Nostalgia for a recreation that by no means existed!
Captain Blood is an motion journey, hack & slash set within the seventeenth century the place gamers tackle the function of the titular pirate captain. That is an fascinating launch because it was infamously caught in improvement hell for over 10 years, initially being made to be launched on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
As an alternative, now we have it right here in 2025 however it retains all of the visuals, model and gameplay mechanics from that technology.
What follows is a charming but flawed method at creating an authentic God of Battle model recreation in a pirate setting, doused with nostalgia and appreciation for not solely a particular style, but additionally a complete technology!
All palms on deck with Captain Blood
A Pirating Journey!
The pirating period is a selected level in historical past that lacks quantity of video games, and ever because the success of Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, players have been craving for extra. Captain Blood definitely delivers on that entrance. From combating your manner via shores, coves and caves, to defending your personal ship and sinking many others, Captain Blood nails the pirate aesthetic completely.
The titular hero, alongside his loyal sidekick and crew, is tasked with saving the daughter of a British governor. In fact it’s not fairly so simple as that, and alongside the best way you’ll encounter many a Spaniard, in addition to opposing pirate crews and captains, together with complete fleets of enemy ships!
Gamers can discover every degree the place they might nicely discover further treasure chests and gold. The colourful visuals actually spotlight the Caribbean location, and a eager sense of journey is current all through. When you’re on the lookout for a brand new pirate recreation to play, this wouldn’t be a nasty selection.
Gameplay and Course
Initially, the gameplay feels participating and entertaining. When you’ve performed the unique God of Battle video games or something like Dante’s Inferno, then you definitely’ll know precisely what to anticipate right here. Nevertheless, there’s nothing that mixes issues up on the subject of fight. Executions and combating animations are spectacular to start with, however not a lot after you’ve seen them dozens of occasions already.
All the pieces all through the sport sadly turns into fairly repetitive. There are a number of expertise and combo strikes to unlock, however none of them influence the core gameplay. There’s a small number of weapons and enemies, however by the point you’ve gotten about midway via the brief marketing campaign, you’ve just about seen all you’re going to see already.
Pirate-y stuff!
After I began the sport, I attempted my greatest to wipe out almost each single enemy on the extent as a result of I used to be having a enjoyable time. Within the latter ranges I discovered myself principally operating previous enemies, just because I’d grown bored of the fight and the rewards weren’t nice sufficient for me to trouble.
On the finish of every degree you’re offered with an inventory of stats together with issues like enemy kills, chest unlocks and gold earned, giving it extra of an arcade really feel. That is usually a fantastic incentive to return to every degree and attempt to beat the earlier scores. Sadly I by no means felt drawn to replaying a degree, and I’d principally upgraded my character as a lot as I wished by the halfway level. Maybe with some refinement to every degree’s design, higher enemy variation and extra weapons/fight expertise, Captain Blood might have excelled on this forgotten style.
An Auditory Disappointment
A very powerful flaw that will likely be immediately recognisable to all gamers (at the least on the Xbox Sequence X) is the instant lack of audio mixing and optimisation. It’s actually troublesome to listen to the characters converse over the blaring music and sound results throughout cutscenes. There have been occasions once I couldn’t even hear them in any respect as a result of the sound of seagulls was utterly overpowering.
I’m not too certain what has occurred right here however it’s virtually just like the sound ranges haven’t been examined correctly. Going into the settings and manually adjusting the sliders for SFX and music does assist to listen to the precise dialogue, however this needs to be one thing that the sport has already optimised on launch.
Admittedly, this would possibly prove to not be too dangerous a function, because the voice appearing is fairly atrocious with picket supply and 0 weight or emotion. However that may be forgiven given the small finances and the attraction that elevates this recreation.
A tarnished swashbuckler
A Swashbuckling Throwback with Tarnished Treasures
Captain Blood will likely be an fascinating recreation to look at and take a deep dive into its improvement. There’s definitely an viewers right here, and given the present state of the business it’s extremely refreshing to see a smaller studio launch a devoted recreation that completely replicates the time when single participant authentic IPs used to come back out on a regular basis.
Generally Captain Blood falls into the “it’s so dangerous it’s good class”; generally it’s simply fairly dangerous however there at all times stays a transparent attraction behind each motion. The devs are definitely enthusiastic about it, and you may really feel that in a few of the gameplay – it’s only a disgrace it misses the mark on so many events.
Nonetheless, when you’re on the lookout for an okay action-adventure, hack & slash, or when you simply need a pirate recreation, Captain Blood will scratch that itch to some extent.
It’s additionally a really unusual expertise to have that feeling of nostalgia overcome you when taking part in a recreation that was by no means launched. I suppose that simply reveals how magical the Xbox 360 period actually was!
Your Hyperlinks
Fifteen Years Later! Cancelled Captain Blood Lastly Launches on Xbox, PlayStation, Swap, PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/fifteen-years-later-cancelled-captain-blood-finally-launches-on-xbox-playstation-switch-pc/
Captain Blood: A Pirate Journey Misplaced in Time Lastly Units Sail! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/captain-blood-a-pirate-adventure-lost-in-time-finally-sets-sail/
Purchase Captain Blood on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/video games/retailer/captain-blood/9P7HFVBMS9RT/0010
