Anything pirates and video games is always going to get a second look from me. Pirate Outlaws was originally a mobile game that just came out of Steam’s early access on April 14th. Its described as an easy-to-play roguelike card game. Its artwork style has a striking resemblance to Sea of Thieves but in a 2-dimensional universe. Rule #1 when making a pirate game is… You must have good pirate music! Pirate outlaw’s music is good I just wish it had a bit more of variety in the battle screens.
As of right now, it does not support native ultrawide monitors at 2560 x 1080 or above. It will stretch the game out to full screen at the 1920 x 1080 resolution. It does not look bad at all, to be honest with you, it is only noticeable when you first switch modes. Aside from this issue, it’s a very well-developed game we did not encounter any other tech issues or bugs.
Pirate Outlaws has 2 different modes an arena mode and a map mode dungeon crawler where you sail to your encounters. Currently, it’s only a single-player game but it could be interesting if they implemented an online PVP mode down the road. Repute is your main account currency which you need to earn 2000 before you can play in the arena mode. It is more like a reputation than a currency when you reach the amount you need to unlock something you don’t lose any of it. Repute allows you to unlock heroes, skins, map difficulties, packages, and upgrades.
Map mode adds another layer of strategy to the card game as you sail your ship through events, battles, markets, and taverns to ultimately reach the end boss. You will need to manage your action points which allow you to navigate your ship from node to node. Your hero’s health must be preserved to clear the whole map and defeat the boss. Can you earn up to 13 heroes which all have different base abilities and card decks. You’re able to customize the game to your playstyle with deck building and hero selection. I do think the pathing in map mode is too linear, you are only able to move forward with an occasional split. I would prefer much lower action points and the ability to move any direction I choose.
Pirate Outlaws is a card game of course and battles are the heart of the entertainment. It has all the great features of a good card game deck building, buffs, debuffs, affixes, conditions, vulnerabilities, and consumables. It’s designed to be an easy-to-play game so your card catalog is small, there are only 9 conditions, 10 affixes and you can only have 1 buff/debuff up at a time. Armor charges allow you to use special cards with a limit of 2 – 3 totals depending on which hero you chose. It’s welcoming to beginners and casuals but can get exceedingly difficult on hard mode. RNG in this mode is more prevalent due to the added dynamic of the map features.
Map Mode has a decently fast past but Arena Mode is where the hype lies. Once you unlock Arena mode after earning 2000 Repute you can pit yourself in a constant battle of card games. Bosses appear more frequently and enemies in the battles are randomized. Every wave gets more difficult and rewards become more powerful but only last the session. I think the most unfortunate thing about the arena mode is you do not earn repute. A small reward every 10 levels would make it a more rewarding experience, but it is by far the most fun mode to play. The pace of the arena is fast, and the variety of enemies faced requires you to build a god deck to reach levels above 30.
I think this game would have been better to release on Switch before PC. Andriod phones can screen swap with most TVs nowadays. 98% of PC owners have a cell phone or tablet. I do not have any plans to uninstall it I do genuinely enjoy the game. I would love to have it on my switch though!
