King of Seas (PC)

Geoffrey Wright | December 3, 2020 | Preview | No Comments

King of Seas from 3DClouds looks to offer players a swashbuckling adventure as you take up the life of a pirate captain on the seas. Set to release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC early next year, we’ve been given the chance to take a look at a preview build to check it’s seaworthiness.

First things first you gotta pick your gender & difficulty, and then your adventure can begin. Well not really begin as you’ll be tied to a few fellows trying to keep your identity under wraps whilst using you to get some jobs done. Thankfully after a little chin wagging you are given a ship and sent on your way.

First up is a simple sail to a nearby port to pickup some wood and bring it back. Nothing difficult about that as you’re eased into how the game will play out. The first several missions, which include the likes of escorting other ships and long delivery voyages, act as a kind of tutorial. You’ll be eased into ship control etc long before you’ll have to fire your first cannon in self defence.

This does give you a little time to appreciate the scenery. The game does have a somewhat stylised design, but it’s no slouch either. Sun drenched islands litter the sea and the forts/ports can look imposing when you come across them. There’s a good amount of detail, my 2080ti does suffer the odd frame drop at 4K/Ultra but has improved with patches, with some beautiful blue waves to sail on when the weather is nice. Bad weather and a Day/Night cycle can lead to things looking a little more glum, but does also come with their own atmospheric nature.

Even with the limited time so far, the ship based gameplay could be a real highlight. When played with a controller, your L/R cannons are tied to the corresponding trigger and shoulder buttons control the sail. You don’t really need to to use much else at first. When the fighting starts just head into a battle, fire off one side volley, raise the sail to increase mobility, spin round to hit them from the other side and then drop the sail to pick up speed and try to doge their volley. You can get special abilities from crew members and different ships that offer various speed & damage boosts, so there’s certainly more to come later in the game.

Only having a limited time with the preview build of the game and release still being a few months away, King of Seas is showing some promise on this early voyage. The general gameplay certainly seemed to be fine, the smooth ship controls were a highlight, and the stylised world still has more to offer beyond this preview. Might be worth keeping an eye on if you’re looking for some classic seafaring & exploration upon the high seas.