Sea of Thieves – Review (Xbox One)

By Phil Neyman Last updated May 5, 2018

In the early days of the Xbox, Microsoft bought Rare – brought them in as a first party developer and it felt like a match made in heaven. This was a huge blow for Nintendo at the time and the new kid on the console block seemed poised for greatness with Rare by their side. However, what ensued over the course of the last decade or so has been less than praise worthy. Microsoft has under utilized this once triple A developer by having them develop shells of their old IP’s (I’m looking at you Nuts and Bolts) or by giving them ridiculous projects for Kinect and other nonsensical projects.

When Sea of Thieves was announced there was just as much praise as there was skepticism. Could Rare return to form? Could they make another masterpiece to add to their resume with Perfect Dark and the Nintendo 64 Banjoe games? There was no doubt that the game would be an ambitious and fresh adventure, but could they deliver? At long last after multiple betas, a long wait and some server issues (due to 1 million players in the first 24 hours) we finally are able to sail the seven seas as a pirate. So the big question is, how is it?

Not an easy question to answer. Sea of Thieves can feel as lacking in content at this point as it is ambitious. Anyone who played the beta left each session with a nice little taste on their lips and anticipating much more content once the game launched. The harsh reality is that in the game’s current state at launch, there really isn’t much more to it than what we experienced in the beta.

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When the game finally loads up you start your pirate’s quest at a tavern and set out to find your treasure. By visiting a gold hoarder you can acquire a map and you and your crew can be on your way. You can also set out on your own, but this is by far the most inferior way to play the game. While not impossible, steering the ship is very difficult as you swap back and forth between the map and steering. Sailing can be lonely when going solo as well but the game is downright gorgeous and watching the sunset alone or with a crew can take your breath away. Everyone can have a job to do. One man steers the ship, another buccaneer reads the map, a scallywag hoisting the main sail and another low life can man the canons and the anchor. Working together will have you sailing smoothly in no time, which is a blessing considering there is really no tutorial to speak of. You are never told what to do in Sea of Thieves which can leave you wondering what it is you should be doing.

When you get to the island you’re in search of (by looking at the map you’ve acquired and comparing it to the map on the ship) it’s time to find the treasure. Once you step foot on dry land you must use the map and compass to navigate the island and dig up the buried treasure, all while fighting off the undead and potentially other players who have hopes of stealing your treasure. Once you’ve unburied the treasure you return to where your voyage started and you collect your reward. Rinse and repeat. At this stage of the game that is basically it. It will be interesting to go back and think of Sea of Thieves vanilla a couple of months or years down the road and reminisce about how the game has changed.

There are thrilling moments to be had even when little is happening around you. The first time a ship passes by you’ll feel your heart stop as you wait to see if they are friend or foe. More often than not the ship will pass by like two ships in the night, but on occasion you’ll find yourself under canon fire yelling “make haste” as you scurry to get away or turn your ship to fire back. For situations like this or if you want to attack an oncoming ship first, always keep your canons loaded and ready to fire!

Unfortunately, at this stage, the game feels fairly incomplete. As more content is added and players start to become pirate legends the game will evolve like Diablo 3 or Destiny before it. Everything that is present works really well, the game is just really lacking in the content department.

Even though it feels a bit stripped down, there is a lot of fun to be had in Sea of Thieves. When sailing with your friends, the adventure can be everything you make it. You’ll laugh, yell, and toss your mate in the brig while on your adventure. Due to the nature of how you find the island and search for the treasure the game almost needs to be as simplistic as it is at launch. This makes it hard to really judge the final product because we really have no idea what the final game will look like down the road.

Recommendation: Microsoft’s Game Pass service changes everything. It’s really hard to recommend this game at a $60 price tag, but when you can play Sea of Thieves and plenty of other games for less than $10 a month, now that’s a no brainer. Anyone that is curious about this game or wants to play it without dishing out the full price tag should definitely sign up for Game Pass for at least a month and check it out. Though light on content you will definitely have fun playing with a crew of friends, even if it’s just for a brief amount of time. The game looks gorgeous and the more players that you have with you, the more chance you’ll have to enjoy the scenery. Rare may not have completely returned to where they once were, but Sea of Thieves is a step in the right direction as long as they continue to support the game and add more content as the game evolves.