Developer: Fabled Games
Publishers: Fabled Games, BlueStacks
Platform: PC, iOS, Android, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PC
Pirates Outlaws – Revisited
Ahoy matey! In the vast sea of deckbuilding card games that have been released lately, it can be hard to decide what to play. Today we’re looking at an old treasure though. Pirates Outlaws released back in 2019 and we already had a little peek at the game right here. Since then, many patches and updates have been released that added new content to the game. And recently, this roguelike sea-faring adventure also sailed its way onto Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. Thus we thought it was high time to take another look and enjoy ourselves by being pirates once more.
Story
Given its genre, Pirates Outlaws does not have much of a plot. In fact, there’s even less story here than you’d get in the average deckbuilder game. You’re a pirate and you have a ship, that’s all you need to know. There are a handful of different characters to play but none of them have a proper backstory or personality. At some stops along your journey, you’ll be presented with a little box of text and offered a choice. While these choices are mainly there to affect gameplay, the flavor text is fun and makes it easier to imagine the main character as a pirate captain leading a crew. But at the end of the day, the plot here is negligible.
Graphics
Visually this game looks as good as ever. The art style has always been fairly unique and delightfully colorful. Everything from the characters and backgrounds down to the menus and every single card is pirate-themed with great attention to detail from the artists. It definitely is a highlight of Pirates Outlaws. There are a few different worlds to explore and each has a unique flair to them. The same can be said for the different characters you can play. For a deckbuilder, Outlaws Pirates also has an almost ridiculous amount of optional cosmetics to mess around with. You can personalize your ship in detail if that’s the sort of thing you’re into.
Sound
You need a good tune when you’re sailing the seven seas and thankfully this game does not disappoint. The soundtrack is lively and perfectly fits into that same pirate theme. Flutes, drums, and guitar strings are your accompaniment as you make your way from island to island, with different tracks for battles, pubs, markets, and all kinds of things you can encounter. During the combat, you’ll also hear the myriad of nice sound effects this game has to offer.
Gameplay
Pirates Outlaws is a roguelike deckbuilder game where you’re a rookie pirate hoping to make it to the top. After each run, you’ll gain more reputation, which symbolizes your infamy in the pirate world and it also decides what game modes and islands are available for you to explore. It also unlocks new heroes for you to play with, and each hero has their own starting deck too. Taking all this into account, this game has a ton of content to explore. This is a good thing considering how addictive it can be to set sail.
Navigate mode is where you’ll be spending most of your time. Each run starts you out at the bottom of a series of islands. You travel in a linear way upward by picking encounters from the map, and this is also dependent on how much stamina your ship has. The most important type of encounter is the battles. With your trusty deck of cards, you defeat your enemies in turn-based combat. You start off with at least one melee attack and one ranged attack. Melee attacks can always be used, but can only hit the enemy closest to you. Ranged attacks need ammunition that reloads each turn, but can be used on any enemy you want. Aside from these attacks, you can also gear up with armor or use some of your skills. Skills have the upside of inflicting one of the many useful status effects on your enemy. The battles in Pirates Outlaws strike a good balance between needing strategic thinking and never dragging on too long. They gradually get harder as you go, slowly cranking up the difficulty in a fun way. After a battle, you earn coins and a choice to either get a relic or a new card as loot.
Other locations you can find on the map include the market where you can buy more cards or upgrade your existing ones, and the pub where you can heal, repair your ship, or pay to have cards removed from your deck in case it gets too cluttered. There are also random events that have an outcome based on your choices. Whether the outcome is good or bad for you depends on your playstyle. At the end of the run, you face a final boss, which is more challenging than any enemies you had to fight before.
The other two game modes are Arena mode and Tavern Brawl. Both these modes take away the exploring from Navigate mode and focus more directly on defeating waves of enemies to reach goals. Since they allow you to play with all the cards in the game and not those specific to a character, you can get very experimental with your deck in these modes. Additionally, the game has quests for you to complete that function similar to achievements. So even if you manage to take over some islands, don’t think your journey will be over soon!
Conclusion
Pirates Outlaws has everything we’d expect from a good roguelike deckbuilder. From the vast amount of unlockable content and exploration to the amazing combat which makes up the beef of the game, this lovely title promises hours of fun. Tie it together with a good soundtrack and pretty visuals, and there’s really nothing to complain about.
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