Developer: Get Up Games
Publisher: Iceberg Interactive
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Blazing Sails – Preview
There are certain moments where developers find two game ideas great and try to combine them into a new title. This sounds great on paper but is in reality something that rarely gets done right. However, Get Up Games have taken their time with Blazing Sails, giving us a PUBG-like Sea of Thieves game. As the game is currently in Early Access, we have witnessed many updates between our first session and the latest game night. There have been some fixes and patches, but overall the experience is a very pleasant one.
Blazing Sails is a game that takes place on some tropical islands far out into the sea. This is where a bunch of pirates battles it out to gather riches on the lands and claim their superiority of the waters. Players can customize their two ships and pirate before joining a server, making sure to either be stealthy or highly noticeable if you aren’t scared of others. Once a server is selected you will meet the other landlubbers on a landing area, before starting the carnage to recruit more sailors to their cause, or to intimidate others.
When the build was first tested, it sometimes had minor issues with stability on certain computers. This was only a minor inconvenience that most of the time, resolved itself or made you somewhat used to it. With the latest update, the developers have ironed out those wrinkles and the game runs smooth as butter, even during hectic battles against multiple opponents.
The visuals in Blazing Sails are colorful, smooth and simple, yet there are many details in the weapons, ships, animations and pirates. This game feels a bit stuck between a goofy arcade adventure and something more realistic. The animations of each interaction, such as controlling the ship, shooting weapons, and pumping water are simple but detailed enough to have a certain quality. Currently, you have two ships with different layouts, realistic damage models when your ship or sails get hit, and the water rises quickly when your hull is riddled with holes.
Sadly one fun and popular thing in Sea of Thieves did not make the cut (or isn’t implemented yet). Pirates are well known for their sea shanties and playing instruments was something fun to do in Sea of thieves. This feature was most likely cut due to the fact that you won’t really have time to relax due to the stressful and intense nature of the battles at hand. Sailing the seas is mostly backed by the sounds of the birds, wood cracking, the wind, and calm pirate music playing in the background.
Now for the gameplay; Blazing Sails feels like a love child of Sea of Thieves and PUBG. It’s the standard formula where you select one of the few spawning locations, gather weapons and items while dodging both other pirates and the ever-closing circle of death. Games feel fast-paced but when skills are met, they can take quite some time. Players and ships come empty, so the players must scavenge for guns, ammo, wood, upgrades and items on the islands, in the sea, or just steal them from others. Normal items can be found all around, but the more rare and powerful stuff can only be found in chests that are marked on the map and shoot fireworks once opens, letting everybody know where you are.
Having good gear is one part of the fight, but the game does have its imbalances. It feels like weapons aren’t that effective unless you either have the sniper or grenade launcher. Fights mostly take place on the ship or in close range. It proves that melee weapons are the most effective as their fast and high damage can end multiple opponents their careers rather quickly. When you die, it takes fifteen seconds to respawn as long as your ship is afloat. This means that the only way to win is to completely sink the opponents their ship(s). There are two main ways to do this; either by filling it with so many holes that the ship takes too much water, or infiltrating their ship and pulling the plug, letting the water come in and sacrificing yourself for your team.
An important factor to decide the success of purely online games is that there are filled servers. Blazing Sails seems to be a popular game and finding a game wasn’t that hard. It is even better when selecting servers all over the world, there aren’t any real lag or connectivity issues, ensuring that you can play at any time of the day.
Conclusion
Blazing Sails is a great mix between the fun mechanics of Sea of Thieves and the battle royale genre. You will need to work together, scavenge for supplies and sink all your opponents to become the best pirate of the many islands. The gameplay is fun and the overall production quality is pretty good, making the game really enjoyable to play. All the servers are stable and provide a stable connection and people to play with all day and night. Blazing sails is a great game if you want a pirate battle royale in your life; minus the scurvy.
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