Captain Bones Review (PC)

It almost pains me to say it, but swashbuckling and the golden age of piracy are dying breeds. To think, if we scratch out Captain Edward (we don’t talk about Captain Edward) then the magnitude of the impact of such a depressingly low output of such voyages is somewhat staggering. There’s Skull & Bones, Sea of Thieves, and heck, even Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, true. But there’s also an enormous void—a sinkhole that whirlpools in the oceanic waters—that is desperately in need of more than mere canon fodder and the treasure-trifled cliches. It’s a winning formula that years to latch onto something special—a memorable tale that will blow its rival voyagers out of the water. And admittedly, it’s a huge position to fill—a position that, quite frankly, I’m not entirely sure Captain Bones has the capacity to accommodate.

First and foremost, Captain Bones isn’t as seaworthy as a lot of its adversaries’ unsinkable man-of-war vessels, mainly due to the sheer lack of realism and cutting edge gameplay that it brings to the starboard. Moreover, it lacks the fine-tuning and structural stability of a well-peppered flintlock, with a treasure trove of grammatical errors and technical problems dragging down what could otherwise be a monolithic nautical adventure with a whole lot of potential to tap into.

Of course, if we were to peel back the rippling tides of an otherwise calming pirate-centric voyage, then we would have a great deal to celebrate here. In spite of the copious amounts of teething issues that Captain Bones currently harbors, the game still has several notable qualities—a pretty captivating storyline, fluid sailing and combat mechanics, and a locker of future roadmap expansions that will no doubt push the boat out even further, so to speak.

Swashbuckling, Reborn

Captain Bones’ premise isn’t anything short of a cliche-riddled pulp fest, which is precisely why it just works as is. It doesn’t divulge anything particularly exciting or “out of this world” about the golden age of piracy; instead, it opts to take a simple tale for a spin around the dock—a swashbuckling story of oceanic legacy, cutlas-obsessed combat, and naval warfare, among a tapestry of rather generic beats, like survival, crafting, and exploration, to list just a few of its added extras. It also features something of a twist: the pirate in question and their ties with another personality, Captain Bones. But more on that later.

The game itself isn’t quite as ravenous or as daring as your bog-standard nautical expedition à la Black Flag. With a low-poly visual style and a cartoon-ish anchor that’s more lenient to a slower pace of progression, Captain Bones unfolds in a way that allows you more flexibility and control over the quests that you tackle, the items that you craft, and the islands that you opt to explore. It’s all rather slow in that regard — and not just story-wise, but gameplay-wise, too. By that I mean, most of the things that you do in Captain Bones can be quite repetitive and somewhat dull. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty for you to do (with more to come, apparently, thanks to the roadmap), but the act of working through the chores can be a bit of a slog.

A Pirate’s Life for Me

Captain Bones’  low-poly graphical interface and ambient soundscape take me back to the golden age of RuneScape, weirdly. In a similar vein as that, you can forge your own narrative whilst onboarding quests to unravel an overarching storyline and, in turn, develop a repertoire of skills and other useful tools. Stitched into that there are also several other activities for you to indulge in—segments that include crafting, diving, swordplay, naval combat, and roaming an archipelago of hand-crafted islands, true to the spirit of piracy.

The good news here is that, even with such a large amount of familiar trappings in its chest, Captain Bones has several elements that gives it that extra pizzazz. For example, it includes a supernatural twist—a node that’s highly reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean, actually—as well as a wanted level, a solid nautical control system, and a fleshed out single-player campaign that rejects the usual PvP malarkey in favor of a more intimate experience.

With all of the above said, there are still several teething issues that prevent Captain Bones from breakout out as one of the most advantageous pirate-based open world games of its kind. Firstly, there’s the technical flaws—a weighty issue that capsizes a lot more than the average nautical experience. From the grammatical shortcomings to the frequent graphical glitch, the repetitive soundtrack to the painfully slow movement speeds — annoyingly, like with most Early Access titles, it fosters a worrying amount of creases that could certainly do with a lot of extra time in Davy Jones’ locker before weighing anchor. It has potential, for sure — but there’s a lot left to do before it reaches its peak.

Verdict

Captain Bones’ supernatural open-world expedition might be littered with more bugs than the Amazon River, but if you can happily swim over the abundance of issues that it drags along like a lead anchor, then it’s highly likely that you’ll be able to stick around long enough to witness its evolution as one of the most refreshing up-and-coming pirate-centric games on the market. Truly, though, there is a lot of work left to be done here before it can finally find that biting point and ultimately capitalize on it to onboard more features and effectively flounder its wings.

Given the lack of pirate games that are currently floating on the horizon, it’s definitely worth keeping a stern eye on the starboard bow that is Captain Bones’ ambitious plans for a stupendously successful future. As for whether or not it will come to fruition through its promises to fulfill its roadmap obligations is still unclear. That said, it’s off to a promising start, even though it does unfortunately harbor some god-awful technical flaws and flat fodder. If it can correct itself by implementing some general overhauls and other QoL updates, then I’d like to believe that Captain Bones will amount to something truly spectacular. Here’s hoping, anyway.