Unleash the Ultimate Adventure: Rogue Waters Blends Swashbuckling Action, Strategic Battle, and Card-Based Triumph
The Allure of the Pirate-filled Seas: A Review of Rogue Waters
Pirates, like vampires, should be making for epic videogame protagonists, yet there are only a handful of stand-out titles that truly capture the essence of swashbuckling adventure. It’s a tough nut to crack, as we want certain specific elements from our ideal pirate game: a mix of raiding, trading, and combat, combined with a dash of port-side economic simulation. Rogue Waters, however, takes a different approach.
This run-based roguelite is less about the adventure on the high seas and more about the battles fought and won, or lost, along the way. Each raid you undertake, from the comfort of your ship, using a map that’s reminiscent of Slay the Spire, is a self-contained experience. Whether you succeed or fail, you’ll be back at base, upgrading your vessel and crew before setting off on another adventure.
While the paths you choose haven’t just been charted out by the allure of treasure or prestige, but by the promise of new and exciting experiences. You’ll encounter choose-your-own-adventure style stories, where you’ll deal with trap-filled treasure islands or the wounds of injured sea monsters. A significant portion of these paths, however, are battles on the high seas.
The combat, when you board an enemy ship, is a two-pronged affair. The first part involves cannon fire, where you’ll need to take out the opposition’s artillery while defending your own ship and crew. The second part is a turn-based, ship-to-ship battle, where positioning is crucial. Enemies will take damage if they bump into each other or the environment, making every action count.
To navigate the chaotic battlefield, you’ll need to make strategic use of ropes, which allow you to swing up to eight extra squares without taking a turn, and the commander ability, which lets your captain push a loyal crewmate two additional squares for the turn.
Tentacled Terrors and Pirate Prowess
One notable aspect of Rogue Waters is the incorporation of sea monsters, which you can command and use to perform a powerful special move at the cost of abyssal ether. You’ll begin with the Kraken, whose tentacles can crush five swabbies if they’re foolish enough to stand in a row.
Within the game, you’ll also find various types of pirates, each with their own skill trees. The refillable mass of your crew are basic mates, but you can also recruit randomized individuals from classes like the spear maiden, who can attack two enemies at once, or the musketeer, with their rare ranged weapon that requires aiming before firing a high-damage shot.
A Modular, Yet restrictive, Experience
Rogue Waters falls short of being the ultimate pirate game for many reasons. There’s no trading, with chests of plunder being converted into abstract points for upgrades between raids, and no sense of wind direction. However, there’s still plenty to appreciate. The puzzle of swapping cannonballs is a fun precursor to each battle, and the various pieces on the board offer a sense of agency in combat, allowing you to make meaningful decisions and finally take down those pesky foes.
Conclusion
Rogue Waters is a game that, while not meeting all our expectations, offers an engaging, if limited, experience. It’s a product of a smaller studio, Ice Code Games, the developers behind Hard West 2, and while it may not scratch that pirate itch, it’s a fun, if shallow, romp through the world of high-seas adventure.
Get your hooks on Rogue Waters on Steam and Epic.
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