Pirates Outlaws by developer Fabled Game and publisher
Bitworks—Sony PlayStation 4 Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the
publisher.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.
There’s something of a new gaming niche over the last few
years, with roguelike and deck building mechanics that has really resonated
with me. Like a lot of people, Slay the Spire was one of the early entries into
this growing genre, and Pirates Outlaws has a lot of that same addictive DNA,
even if it isn’t necessarily charting a path to undiscovered lands.
Fundamentally, the first thing that came to mind as I played
Pirates Outlaws, was how similar it was to Slay the Spire. Right off of the
bat, you’re scrolling a map vertically, choosing which direction to take at
branching paths that could lead to general combat, elite enemies, markets and
upgrade opportunities for your cards. Playing the game, there’s some strong
parallels to Slay the Spire’s structure as well. There are a couple of different types of attacks - melee and ranged. However, while ranged cards tend to be stronger, they also require ammunition, which is a resource card you will need to draw to use them. However, ammunition is not needed for melee attacks or when you are blocking to try and absorb incoming damage. There’s a
similar flow to the combat that runs smoothly by and large.
However, this is not to say that this is a reskinned Slay
the Spire clone. For starters, there is a lot more content here. While ‘more’
doesn’t always mean better, in this case I thoroughly enjoyed chasing these
particular carrots. There are hundreds of cards and relics, there’s over a
dozen different heroes, tons of bosses and unlockables and a trio of game
modes. I suppose one could quibble that this creates a bit of grinding to see
all there is to see, but the overall formula’s an addicting one that made it
entirely too easy for me to go: just one more run.
Famous last words that are usually followed up by at least a
few more runs.
This is a credit to how the combat itself is structured.
Matches are challenging (especially boss ones), but most of the battles you
encounter are pretty quick affairs. You are going to lose, and lose a lot –
after all, it is a roguelike. But the progression makes for more interesting
strategic options as more and more of the game’s layers become available. There’s
really nothing of note here narratively speaking. You’re not saving the world
or anything like that, and the focus seems to be more on whimsy than seriousness
with the seafaring theme.
For me at least, the highlight was experimentation. There’s
enough different characters and types of cards out there that there was almost
always some level of tweaking I was doing between runs, it seemed like. I never
really ran into an overpowered strategy, though I definitely gravitated towards
some forms of deck building than others. There’s different locations you can
sail, providing greater challenges and improved rewards and thus the overall
gameplay loop is established.
Some of the characters and deck combinations are focused on
defense, others are focused on ranged combat. There’s plenty of options for
melee, and yet others incorporate buff and debuff mechanics. These are all
pretty standard fare for this genre, but it’s done well. And given the large
number of available cards and characters, there’s a lot of different flavors of
gameplay to experiment with.
While the majority of what I’ve gone over has been pretty
positive, there are a handful of smaller concerns worth noting. The audio is
pretty repetitive and the visuals are nothing special. The overall presentation
just feels pretty minimal – but in looking the game’s history up (I didn’t know
much of anything about it prior to this console release), it was a mobile game
at one point, so the barebones presentation tracks. Also, a bit of a story
wouldn’t have hurt – I like narratives and while this overall theme of breezy
and fun keeps things moving, a goal other than ‘discover new things’ would have
been appreciated. Lastly, Pirates Outlaws is a pretty accessible overall
roguelike, but with so much content baked in, it can feel just a smidge
unfocused. While I enjoyed doing multiple runs in a row, I do wonder what
the longevity of this title will be for me. Right now it’s an addicting way to
kill twenty minutes in small bursts, but will I be playing it in a couple of
months? Hard to say, but my guess is probably not.
In the end, Pirates Outlaws is a really good example of the
roguelike / deckbuilding genre, without doing anything too risky. The gameplay
is brisk, there’s a ton to find and do and it’s even a bit more accessible than
some of the other titles in this genre that I’ve played. Admittedly, the
production values are a bit lacking, especially when you consider the visuals
and the lack of narrative. Pirates Outlaws is a fun game that has an addictive
quality to it, especially at the very beginning.
Score: 7 / 10
