One such game that was planned, was Captain Blood. This was to be a pirate themed hack ‘n’ slash title from developed by Akella, the same team behind Postal 3, that would have been set on the Spanish Main and evoke both classic pirate stories ( it does share the name of an iconic pirate film after all) and God of War style gameplay. It sounded great, but the game was cancelled and forgotten about.
Well that is, it was forgotten about until publisher SNEG got the rights and announced it would be polishing up the game and releasing it for modern platforms. This excited many, but there were also concerns. Would the game be any good, or should it have been best left forgotten?
Well, I won’t lie to you all. Captain Blood is very dated in it’s design and gameplay and it is very much evident when this was made and what it was trying to do. The thing is, that ends up being Captain Blood’s biggest strength since it acts as a throwback to that earlier era and reminds us why that era was so beloved.
Captain Blood is a Hack ‘n’ Slash game, as mentioned, and sees you take control of fierce pirate as you fighting on against hordes of enemy soldiers and sailors. The combat will instantly remind you of the classic God of War titles, but there are some neat touches that set it apart. The addition of firearms works well to fit the pirate setting, as does the use of explosives, which adds a new element to the mix. For instance, you can shoot an enemy to throw them off and then proceed with sword attacks. Just remember, these are older firearms and so you cannot just spam gunshots and must be strategic.
Captain Blood just feels fun, especially with the various executions you can do and interesting assortment of enemies. Right from the starting sections, Captain Blood gives you a variety of foes to fight and each of them has a different style that needs to be approached differently. Some will also drop weapons you can pick up and use for a bit. and these can be very fun while you have them.
Captaim Blood makes great use of its setting as well, by utilizing the best of pirate adventures (remember, Pirates of the Caribbean was still big when this was in development) and bringing in some historical in jokes and references. There is also well handled ways of breaking up the combat, such as by switching to using cannons to take out enemy ships, and finding new ways to progresss. It helps that the story is genuinely exciting even if unoriginal.
All this being said though, Captain Blood still shows it’s age in negative regards as well. The camera system can be frustrating to deal with, and the visuals are very much a tell of when this game was supposed to come out, even they were polished up. There are also various design choices that you either love or hate, such as the use of quick time events and lack of refinement in movement, while combat can be clunky and take a bit of time to adjust to. Additionally, the visual resolution does not work properly, which squishes the visuals, while the audio mixing is a disaster. There are also a number of bugs left unpatched and it can be clear at times why the game was initially cancelled.
But even with all those negatives, Captain Blood is just a fun experience. Yes, it is outdated, but right now this outdated design may be what gaming needs. It feels like going back in time to a time when things were more simple and that is a great feeling, making this a case of the game being outdated in a great way.
If you can put up with some older game decisions and some clunkiness and bugs, Captain Blood is very much worth your time. It is just a fun experience and does not pretend to be something that it is not. This is a 2000s Hack ‘n’ Slash for good and for bad, and for me, the good outweighs the bad to a great extent. Go for it and you will not be dissapointed.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition, you can check out Ryan’s review below
