It is not every day that a game finally makes it out of development hell, but Captain Blood seems to have done just that. Announced way back in 2003, this hack-and-slash was set to adapt the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini. However, numerous delays, developer changes, restarts, and even a legal battle kept Captain Blood away from players. But, developer SeaWolf Studio has finally delivered after more than two decades. And while it may be nice to see this game finally hit store shelves, much of it feels like a relic from the past, and not in a good way.
Captain Blood whisks players away on a pirate adventure set within the backdrop of the Spanish Main in the 17th century. They step into the shoes of a fearsome pirate known as Captain Blood on his quest for glory and riches. What ensues is a classic swashbuckling tale that sees players conquer the high seas, beat back countless enemies, and master all there is to know about being a pirate. That tale may sound like a recipe for success, but the entire thing is held back considerably by almost everything else.
The Skull and Bones Concept Shouldn't Face the Reaper
While Ubisoft's Skull and Bones may have failed to make its mark, the core pirate concept does not deserve to be left gathering dust.
Captain Blood's Story Leaves Much to Be Desired
The main story of Captain Blood is not that dissimilar from what players have seen in all sorts of pirate tales over the years. It starts off with a high-stakes invasion before spiraling into a classic pirate adventure that sees Captain Blood attempt to make his mark across the high seas. Wherever the gold is, he seemingly follows. But of course, enemies lurk around every corner, and he must do all he can to take them out before they end his pirate journey forever.
While that should make for an exciting tale, this is also where one of Captain Blood's biggest issues comes into play: its audio mixing. For some reason, dialogue is often way too quiet in every cutscene, so players will likely lose out on most of the plot details. To make matters worse, players are constantly bombarded by a repetitive soundtrack and sound effects that often drown each other out. All of which makes for an incredibly hard story to follow, and as of now, editing the settings seems to do very little to alleviate that.
Speaking of the settings, there is very little to work with here. For starters, there are barely any accessibility options, which may prevent some players from being able to check it out. The ones that it does have can only be edited on the main menu rather than in-game for some reason. On top of that, the audio settings do little to actually fix the audio mixing, and if players want to edit the video or graphic settings, then they also must do it from the main menu, with the in-game settings not offering much control over the experience. That just seems like a strange design decision, especially since some players like to spend time fine-tuning their adventure.
The Core Gameplay Loop Feels Like a Relic of the Past
Along with that, Captain Blood's core gameplay loop feels like it belongs to a game that was supposed to be released decades ago. The entire experience is built as a throwback to the hack-and-slashes of the past. The camera is fixed to one angle and players must constantly spam the same inputs to take out waves of enemies. As players progress further, they can unlock more combos, upgrade their health or arsenal, and even learn a few new executions.
As players fight hordes of enemies, they have a few unique weapons at their disposal. They can take them down with their sword, fire a flintlock pistol, or toss a few grenades to cause massive damage. Along with that, they can pick up and utilize some enemy weapons for a short period of time, and even toss a box or two at their heads. While that does help shake things up a bit, some players may find the combat a bit too repetitive after a while.
Occasionally, players will be met with naval combat missions, which see them frantically run between cannons to take out enemy ships before they take the player's ship out. As they do so, enemies will also start boarding their ship if they are not fast enough, making things extremely tense and difficult at times. This does help break up the more repetitive missions, but these, too, can get a bit boring after a little while, as they are not that different from each other.
There are only so many times players can hit the same inputs and take out the same enemy types before they get bored with the experience. There are a few harder bosses to fight, and the unlockable combos can alleviate the repetitiveness a bit, but it only goes so far, and ultimately, Captain Blood just does not offer enough variety in its combat loop to keep players coming back for more. Couple that with the rough audio mixing, and this entire experience may leave much to be desired for some.
Captain Blood Still Offers Something For Nostalgic Hack and Slash Fans
At its core, Captain Blood feels like a game that was meant to come out two decades ago. The gameplay harkens back to hack and slash titles of the past, and if it had come out then, it may have fit right in. However, in 2025, the title is extremely lacking. The core gameplay is repetitive, the audio mixing needs a lot of work, and the lack of polish holds this game back considerably.
That being said, those looking for that old-school hack-and-slash experience may want to take Captain Blood for a spin as it delivers just that. Yet, for most players, this title does not offer much. It is still nice to see a game get out of development hell after all of these years, but it could have been so much stronger than it is.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 48 /100 Critics Rec: 12%
- Released
- May 6, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Seawolf Studio, General Arcade
- Publisher(s)
- SNEG
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
- A good nostalgia trip for hack-and-slash fans
- Extremely repetitive gameplay
- The audio mixing really needs work
- Feels very dated