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Swashbucklers

<a href="http://en.akella.com/Game.aspx?id=4" target="_blank">http://en.akella.com/Game.aspx?id=4</a>

but remember that its by Akella

(that was a warning, not a recommendation)
 
Judging by the screenshots, this game looks silly and weird. Almost ghostly-looking ships with their white glow, huge adversaries, weird red fire. What's this game supposed to be? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wacko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wacko:" border="0" alt="wacko.gif" />
 
lol, thats a lot of blood!

On top sharing Pieter Boelen´s opinion, i would like to raise the question, why the pic of the menuscreen (down right) give the options"Talk to bartender, talk to sailor.. etc" in a 1980´s-like adventuregame-style, when the character obviously can move freely around on the other pics? You can´t walk around inside houses or what?
 
set in the greatest era of pirates? looks more like the 19th century! especially the ships. looks more like a western/pirate cross-over. this could very well be the worst so far by the looks of it.
 
That's what I'm afraid of. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":ko" border="0" alt="ko.gif" />
 
I cannot understand what they try to do with their game. By the *looks* of it, they're trying to make a weird and silly hack-and-slash pirate kind of game. I sure hope it will turn out to be better than it looks like.
 
It looks like it's gonna be a disappointment... I saw somewhere another pirate game, Age of Pirates: Captain Blood... Is that akella as well? That kind of 1980's adventure was at the game Pirates! (recent version) which I found much worse than an unmodded version of potc (so damn limited).
 
I've been playing this game for the last few hours. Pick it up for 20 bucks or less, but not a penny more.

Lots of interesting ideas, but silly references and severe lack of depth make this more of a game for console kids (came out for ps2 as well as PC) then grizzled pirating gamers.
 
Arrrr. I've had past experience with games like that. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":eek:" border="0" alt="ohmy.gif" /> Thanks for the heads up.
 
Here's an informal review I did for some friends based on my first impressions (there were no reviews out at the time):

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Initial first impressions:

Well, as suspected, Akella's "Swashbucklers" is a budget title for a reason. It's a weird mix of 3D action game, 2D fighting game and a really castrated. lobotomised and disembowelled version of Pirates! It's a game for people who love loading screens. I mean alot. It should be called "Loading Screen: With Civil War Like Images." And it's got an awesome inventory system that makes Hellgate look good. Not only do you have your own, microscopic, starting inventory to juggle but a ship's hold as well! And, a blast from the past, Seadog's all but pointless towns to wander around in make a glorious return.

As craptastic as all that is, there might be something in here for the morbidly curious or fellow PS3 owners that desperate for a new, exclusive (PS2), title. Nobody is that desperate. But...

You do have fighting and you do have ships. There's some level of a trading game going on in different ports (though I suspect, of course, fixed prices not dynamically adjusting ones). You can also haul cargo for a third party, engage in boxing matches and take on assorted missions for wealth and experience. And there's the impossible to resist tempation of piracy floating about those Caribbean waters in the form of ships under assorted flags (mostly the usual "Pirates!" suspects but also including the Union and the Confederacy) with the added touch of unique names - which often don't fit. We'll see Confederate ships named after Union cities and visa versa, for example. But it's the thought that counts.

Naval combat feels superficially like traditional pirating games, you maneuver for a shot while trying to avoid exposing yourself to fire. However, as there's really no sailing (no wind) in the game it's just pushing a stick around, adjusting your speed (and you have "boosters" in the form of a steam engine) and shooting. There's a default cannon with unlimited ammo and you can acquire superweapons to fit on your ship that give you a little extra kick.

Once you beat the opposing ship down there's the option to board. The feel of the 3D boarding actions isn't all that bad. Mostly you dodge around and switch between your sword and a pistol to take out the overwhelming number of defenders. It's got a kinda nice fluidity to it. Of course your own crew (such as it is) never gets involved. They're busy being the backdrop fighting backdrop counterparts.

After three (or more as you advance?) waves on different stages there's a 2D fighting game sequence as you duel the captain. This is mostly a matter of matching blocks to attacks and learning a given opponent's timing so you can get in your shots. Like mini-boss fights. It doesn't seem very challenging but I'm still on the early levels.

And once you win you can loot then burn, auction or set the ship free. You get loot for your own personal inventory and for your ship. Which means extra loading screens and inventory management! Woot! But it's not too terrible.

What you wonder is whether there's a point to letting ships go. Whether there's any consequence at all for your actions. And..so on. While time, day and night, pass and are tracked as you sail around the weatherless seas there doesn't seem to be any effect on anything. No crew morale that I can see. No rations being consumed. No cargo spoiling.

The one formal mission I undertook from a governor seemed pretty straightforward: piracy runs that involve looting specific items but you don't get to loot the ship only personal items including the quest objects.

One twist on delivering cargo for third parties (as opposed to running cargo yourself) is that they may ask you to smuggle something past a blockaded port. Seems all the southern ports are patrolled by Union ships. Haven't tried that yet. I suspect it might be more profitable to sell those items yourself if you've got the cargo capacity and wealth to make use of it.

The easist way I've found to make money is just boxing in bars. You can make $500 in a relatively short time beating the snot out of terribly simple opponents. Maybe $1000 wager matches are tougher. These boxing matches are 2D affairs much like the captain duelling in boarding actions but captains seem to know what they're doing and can give you a tiny bit of challenge. Compare this to running a blockade for the same amount of money or getting slightly more to run a mission for a governor.

Anyhow, I think I'll be getting back to other things for a while. If someone else picks this up, and upon delving deeper, is more interested I'd be happy to hear about it.

Oh, one nice touch is the RPG aspect. Each level you can add a point to one of three stats (swordplay, gunplay and defense) and you get to chose one of four Perks offered at that time. Perks. These are really more like skills that help actively in 3d action combat or passively for assorted things but most notably ship combats. What's cute are the illustrations. Very Fallout. Very, very, Fallout. You could call it a tribute even.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well, it is a functional game. It didn't have any obvious bugs but there are, on first glance, a host of questionable design decisions. Though you do have to give them points for picking an unconventional setting. The idea of being a smuggler and privateer during the Civil War is pretty neat. Now if the game actually ran a bit more with that rather than the odd amalgamation of things it did instead.

Two other noteworthy "whas?!' NPCs do odd grunty things rather than actually speak while you read the text. There's no way to turn this off and it gets old very fast. Also all the lettering inside buildings, most obviously saloons, seems to be in Cyrillic.

But there are those odd little touches like uniquely named ships and the fact that many cities seem to have unique layouts and art assets.

You kinda wonder what happened here. Kids might like the game more than adults as it's a less difficult version of the usual piracy game with more familiar elements like personal combat. But the game is somehow rated M for Mature. I didn't see the least Mature element in it unless drinking hard liquor to boost your energy (used to power special attacks) counts? Or robbing innocent ships at sea does.

Edit: Just checked Metacritic and there's a mini-review up at Games Radar. They seemed to like it somewhat more than I did giving it a 6.0. And evidently there's limb severing, massive gore and strong language which I never ran across myself.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
 
For some reason the topic didn't update for a few days on the forums. I posted my review-thing and it didn't appear as a new post in the headers. Was just seeing if that was a fluke or what.
 
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" /> Mates,

I think that this game is the more under valuate game I even played.

I read only bad reviews about this game but I just finished to play It after more than 10 hours.

I finished all mission, take the best ship with the best upgrade and after all I want more of it, this happen only with the good games.

If you are a pirate game fun just try it you will not regret.

<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/keith.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":keith" border="0" alt="keith.gif" /> bye, bye,
giuliootto
 
I ended up trying this game out last night. Needless to say. I looked nothing like the pics online. Some of those images are miss leading. Some of you recall there being a 74 ship of the line. thats was one thing that got me excited about even buying it. lucky I did not buy it. No SOTL to be found. just cartoony ships. the graphics are lack luster. game play is boring , mostly because you talk to yourself. I just found it to be unimpressive. I expected alot more from Akella. It was the ole bait and switch. this is a huge drop of standards for Akella. I don't get it they were moving in the right direction in the begining. and switch up mid stream. I think they been listing to their American Distributors to much. If anyone from Akella is reading this. please don't pay attention to those people. you guys have always made thinking games. you where a refuge for many of us tired of the old hack and slash method of playing.we love adventure, not dog droppings. make them like you always made them, Age of Sail 1 and 2, Seadogs, POTC, and even Age of Pirates....I hope Captain Blood is not going to be like this turd you sent out.
I love you guys but get with it.

<b>This is a image of what was offered as Swashbucklers B v G
</b><img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00158870.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00158871.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00158872.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>And this is what they ended up giving to the public</b>

<img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00161767.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00161770.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshots/00161766.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
 
that looks almost exactly like the ships in tortuga: two treasures. but where are those first pics from?
 
<!--quoteo(post=233726:date=Jan 13 2008, 02:22 AM:name=Morgan Terror)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Morgan Terror @ Jan 13 2008, 02:22 AM) [snapback]233726[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->that looks almost exactly like the ships in tortuga: two treasures. but where are those first pics from?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
those are early pictures of SB BvG that was what was ment to be released. they scraped that version in favor of the crummy arcade cartoon version.
 
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