On the 2014 Gamescon during a presentation there was a chance to play a small demo of this game. During the demo I noticed that there still was work to be done, but there were so many good ideas lumped together that the final product will be interesting. An almost 1:1 real life version of the Caribbean Sea will wait for the players, to capture, plunder, and countless ships to blow up.

The story is the usual trope, revenge. One afternoon our hero is sailing on the open seas with his family, they wish to live in peace when suddenly evil pirates attack them. This when Christopher Raven’s life turns up side down, as he not only does lose his parents, but his left hand also. He then swears revenge, to hunt down his parents killers.

This vengeance will be forever

Raven is so blinded by the sweet taste of revenge, that while means good, doesn’t mean he won’t do horrible things to achieve his goals. You can create a swashbuckling crew from your friends, to attack civilian ships to reach your goals. In the demo we went to Saint Lucia’s harbor, which is full of rebels, and there’s no colonial patrol to keep everyone in check. There are four factions in the game: French, English, Dutch and Spanish, they rule most of the island and patrol the seas. Saint Lucia is like an old Mos Eisley, this is where the criminals gather, where shady deals are made, plus we need to watch out who we talk to.

I’m looking for a ship

First of all we’ll need a ship. This is easier said than done, as everything costs a boat load of cash. Since the game is open world, you’ll have ample opportunities to fill up your coffers. The easiest is to go to the first inn and ask for a loan (with high interest rate) from the local tough guys. Then you’ll have to pay the loan back… on time or else a few people will be on your tail constantly.

There’s also another way to gain a ship and crew. In the inn you can listen to the banter of a crew complaining about their captain who is a constant drunk. If you are brave enough you may call him out in a sword fight. The fight consists of four main movements: light / heavy attack, defense, and parry. Plus there are also four special moves like kicking, attacking with our hook and etc. The above two options to gain a ship are just examples and there will be many more to come in the final product.

 Money is the soul of everything

Money is one of the pillars for Raven’s Cry gameplay. You’ll need to hire a crew for quite a bit of sum. Then there’s the cost of repairing / upgrading the ship which also costs a lot of money. If you’re savy on the business end you can try trading, as all of the islands have a different economy and market. Every item is on a different amount, and if you can find a good trade route, then gold will flow into your ship’s hull.

Just watch out for the other pirates as they are constantly trying to invade and take away trade ships. The other income option is to become a bounty hunter. There are a huge number of pirates out on the open seas, and if you hunt them down a hefty reward will be given. The third option is to start raiding unsuspecting ships for gold and items. When we do this, it is us who will be hunted by bounty hunters. A lot of options are given for the players to raise their notoriety, and if we do it really good, the people will fear our flag.

Of course there’s option to camouflage our ship. Repaint it, replace the flags, to confuse the attackers.

This sea fight will be good.

The best part will probably be this, the promised feature in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. Only here in Raven’s Cry it will be actually done. The fights will have authentic sounds, and damage models. Your ship can be blown to smithereens as cannon balls will leave holes all over the deck and side of the ship. It is unbelievably great, and looks fantastic. One more thing to mention, the importance of exploring. As every pirate, we’ll have to race for the treasure maps, and this is not an easy task. In fact getting them will be a real challenge. Some show a location, but some may even have riddles or puzzles, which we’ll have to solve.

 Avast ye sea dogs!

Well as mentioned above, the developers are trying to fit almost everything into Raven’s Cry. The question is that will they be able to fit it in time for the final release and to all platforms. It has limitless potential, but seeing the demo this product is still far from finished. The PS4 release date is for the 28^th of January 2015, and hopefully I’ll get this swashbuckling adventure without any problems.

 -Malachit-