Naval combat in video games has always intrigued me. Ever since experiencing a virtual-reality Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World as a kid, I’ve had a soft spot for the world of the seven seas. Ship combat has been explored in games like Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and elsewhere, so I was enticed to get a quick look at the upcoming game centered around it: King of Seas.

After giving you the option to play as either a brother or sister, King of Seas starts you out as a descendant of the throne to the king of the lands. This is shown with voice-less cutscenes but is excused thanks to a good art style for the characters and expressiveness tied to specific lines. You’re quickly tasked with doing your first delivery to learn the ropes of how to sail the boat. This only takes a few minutes but is great at showing how fluid the controls are for your ship.

Soon, the plot takes a turn, and you are forced into piracy. The mainstay characters introduced are jovial and really don’t make you feel like an antagonist, instead just someone trying to make it out in the rougher side of the world. If it weren’t for the banter between your new cohorts, I would have lost interest as I tend to do with games that don’t grab me within the first 30 minutes. However, King of Seas did a great job at keeping me hooked in. Good thing too, as my preview was limited to only about an hour of gameplay. Thankfully, this timer paused during cutscenes so that didn’t impact my play-time.

When the actual naval combat comes into play, it’s a pretty straightforward affair. Fancy maneuvering is necessary to land your small window of attack while avoiding the enemy’s attack. One wrong move will turn the tide of the battle if you’re too slow to dodge a barrage or mount as many cannon hits as possible. While the early battles are a breeze, I can imagine late-game battles will be a true thrill with high stakes.

King of Seas isn’t just all about the ship fights though, as you’ll be tasked to visit other islands. You’ll also engage in bartering with the local markets. Different islands will offer different prices, so it’s paramount to take into account what constitutes a good deal so you get the most out of your plunder. I can tell there’s a lot of depth to this game, not making it just another “go to point A and do x for 10 hours” game.

What I got out of King of Seas‘ preview felt like a fully-fledged product. As I only got through the start of the game, I’ll need to see how it gets fleshed out to retain my interest from start to finish, but I’m pretty hopeful with what I got to experience to start with. For the developer of Racing with Ryan to pump out a satisfying product is a surprise to be sure, but it’s more than clear that 3DClouds have something great on their hands with King of Seas.

A PC Preview code for King of Seas was provided by 3DClouds for this preview.

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