If Sid Meier's Pirates was made by a Solo Dev | Windward Horizon Demo
2Listen - if you've been following me for quite some time, you'd know that I'm not only a Sid Meier fan, but I am also a big Sid Meier's PIRATES! fan. That's why Skull & Bones was a big disappointment to me and the hole it left in my heart never left.
I've heard of Windward before but I never gotten around to play it, and now its sequel, Windward Horizon, is, well, on the horizon. This is the part where I thank both Tasharen and Stride PR for the early access demo key they provided for this preview!
As an introduction, Windward Horizon is a sandbox pirate game set in a fictitious set of islands controlled by various factions.
So, here's the thing. I had high hopes for this game and was probably the game that excited me the most for this Steam Next Fest season. However, it didn't deliver the same excitement and thrill that Sid Meier's Pirates! did for me. Maybe that's my fault, because I had unrealistic expectations, but Pirates! is my standard when it comes to sandbox pirate games.
I don't like Windward Horizon's messy UI, its lackluster onboarding/tutorial, its boring sailing, the lack of boarding other ships, the overcomplicated trading, and the unwieldy combat. There's barely anything to do in ports, so if you're just jumping from one port to another to complete quests, it's just tedious task list checking. At least in Pirates, there were taverns to visit, and governors' daughters to woo.
The worst part of Windward Horizon, however, is its lack of direction. Sure, it's a sandbox game, but it doesn't give me any longterm missions to strive for. There are quests, but I could care less about them, to be honest.
The game also uses AI art for its NPC portraits, so that's another negative in my book. I understand that the creator is a solo dev, but that doesn't excuse it. Hire artists, please.
Finally, the game was meant to be played multiplayer. I didn't get the chance to do so. Probably the gameplay becomes more bearable when you play with friends. Unfortunately, I played this before there were any players in public, so that complicated things.
Now, Windward Horizon will be available during the February Steam Next Fest Demo, so be sure to grab a couple of your friends and check it out here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2665460/Windward_Horizon/
Thank you again to Stride PR and Tasharen for the review copy.
#pirates #windward #windwardhorizon #sandbox #gaming