What do you get when Sea of Thieves and Fortnite have a baby? You get Blazing Sails. A game that Is currently in early access but has caught the attention of this Battle Royale veteran that is seeking something new and exciting. Fortnite has started to drop off the radar for me and I have been on the market looking to see what other Battle Royale are around. Sure, you have Warzone, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Apex Legends but ultimately, I just wanted something that took a different route and that’s when Blazing Sails sailed onto my Horizon.
Currently available through Steam, this little treasure is a pirate lovers next best thing. It mixes the sailing and exploring elements you get with Sea of Thieves and mixes it with the classic Battle Royale elements that we all love to be the last one standing or in this case the last ship sailing. I am aware that Sea of Thieves has an arena mode but it’s nice to have a game that is solely focused on this one game mode. In the pre-game lobby, you will find other players and can join their crew or invite them to join yours.
When the game starts you pick an island that your crew would like to start on, after a few seconds the game begins and you have to explore these islands to find weapons, resources and cannonballs for your ship. Your ship is the main part of your crew, if it gets destroyed its game over, you can repair the ship when it takes damage, this can be done by using your hammer in your inventory and by holding wood. You and your crew can collect and store wood below deck, your ship will have a storage box that when you access puts all your resources into the ship so that other crewmates can use them.
You keep your loadout just deposits your resources. Early game your team must collect as much as you can so that late game you don’t run out. When your ship takes damage, you’ll start taking on water which is a big problem, you have to quickly patch up the holes in the ship then use the water pump to get rid of the access water. Not only that but below deck your ship has a cork and if this gets removed by an enemy then your ship rapidly takes on water and sinks quicker. This should always be monitored as you don’t want to get caught off guard. Currently, you can get up to four members of a crew which is plenty.
Communication is key and this can be done via voice chat or a simple command system that is incredibly user friendly and easy to use when you are in a hurry. Scout the horizon with your spyglass so that you aren’t caught off guard by other ships, there is a circle that shrinks over time and if you get caught in it you will start taking damage, this is a common mechanic in most Battle Royale games and helps move the game along. It does get a bit chaotic in the final circle when you have big ships trying to sail in a small area but it is quite comical and adds to the suspense.
There is a job for every crew member and each one plays a vital part in your victory, you have to man the helm and sails, prepare the cannons and makes sure there is someone always ready to fix the damage of the ship. You can drop the anchor to bring your ship to a holt which is good to make sharp turns during ship battles but make sure you have the crew ready at the capstan to bring the anchor back up or you’ll be a sitting duck.
When looting islands or stuck at sea you can teleport back to your ship by using a little artefact that is in your loadout, it does take a while for the teleporter to charge but if you find one of the teleport shrines on land then it speeds the process up. This is a really good way of getting onto an island looting it and get back to the ship quickly. A thing that I found out quite quickly though is you want to make sure you are depositing your resources into your ship regular if you die you drop your stuff and enemy players can loot your body. I like the respawn feature with Blazing Sails because if you die but your ship is still afloat you can respawn and get straight back into the action, though a bug I have noticed is if you respawn while your ship is moving you kind of spawn and get left behind. It’s quite funny but in the final circle is a pain in the butt. So, if you think you’re about to get into a fight, take only what you need as you don’t want to give the enemy team all your hard-earned loot. Your loadout is made up of a long-ranged weapon, short-ranged weapon, melee weapon and a few other things, while in melee combat if you can block an oncoming attack it temporarily stuns the enemy which is a cool feature and gives you a chance to get some easy hits off. I like the shooting in Blazing sails it feels smooth and really easy to get shots off.
I love the fact that you can create your own unique pirate and ship. There isn’t a lot currently in the game but when you go onto the official website: https://www.blazingsails.com/ you can see what direction the company has for the game and I’m looking forward to seeing this game blossom. At the moment you can only play as male pirates but don’t worry as females are on the way.
Closing Statement
Right, Blazing Sails does sadly come with some negatives, these being servers that don’t have many players or you just struggle to find games. If you join the game’s discord it is easier to rally together a few players and enjoy a few games but if you wanted to play at certain times of the day you might be welcomed with inactive lobbies which is a huge problem. You do get the odd graphic glitch as well as a few bugs but I personally always overlook these things when a game is in early access, though sadly at times it can make the game unplayable when you get stuck on a cannon or glitch off your boat for no reason.
With the current asking price of £22.99 on Steam, I think that some player will be very annoyed at the asking price when they have to spend ages just trying to play the game, like setting up lobbies and that instead of just being able to join a server and going. However, the developers have promised a fix is on the way so I can’t complain too much. Overall, my time playing Blazing Sails has been fun, enjoyable and a bust of fresh air when it comes to Battle Royale games, the dynamic mix of Navel combat and on land combat is a nice change and offers players a different experience than building walls or dropping out the sky.
The community seems lovely and are always happy to help and when you finally do get into a game with a full crew you feel like your Captain Jack Sparrow on the seven seas which is a feeling, I’m not getting tired of any time soon. Please, give the game a chance and go to their website to find out more and get stuck into the action: https://www.blazingsails.com/, I highly recommend people to give this game a chance as I believe in a few months, it will truly take off and be a go-to Battle Royale game for lovers of the genre.
This game is exclusive to PC and can be purchased for £22.99 on steam here https://store.steampowered.com/app/1158940/Blazing_Sails_Pirate_Battle_Royale/
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