RipCordless

A pop-culture consumer who keeps it, by design, in the shallow end of the pool.

Game Review

Sea of Thieves Shows Promise

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I recently joined others in adventuring my way through the Sea of Thieves (Panic, 2018) closed beta. Participation required pre-purchase of the game but I was happy to do so for an opportunity to play this brand new property in the gaming community. Unfortunately the closed beta encountered some glitches which took away from my first impression — but that wasn’t the reason I canceled my pre-order.

I canceled because I don’t know what this game is about. I set sail in small and large ships, I took on some quests from island hubs, I found a chest or two (but could not turn them in for a reward — harumph). I managed the rigging, the helm, the map, and was even locked away in the brig for inappropriate grogging while the wind was at our backs. We had a little fun spewing vomit on each other, shot some skellies, and was even nibbled on by sharks … but to what end? The developers stress a lot of content was restricted from the closed beta but even using some imagination, I’m a touch lost in this semi-RPG universe.

Despite the hiccups and my own confusion, I must take a moment to highlight some of the promising features from Sea of Thieves. First and foremost, the physics of sea travel. The actual oceans and weather effects are magnificent — not too strong a word — the vessels and ships are affected by wind, water, rain, and all manner of other seafaring issues. The simplistic graphics are pleasing, convey the environments quite well and reminded me of the unique style centered in that gaming monolith, World of Warcraft (Blizzard, 2004). I thoroughly enjoyed going aboard a large ship and being forced to work together as we tended sail, nuanced the anchor, and turned “hard to port!” to avoid rocks or other ships. Even the smaller single-player ships were a joy to run as I traversed the waves … but for how long would the thrill of seafaring travel enchant me?

The single biggest issues doesn’t lie within the environment, it is all about the progression mechanic. Panic have decided there will be no loot grind. All the weapons and gear are the same. In other words, the minute one musket a player finds themselves equipped with never changes. Damage does not increase, range remains fixed, and the speed of reloading is constant. In fact, a novice player will have access to the exact same weapons a 100-hour player can use — statistically there will be no difference. The only change available to players is the weapon skin and I feel that is a significant problem. An RPG, progression style game with no accompanying loot-grind is a conscious decision by Panic but one which may sink the proverbial boat. Grinding that next piece of gear — whether it be armor or that clutch weapon everyone is buzzing about — is a core concept in RPG environments. Dispensing with that reason to return to the game could be costly. So then what are players supposed to return for? As near as I can figure, finding chests and returning them to their respective quest providers for gold so you can buy that next skinned piece of gear or sail remains the only driving factor. It is rare to find a game with a single currency/commodity (in this case, chests for gold) and I’m unsure there will be enough variation for your typical player to be captured by Panic’s offering.

Sea of Thieves (Panic, 2018) has the potential to be the next great IP but there needs to be some serious polish applied before I’m going to invest money in this title. I need to see the progression system working and know how mid- and end-game mechanics will appease dedicated players who demand content and (unfairly) something close to perfection. I’m keeping an eye on updates, Panic. Just let me know when things smooth out and I may return. Until then, do that pirate thing and enjoy the grog.

No Man’s Sky = Epic Fail

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What happens when an extremely anticipated, likely over-hyped game, is released to widespread disdain, disappointment, and frustration? Enter the indie game developer Hello Games who released No Man’s Sky about three weeks ago. Billed as an open format, space exploration game, with a chill atmosphere, I bought into the hype (dammit) and though available on both PS4 and PC, I chose the PC (Steam) pre-purchase version.

In an interesting twist, the PS4 version was released on Tuesday, while the PC version was released on Friday of the same week. There was a lot of community head scratching over that nuance but having now played the game, I may have a thought which will bring clarity to that oddness.

About two weeks ago, I awoke Friday morning with some excitement. The release of a brand new game to the community, especially one as unique as No Man’s Sky, brings a buzz of anticipation. I’d avoided all the of early week reviews associated with the Tuesday PS4 release because I wanted to enjoy an untainted experience — without spoilers. Sure, I’d seen some articles claiming the game was running well and up to expectations (whatever that meant). Little did I know just how dissimilar the PC release would be.

I got home in the early Friday afternoon and fired up both some recording software and the game. As No Man’s Sky began, I drank in the initial presentation and was immediately underwhelmed. The graphics seemed unrefined and the UI somewhat clunky. I was puzzled. I thought this game was supposed to be all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips so surely I was missing something. Regardless, I settled in to discover what this new gaming experience had to offer.

Within 10 minutes I couldn’t help but notice the game was jittery and seemed to constantly stutter. Nothing pulls one out of a gaming experience like technical issues. I thought the problems were the result of running both the game and recording software — so I shut down the recording to test things out. Nope, the hiccups and frame-drops continued. I decided to deploy some Google-Fu to see if there was an obvious fix I was missing. Let me tell you, I was not prepared for the result.

The Internet was awash with negative commentary. The Steam community listed No Man’s Sky a paltry 57% positive user reviews. Continued research revealed Reddit, Twitter, and general Internet comments were frustrated, furious, and demanding a fix. Many people also complained about lag, hiccups, and jitter despite having machines far more powerful than my own. A friend told me he could not even start the game without an immediate crash. What the hell?!

I searched for PS4 reviews and found people mostly happy with performance but several complained about tedious game play with a healthy dose of boredom. A friend commented on his five hour experience saying, “This game is one mile wide but one foot deep,” adding it was a “repetitive,” and “unrewarding.” I was left with a decision: Stick or Twist?

With two official hours of frustration officially logged in No Man’s Sky, I request a refund from Steam. (On a side note, this experience revealed the Steam refund policy; something I knew nothing about.) The refund was granted promptly and I moved on.

In the two or three weeks since my exit, the game has continued to garner negative reviews and frustration. So much so, Steam, PS4, and other digital content providers have allowed users to request refunds well beyond the traditional refund window. I heard one stat where Steam recorded 250,000 initial persistent users but that number dropped to 15,000 (unconfirmed Internet blather). Probably not accurate but likely close to the truth.

Others have stripped away the procedural algorithm and found the 18-trillion planets claim isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The reality of unique planets is closer to 256 types with 256 varieties when you don’t include universe position and color spectrum. Certainly a large number but not quite the grand scope which generated the original buzz.

From where I sit, Hello Games became a victim of its own hype (not the first time in history) and is a good reminder to move with caution when considering a pre-purchase. No Man’s Sky could certainly evolve into something significant; however, with so much competition (specially from Star Citizen), the road forward may be a touch bumpy.