Pirates Outlaws Review (PS4)

Ahoy me matey! Are you ready to scrub the decks m hoist the sails, load the cannons and drink an insane amount of grog? No?! No worries, Pirates Outlaws challenges you to explore the seven seas, but instead of doing any chores typical to the pirate life you will be tasked to build card decks and battle your way through countless random generated dangers with hope of finding untold treasures.

It has been almost four years since the deckbuilding roguelike game conquered Steam, and now the developers have set their course to conquer the console world as well. The promise of the adventure is plenty since Pirates Outlaws has countless enemies, several regions to explore and many-many surprises that promise to keep you in front of the screen for just as many hours.

Just as the tile promises you will be given a ship that can be used to navigate randomly generated archipelagos. Most of the time you will be charting your course between islands crawling with adversaries, but you will also be able to visit taverns to replenish resources and explore hidden mysteries that can help or hinder you.

Although there are plenty of shady characters with various abilities, the game does not really have a story. It relies mainly om the pirate lore and setting, that is not only familiar, but also extremely popular with gamers, and the game mechanics that combine the best of roguelike titles with the best features of deckbuilding games.

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But how does roguelike work in an adventure to explore the seven seas? Through a series of interconnected islands, taverns, whirlpools and the freedom to make your own path. Most of the time you can choose between at least two destinations, but you can never go back. At the end of each map, you will find a boss encounter, that once bested opens the way into the next map.

You will have to keep an eye on your navigation points: running out of them will damage your ship and send you in an early watery grave. You can replenish these at the taverns by spending precious money. At these safe havens you can also acquire new cards or artifacts to help you on your journey, making the choice on what you spend your hard-earned gold a difficult one.

If you need to be strategic in choosing your path, the same can be said about the battles that require you to choose the best tactics based on the luck of the draw. Beyond building a deck that can prepare you to face often unique enemies, you will also need luck. Sometimes even the best built deck can prove useless if the order in which the cards are drawn is not in your favor.

At the heart of the game lie the card battles. Your chosen scoundrel will have to face one or multiple enemies by choosing from the cards dealt in each turn. The cards offer various actions from defensive to offensive, that allow you to reduce damage using various shields or attack your opponent using melee or ranged weapons. Each deal puts five cards in your hand that you will have to apply taking into account the munition you have.

Munition can be just easily replenished with the right cards, the game itself requiring a careful balancing act between defending, attacking and replenishing your only resource. But even with the most balanced decks built with various strategies in mind, it all comes down to the order in which the cards are dealt.     

Actually, Pirates Outlaws requires a lot of luck from the way the map is laid out with various safe points to the encounters themselves. This unforeseeable nature of the gameplay is both frustrating and addicting. It is quite possible to play for long hours without being able to complete a region, as is possible to sail through an archipelago without even breaking a sweat.

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The good news is that your progress is visible and quite quick despite the many failures you will encounter. You will gain access to new characters with new abilities, new game modes and enhanced levels of difficulty. You just need to keep pushing and enjoying the ride, so you gain enough rep to unlock the new things, including new ways to play the game.

The two new game modes, Arena and Tavern Brawl, spice up the game in case you get tired from endlessly exploring the seas. In the first mode you will face waves of enemies, with a breather between each battle, to heal and make adjustments to your deck. In Arena mode you can combine all cards and relics from all the seven chapters of the game in hope of reaching the end. Tavern Brawl tests your tactical abilities making you choose from pre-made decks facing waves of pirates with the end goal of defeating the Tavern Keeper.

There is plenty of content in Pirates Outlaws from new characters to countless skins and various challenges. There is no difficulty level, but with all that offers Pirates Outlaws guarantees easily 30-40 hours of fun, maybe even more depending on your luck. Still, at one point the game can become repetitive, despite the well put together mechanics. It is easy to learn, but very hard to master.

Visually, Pirate Outlaws teleports you in a stylized version of Port Royale, all the expected eye candy being present. The cards, the enemies, the various locations all suggest rum imbued adventures and the minimalist graphical design creates an immersive atmosphere. The soundtrack fits this atmosphere but is in no way memorable or outstanding.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion