Captain Blood Review: A Treasure Chest of Fool’s Gold

Mikey Yaden

May 18, 2025

There’s something tragic about a game that almost gets it right, and SeaWolf Studio’s Captain Blood is one of those games.

Captain Blood wants so badly to be a rollicking pirate adventure full of sword fights, buried treasure, and high-seas chaos. But instead, the game stumbles over its own ambition, leaving it feeling cobbled together from half-finished ideas.

It’s a game that could have been great.

A Ship With a Few Holes

Let’s start with the good, because there is good here.

The art direction is great, and it really nailed a high-quality aesthetic. You can identify the game’s influences, as gamers get a little of God of War and a bit of Fable. The gameplay is fun (at first), and the execution moves are pretty cool.

Then the cracks in the hull start to show.

Naval combat is probably my favorite form of combat in the game. Angling your broadside just right and unleashing a volley of cannon fire into an enemy hull. The naval battles sound epic on paper, but in practice, it doesn’t work well.

Eight or nine ships constantly surround yours, and with constant boarding of enemies and cannon fire all over, it’s sometimes more overwhelming and frustrating than fun.

Due to bugs, the ships don’t move at all. There’s no middle ground; you either easily obliterate your foes or get swarmed. Shooting your cannons is sometimes impossible due to enemy projectiles and melee attacks knocking you off.

And then there’s the swordplay.

Oh, the swordplay.

If you were hoping for the fluid, weighty combat of God of War, you do kind of get it, but prepare for disappointment. Combat is pretty stiff, and you do a lot of repetitive combat over the 10ish hours it takes to complete the game. If Captain Blood had been released back in the Xbox 360 era, players might have praised it.

Combat’s biggest downfall, however, is your own crew.

They don’t actually do damage and often get in the way; I kept grabbing them instead of the enemies. While opposition swarmed, it became hard to tell your friends from your enemies. The combat would’ve greatly improved without your allied mateys blocking the way.

Do you dislike quick-time events? Captain Blood suffers a bit from the overuse of QTEs. Cool action moments where you think you will get to hack n’ slash your way to victory become QTEs. You have to remember that, back in the day, QTEs were all the rage for action games.

A Story That’s Just OK

Captain Blood is janky and unfinished, which bleeds into the story. Most of the game is just an edgy, fun pirate romp with decent characters.

Where it falls apart, though, is the last level.

Players get introduced to the next big bad for the next game, but it doesn’t explain much about him or even give a name, which will likely leave some people scratching their heads. I actually had to do research online to figure that out.

Decent characters, level designs, and story don’t end up helping the game stick the landing; Captain Blood‘s finale feels like a lot was left on the cutting room floor. Still, that doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable overall.

Surprising Presentation

For a game that was supposed to release in 2010, beauty hides behind its rough edges.

While levels can be overly linear, Captain Blood boasts beautiful level design for its time. Lush jungles, towns, and the high seas all look great. The character models are big and chunky, a design style that is of its time, but has aged well.

The sound, however, is another area where the game gets messy.

Upon starting the game, it was very quiet. Even with headphones on and my PC at 100% volume, I could still hardly hear the game. I had to back out and turn on the subtitles. I missed anything said if there was any noise in the house. I felt like that friend who answers with, “Huh?” whenever you say anything.

Turns out, this is just how the sound is.

Some quality sound mixing would greatly benefit the game, because it almost ruined my enjoyment.

The Treasure Is Fool’s Gold

Captain Blood isn’t the worst game I’ve ever played, but the unpolished gameplay makes it one of the most frustrating. It’s so close to being something special; there are glimpses of greatness, but none of it comes together in a satisfying way.

Despite feeling rushed and unfocused, I think there’s a great game trapped inside this one somewhere.

If you’re desperate for a pirate fix and a very Xbox 360-feeling game full of 2010s jank, it’s worth checking out. While the game has a lot of problems and stumbles a bit, I’m glad it got to see the light of day as an official release.

The final score might scare people away, but the sheer fact that it shouldn’t have seen the light of day makes Captain Blood a worthwhile experience. Had it been properly finished and released in 2010, the score and outlook might have been a tad better, but we still enjoy it for what it is.