Sea of Thieves has been boggling us for the past few months leading up to its release. After all, this pirate-themed MMO title is meant to be one of the year's biggest games, but yet little of us here at HG showed any real enthusiasm for it. And it's not that it didn't look fun, with its swashbuckling adventures, naval combat and even the ability to even shoot yourself out of a cannon. But there was just always something that always seemed to be holding it back. And after having spent some time with the game, it's not hard to see what that something is, because while there is fun to be had, this Strategy Game news feels a bit more like a pond than a sea.
And what makes the wait for more first-party titles all the more troublesome is that Microsoft just released the Xbox One X - the most powerful video game console ever created - and they should be leveraging all that power by making Xbox One X exclusive games . On that note, one thing to keep in mind is that, because of those aforementioned cancellations and delays, Microsoft may be waiting to announce any new titles until they are sure those games will hit store shelves in a reasonable amount of time. Granted, they are doing exceptional work with Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Backwards Compatibility, but those aren't enough when gaming is about looking to the future as much as it is about preserving the past. Let's just hope that gamers aren't left waiting too long for new, truly worthwhile cont
Let's not sugar-coat it: Microsoft has a problem with its Xbox One console, and it stems from its current roster of exclusive games... or lack thereof. Now, the tried and true first-party blockbusters have already appeared on the Xbox One – with Halo , Gears of War , and Forza all making their presence felt on the system – while new properties like Sea of Thieves and Sunset Overdrive have helped provide a unique reason for console gamers to invest in the hardware outside of its expected lin
Skeletons are the only enemy type in Sea of Thieves but come in several varieties. They all only appear on land and cannot enter water beyond the depth of their legs. Some come with swords, some with ranged weapons, and some even eat bananas to heal themselves, while others can use cannons at fo
Part of this comes from the goal of becoming a Pirate Legend. The highest title bestowed on Sea of Thieves players, to become a Pirate Legend would-be Blackbeards have to first reach level 50 with all three of the game's Trading Companies. From then on, a fair few extras are unlocked, and the mystery around exactly what Pirate Legends can do has driven players through the g
That's not to say that the publisher is without exclusive titles, with the likes of Crackdown 3 and State of Decay 2 being the two known exclusives arriving in 2018, but when stacked up against Sony's God of War and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. the choice of which console to purchase likely won't lean in the Xbox One's favor. This is a subjective take to be sure, but there's truth in recognizing the popularity and raw sales numbers from each of the franchises included; at the end of the day Smash and God of War are just bigger na
It isn't just process of elimination, though. The other two trading companies and their quests aren't bad, sure, with decent first-person combat, exploration and general gameplay mechanics, but it's the treasure hunts where Sea of Thieves gets to show off the parts where the most work was put into it. You have to analyze the maps given to you, track down the location on the map, set a course there, arrive preferably without any damage to your ship. Then depending on your map, you either decipher a series of riddles and find landmarks on each island or analyze the geography of the land in order to find the spot marked by a red X, per tradition, then finally dig it up and battle the cursed skeleton horde that appears.
Still, there's something that lacks within the library when compared to competitors' critical darlings like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn . Indeed, it appears as if the competition has a stranglehold on triple-A exclusive games, and in that light, Xbox's titles are lacking when placed head-to-head against the barrage of titles coming from Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Admittedly, games like Sea of Thieves and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds have managed to garner significant player counts within their first few weeks of availability, and that's great news for the firm. But the long-term appeal of these games remains to be seen, and the initial quality is far removed from that of the immediate competitio
Either way, however, it is a fact that Rare are doing their best and they keep improving Sea of Thieves with every update they push to users. A lot has changed in the game and there’s more coming our way. So, with that in mind, let us look at the pirate title of the year once more, as there are plenty of reasons for you to give it a second chance. Of course, there are also many aspects in which it still feels a bit underwhelm