has to give and am now more than happy for me to give a quick judgment for you to see right here before we dig into the gritty details.
It remains to be seen how Sea of Thieves will grow in the future–being a live game it almost certainly will change at some point–but it’s hard not to come away feeling disappointed. Because Sea of Thieves is really a likeable, charming game that I want to see become better. It’s just not there right now.
Sea of Thieves lays the groundwork for a gameplay experience unlike anything else, which could have lived up to Rare’s legacy, but it fails to fully achieve its ambitions. As it stands, the game is an empty pirate adventure that sports brief moments of delight. Sadly, these instances are fleeting and the player is quickly returned to the monotonous and repetitive quest design to pad out their pirate’s life. Sea of Thieves might one day grow into the game we all hoped for, but for now it is a far cry from its targeted experience.
Innovative, but also incomplete.
Sea of Thieves is what pirate dreams are made of. It's got some holes that need plugging, and I think time will be it's biggest benefit - there's plenty of hours of entertainment to be had with the existing voyages and things to see and do, but I'm incredibly excited to see how the game evolves from here. Sea of Thieves relies a lot on playing with friends and some repetition to get to legendary status. This is an incredibly social game, both verbal and non-verbal, that you'll undoubtedly have fun playing for hours upon hours singing sea shanties while drinking grog and firing off cannon shots for no good reason.
What you’ll think of Sea of Thieves seems to depend on what you expected going in. Those that wanted a single player pirate adventure are bound to be disappointed by the relatively simple gameplay loop of going to find chests and returning to port with them, earning money to buy cosmetic rewards. Those looking for a multiplayer game with solo or co-operative play options are much more likely to be happy with what Sea of Thieves has to offer.
Sea of Thieves is a sailing master class with epic visuals and a thrill ride for the first few hours of discovery, but the swell simmers down to a stark flat body of water consisting of the same thing all over again just in a slightly different place.
Whatever promise Sea of Thieves had at the beginning falters soon after, to the point where this is a hot contender for The Most Boring Game of 2018.
Sea of Thieves can be a complete blast to play with your friends but a lack of content, an almost disastrous launch laden with server issues and some highly questionable design decisions makes what should have been the ultimate pirate game into a complete and utter disappointment.
"Though there seems to be a content wall holding it back, as well as some glitches needing to be worked out, Sea of Thieves is a solid title. Beautiful visuals and impactful audio draw the player in to an immersive experience."
It would be safe to say that Sea of Thieves may need a bit of refinement to develop the full potential that it could have by far. The multiplayer approach is well chosen and the rare naval battles become the highlight of every adventure. But the missing content that should keep you in the mood and the missing level system let you lose the initial adventure euphoria quickly. So I’d recommend to wait and see how Sea of Thieves develops. What content will follow and whether the price of 60 € can keep up. Because if content won’t be added the game quickly, Sea of Thieves players will drop out one after another. Unfortunately, Sea of Thieves only scores 6.5 out of a possible 10 points at Cerealkillerz.
Review in German | Read full review
Even though it feels a bit stripped down, there is a lot of fun to be had in Sea of Thieves.
Sea of Thieves teases you with this largely unexplored ocean until you realize there's not much out there.
Your path in Sea of Thieves is yours to make. The game is not for everyone, but you can't deny the potential for fun and adventure in Sea of Thieves. Despite some setbacks with trolling players and endgame content, I find myself wanting to play more and more of Sea of Thieves.
Sea of Thieves truly is the ultimate pirate fantasy and adventure, it does however really come down to how much you like the core gameplay.
After a year or two, I think Sea of Thieves might be a complete winner. Right now, it's uneven.
Sea of Thieves is the perfect framing device for nautical adventure that rewards a committed group of young-at-heart, social pirates to find and evoke the fun from its sandbox. Unfortunately, that gorgeous world has questionable systems and content limits that (if not dealt with) scupper its incredible potential and give it a worrying sell-by-date.
Rare banks heavily on the journey you'll experience with Sea of Thieves, yet sadly the destination is confusing or might be a letdown for others. At the current state, we cannot suggest Sea of Thieves as a game but it's solid on a technical level and can be fun with friends for a while. Let's hope Rare can upgrade the experience fast enough to keep the attention of the most loyal players.
I don't exactly know what is different between current Sea of Thieves and day one Sea of Thieves, but the issues I have with the current version of this game are similar to the ones other had back in early 2018. The missions are dull, money is meaningless, and any positive experience with this game feels fleeting.
In my opinion, Sea of Thieves was always a great game, if a bit bare bones. But after a year of updates, it’s now the fleshed out pirate game we deserve and more updates are in the pipeline. If you can reconcile yourself with what the game is, which is a game about piracy, you will have a wonderful time. It is an experience you likely can’t find in another game. If you’re looking to sail the seas in peace, you should look elsewhere. Now get out there and get that booty!