PC Gamer UK 01.2021 @InternationalPress75

P

irate. Game. Not that kind. If you’re

anything like me, those two words are

enough to generate excitement (the

concept) and despair (recent examples)

in equal measure. By concentrating on sailing, and

ensuring that it doesn’t take itself too seriously,

King of Seas seems to be setting course for success.

most of the remaining time trying to find

targets; often before being sunk by a

nautical shopkeeper. I’m more

Threepwood than Blackbeard.

Is my difficulty in finding merchants

linked to the fact that this ARPG is

procedurally generated? Perhaps. But

it’s already clear that this will be a game

where joy is found in wandering around,

doing your own thing. I’m more than

happy picking up wayward crates and

looting wrecked ships, levelling up and

discovering new equipment for my boat.

Bigger ships will be available to buy, and

I’m salivating at the prospect of having

ten cannons rather than just two.

On my small ship, each of the three

sails is raised or lowered one at a time with

a button tap, a little touch I love which also

makes tight turns in battle easy (and a

little tense). The combat is pretty simple,

but enjoyable. Timing shots is important

• cannons take a while to load, don’t you
  know – and there are gloriously unrealistic
  abilities to be had. In this early build alone,
  I nab a flamethrower for roasting other
  ships and a sort of magical cloud that
  briefly interferes with aiming.

BOOTY CALL

Oddly enough, you can’t rotate the

camera, but you can zoom it in and

out a bit, which proves important when

it comes to being aware of your

surroundings (or just appreciating the

pretty graphics). This feeds into the

social dynamics, whereby the pirates

both trade with settlements and raid their

merchants. Attack a trading ship too close

to port however, and that community will

(understandably) refuse to trade with you.

Buying and selling prices vary across the

sea, so it literally pays to keep everybody

onside. It’ll be possible to conquer areas,

though, so I look forward to punishing

anybody who dares to cross me.

Luke Kemp

I’M SALIVATING AT THE

PROSPECT OF HAVING

TEN CANNONS RATHER

THAN JUST TWO

PLAYED

IT

Looking like hot ship,

flagging this one now

KING OF SEAS

Considering the fact that your character is

something of a reluctant pirate – you play

as the son or daughter of the king of the

seas, framed for his murder – you don’t

wait long to start causing chaos,

graduating from delivery person to

merchant murderer with amusing speed.

My first truly piratey objective is to sink

three merchant ships. The preview build is

limited to 45 minutes of play, and each

time I run through, I never seem to have

enough time to sink the required number

with my modest little sloop. This is partly

because, as the map doesn’t mark the

positions of any nearby ships, I spend

King of Seas

PREVIEW

RELEASE

TBC

DEVELOPER

3DClouds

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

kingofseas.net

NEED TO KNOW

Settlements have powerful

defences. Trust me.