Initially meant to be a PS2-era motion recreation that was swept up in growth woes and authorized points, Captain Blood lastly will get an official launch over 20 years since its inception.
Sadly, the wait has not been price it. Not even shut.
Particularly by in the present day’s requirements, Captain Blood is a tragically messy hack-and-slasher, hamstrung by a fight system that struggles to supply any type of satisfying suggestions. The nice captain’s blade might as nicely be a moist noodle.
With set digicam angles and dodge rolls mapped to the correct stick, the sport’s bought outdated God of Warfare vibes, however the motion cannot ever evaluate. Your total arsenal — which consists of fundamental sword combos, a cooldown-based blunderbuss, and grenades — feels undercooked and unwieldy. Even the devoted finisher animations are devoid of affect.
Unlocking further assaults does enhance the fight to some small extent, however it’s not sufficient to make it really feel good — and with the title’s regular introduction of more and more tedious enemy sorts, there’s merely no reprieve from the slog.
In the meantime, Captain Blood’s story, which threatens to be considerably entertaining in its cartoonish swashbuckling, collapses underneath a few of the worst audio mixing we have heard in years. All the voicework is buried beneath wildly fluctuating sound results and a repetitive soundtrack — and fidgeting with the choices barely adjustments a factor.
The worst a part of Captain Blood, although? It is that there is one thing right here, a flicker of a challenge that was as soon as heartfelt and enjoyable. You possibly can see it within the pleasantly chunky character fashions and well-realised environments — however the recreation’s charming presentation cannot outweigh its basic gameplay flaws.
If in case you have a burning nostalgia for early 2000s motion titles, you may be capable to squeeze some semblance of enjoyment from Captain Blood, however even then, you have to wade via tedious, weightless fight and bafflingly ignored audio points.
