Sea Of Thieves – 7 Months At Sea
Sea Of Thieves, in my opinion, is one of the best games available for the Xbox One. As games go, I’ve pretty much done and seen it all in my 30 odd years behind the joypad, but Rare’s brilliant pirate sandbox has something that just keeps me coming back for more. It’s incredibly good fun to play and at the end of the day folks, isn’t that what gaming is all about
In The Beginning
Sea Of Thieves launched on the 20th of March and according to Rare, the game shattered all internal sales expectations that both they and Microsoft had for it. It was a huge success, player engagement was high but not everybody was happy.
You see, Sea Of Thieves was Microsoft’s first AAA title to hit its recently launched Netflix style service, Game Pass. Some folks who paid top dollar to play it at launch began to complain about the lack of in game content. Rumblings on the internet suggested that Rare had released a half finished title, that there was nothing to do. Sea Of Thieves had been dubbed the “No Man’s Sky” for Xbox.
Of course, at the time it was hard to argue against such complaints but Rare had been crystal clear on this. The game that launched was the foundation on which everything else would be built. And those foundations, the odd bug here and there aside, were rock solid.
For me, the content or supposed lack of, didn’t bother me in the slightest. From the word go this game was fantastic fun and simply hilarious to play.
Ship to ship battles provide both intense and laugh out loud moments. Exploring the games world is a joy, due to the whole thing being absolutely gorgeous to look at. Sunsets will take your breath away. At night, the Moon’s reflection on the water is mesmerizing. Everywhere you look, this game is polished and beautiful.
Sea Of Thieves has been designed as a pure multiplayer sandbox. Again, after launch people argued that there was no ranking or progression system, that there was nothing to build towards. That cosmetics alone would not be enough to keep people grinding to Pirate Legend.
The omission of a typical ranking system is one of the best things that Rare did with SoT in my opinion. It means that no matter when you start playing, you are at exactly the same level as everyone else. Sure, other people might have funky clothes, ships and weapons but they are not in any way better than the equipment you start out with. This keeps the game on a level playing field. The only way to have any kind of advantage, is by getting better playing it.
In the early days, SoT was a brutal place, getting from A to B was an adventure in itself. Some players seemed intent on attacking anyone and everyone that they caught sight of. Again, this never bothered me as the ship to ship combat in SoT is probably the best thing in the game.
Due to the lack of “things to do”, PvP became the main focus for lots of players. This in turn gave SoT a bad rep in terms of its community. Complaints about “toxic” players destroying everybody’s fun could be found in every corner of the internet.
Rare were listening of course and when SoT first major update arrived, one of the new pieces of equipment that arrived with it, the Speaking Trumpet, fundamentally changed how the game was played.
The Hungering Deep And Beyond The Infinite
Rare, to their credit, nailed Sea Of Thieves first major update. The Hungering Deep’s campaign forced players to cooperate with each other in order to kill the giant Megalodon shark that was now terrorising the game’s world.
The Speaking Trumpet, a simple piece of kit in the grand scheme of things, had now become probably one of the most important items in the game, as it allowed players to communicate with each other across the open seas.
The Hungering Deep changed the tone in SoT for the better. The ability to team up with other pirates was always there but seldom encouraged. Items like the Speaking Trumpet was the start, The Hungering Deep in itself was an exercise in, dare I say it, finding new and interesting ways to play the game.
It was a good first update, no sorry wait, it was actually a bloody brilliant first update. It was exactly what SoT and its Pirates needed. The Hungering Deep brought players closer together and Rare knew it, and when its next major update arrived, The Cursed Sails, Rare took their chance to build on this new, friendlier SoT even further.
The Alliance Of The Cursed
Although Rare had previously stated that the only sails you’d ever on the horizon would be that of other players, they decided to go back on that pledge for the Cursed Sails update. The Cursed Sails update, like the Hungering Deep, added a new challenge to SoT in the form of skeleton ships. These ships, even for the best SoT players, would prove to be difficult to take down by yourself.
These new skeleton ships came armed with cursed cannonballs. Cannonballs that could make you dance, put you asleep, brake your legs, drop your ships anchor, raise the sails, the list goes on folks. But trust me, all of the new cursed cannonballs were designed to cause havoc to both you and your ship in the most hilarious fashion.
To combat the unfair advantage that the new cursed skeleton ships had, Rare added another means of getting people to play together with the Alliance system. This simple but ingenious system allowed pirates to essentially crew up together and share loot.
Of course, Rare added an evil twist to matters to keep things interesting. With the Alliance system, only the crew that hands in the loot gets full value for it, everyone else in the Alliance gets half. This, as you can imagine, added an extra dimension of chaos to collecting the loot when the final skeleton ship sunk. Everyone is a pirate after all, so everyone wants full value for their plunder.
Row Row Row Your Boat
Rare’s latest update for Sea Of Thieves is the first time they’ve added to the existing map. The Devil’s Roar, an area made available thanks to the clearing of the shroud, is by far the most dangerous place to explore in SoT. This part of the map is filled with all kinds of hazards and death. Volcanoes will make absolute bits of you, your crew and ship in a matter of moments. Earthquakes will shake the ground beneath your feet and geysers will hurtle you into the sky without warning.
Taking missions in the Devil’s Roar will test your pirate credentials to the max. But thankfully, taking the risk also brings its own rewards as loot in the Roar is far more valuable than anywhere else on the map.
Rare finally added row boats to the game for the Devil’s Roar update. The row boats prove invaluable in the Roar as you can now park up at a safe distance from a volcano and row yourself in. Once there, simply fill the row boat with loot and head back to your ship, which hopefully its still intact and unmolested by other pirates when you get there.
Sailing Into The Unknown
The evolution of Sea Of Thieves from launch to present day is nothing short of staggering. It has only been seven months after all but Rare have added a ton of content to the game already.
Skeleton Thrones, Mermaid Status, Gunpowder Skeletons, a new three man ship in the Brig, the Reapers Mark, Cargo Runs and an uncountable amount of new clothes, cosmetics and ship decals. And this is on top of the three major updates so far.
To be fair to the folks at Rare, they have worked their asses off to get content out so far and from what I understand, they are nowhere near finished. Next up is the Festival Of The Damned, an in game celebration of all the good work that the ferry man does on the Ship of the Damned. This update goes live today and when I finish publishing this article I’ll be right on it.
In November, we all have the Shrouded Spoils to look forward to. This update will add fog to the game world, along with the ability to further customize your ship.
Beyond that, no one really knows apart from the guys at Rare. What we do know is that Sea Of Thieves is going to well supported for years to come. The team behind it are passionate, driven and extremely talented, they want to deliver the best experience possible for their players. So far they have smashed it out of the park, and I have total faith that they’ll continue to do so in the future.
Game Of The Year
You might think I’m crazy but Sea Of Thieves is without doubt my game of the year. I have played hundreds if not thousands of games in my life time but very few of them had the same charm, the same magical feeling as playing Sea Of Thieves has.
Games like Mario 64, Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, MGS, The Last Of Us and Halo, even Rare’s own GoldenEye and Diddy Kong Racing, stand as some of the greatest games I’ve ever played. All of them are classics for sure, but all of them are scripted experiences.
This is what sets Sea Of Thieves apart, its emergent gameplay has no time for hand holding or storytelling. This game is all about making your own adventures, creating your own fun. It offers something completely different from anything else I’ve ever played and I absolutely love it for that reason. A modern day classic in my opinion.