Nostalgia for a game that never existed!
Captain Blood is an action adventure, hack & slash set in the 17th century where players take on the role of the titular pirate captain. This is an interesting release as it was infamously stuck in development hell for over 10 years, originally being made to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Instead, we have it here in 2025 but it retains all the visuals, style and gameplay mechanics from that generation.
What follows is a captivating yet flawed approach at creating an original God of War style game in a pirate setting, doused with nostalgia and appreciation for not only a specific genre, but also an entire generation!
A Pirating Adventure!
The pirating era is a particular point in history that lacks a good amount of games, and ever since the success of Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, gamers have been yearning for more. Captain Blood certainly delivers on that front. From fighting your way through shores, coves and caves, to defending your own ship and sinking many others, Captain Blood nails the pirate aesthetic perfectly.
The titular hero, alongside his loyal sidekick and crew, is tasked with saving the daughter of a British governor. Of course it’s not quite as simple as that, and along the way you’ll encounter many a Spaniard, as well as opposing pirate crews and captains, including whole fleets of enemy ships!
Players can explore each level where they may well find extra treasure chests and gold. The vibrant visuals really highlight the Caribbean location, and a keen sense of adventure is present throughout. If you’re looking for a new pirate game to play, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.
Gameplay and Direction
Initially, the gameplay feels engaging and entertaining. If you’ve played the original God of War games or anything like Dante’s Inferno, then you’ll know exactly what to expect here. However, there’s nothing that mixes things up when it comes to combat. Executions and fighting animations are impressive to begin with, but not so much after you’ve seen them dozens of times already.
Everything throughout the game unfortunately becomes pretty repetitive. There are a few skills and combo moves to unlock, but none of them impact the core gameplay. There’s a small variety of weapons and enemies, but by the time you’ve gotten about halfway through the short campaign, you’ve pretty much seen all you’re going to see already.
When I started the game, I tried my best to wipe out nearly every single enemy on the level because I was having a fun time. In the latter levels I found myself mostly running past enemies, simply because I’d grown bored of the combat and the rewards weren’t great enough for me to bother.
At the end of each level you’re presented with a list of stats including things like enemy kills, chest unlocks and gold earned, giving it more of an arcade feel. This is normally a great incentive to return to each level and try to beat the previous scores. Unfortunately I never felt drawn to replaying a level, and I’d mostly upgraded my character as much as I wanted by the midway point. Perhaps with some refinement to each level’s design, greater enemy variation and more weapons/combat skills, Captain Blood could have excelled in this forgotten genre.
An Auditory Disappointment
The most important flaw that will be instantly recognisable to all players (at least on the Xbox Series X) is the immediate lack of audio mixing and optimisation. It’s honestly difficult to hear the characters speak over the blaring music and sound effects during cutscenes. There were times when I couldn’t even hear them at all because the sound of seagulls was completely overpowering.
I’m not too sure what has happened here but it’s almost like the sound levels haven’t been tested properly. Going into the settings and manually adjusting the sliders for SFX and music does help to hear the actual dialogue, but this should be something that the game has already optimised on release.
Admittedly, this might turn out to not be too bad a feature, as the voice acting is pretty atrocious with wooden delivery and zero weight or emotion. But that can be forgiven given the small budget and the charm that elevates this game.
A Swashbuckling Throwback with Tarnished Treasures
Captain Blood will be an interesting game to examine and take a deep dive into its development. There is certainly an audience here, and given the current state of the industry it’s incredibly refreshing to see a smaller studio release a dedicated game that perfectly replicates the time when single player original IPs used to come out all the time.
Sometimes Captain Blood falls into the “it’s so bad it’s good category”; sometimes it’s just pretty bad but there always remains a clear charm behind every action. The devs are certainly passionate about it, and you can feel that in some of the gameplay – it’s just a shame it misses the mark on so many occasions.
Still, if you’re looking for an okay action-adventure, hack & slash, or if you just want a pirate game, Captain Blood will scratch that itch to some extent.
It’s also a very strange experience to have that feeling of nostalgia overcome you when playing a game that was never released. I suppose that just shows how magical the Xbox 360 era really was!
Your Links
Fifteen Years Later! Cancelled Captain Blood Finally Launches on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/fifteen-years-later-cancelled-captain-blood-finally-launches-on-xbox-playstation-switch-pc/
Captain Blood: A Pirate Adventure Lost in Time Finally Sets Sail! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/captain-blood-a-pirate-adventure-lost-in-time-finally-sets-sail/
Buy Captain Blood on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/captain-blood/9P7HFVBMS9RT/0010
