GC 2008: Captain Blood First Look

If you enjoyed Sid Meier's Pirates but are looking for something a bit more action-oriented, 1C's upcoming Captain Blood might be for you. The SeaWolf-developed action game will follow the exploits of the famous seafarer and soldier Captain Blood (himself based on the novels of Rafael Sabatini, published in the 1920s and 1930s). 1C gave us a brief demo of this attractive-looking game today at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

Our first thought when watching Captain Blood in action was "God of War on the high seas." After all, the Captain Blood in the video game is not the coiffed dandy from the books, but a heavily muscled, ponytail-sporting brute who looks like he's more at home in a bar fight than rigging a topsail. The developers behind the game make no apologies for its hack-and-slash nature, and they cite THQ's recent action adventure game Conan as an influence.

The influence is obvious from the get-go, with plenty of fighting shown off during the demo. What sets Captain Blood apart in combat is the appearance of his partner, Jeremy Pitt. Shorter and lankier than the captain, Pitt is an agile fighter who's quicker on the draw but doesn't pack as mean a punch as the main character. In the demo, Pitt was controlled by the AI, but we do know that at certain times you'll switch between controlling Captain Blood and Pitt. Though cooperative play seems like a natural for this game, with a player each as the Captain and his sidekick, developers told us that the multiplayer options are still being considered.

Our demo of Captain Blood was shorter than expected, thanks to an untimely crash in the preview code that was being used. However, it does seem that the game will include sea-combat missions in which you'll be able to take the wheel of your ship and battle it out against your enemies, earning new upgrades for your ship with each victory.

Despite an artificially short demo, we saw enough of Captain Blood to intrigue us for more. We look forward to getting our hands on the game ahead of its release sometime in 2009. Look for more on the game in the coming months.