Are you ready to handle some freakin' ropes? How about playing sea shanties with your drunk friends? Maybe you're more of a spyglass person? Oooh, or how about reading maps?
Get ready for all of that and more, as "Sea of Thieves" is, first and foremost, a game about navigating the sea in an old ship. I mean that in the nicest way possible, as it's tremendously fun to play.
Remember that story I told about getting a treasure chest? Here's how that went in terms of gameplay:
-First, we had to pull up the anchor. Even with all four of us working at it, it still took about 10 seconds.
-Next, we had to lower the sails and angle them. While my buddy took the helm, I ran from rigging to rigging, carefully lowering and angling the sails for as much wind as possible.
-Meanwhile, another player went below deck to our map table, where he compared his treasure map (which depicts the island's shape) to the larger map in front of him. When he found the right island, he marked it on the map.
-Then, he explained to my buddy on the helm which direction to head. He also warned of potential obstacles in the way.
That's all before we start talking about the process of stopping the ship, repairing the ship, or fighting enemy ships.
None of this stuff is technically demanding — it all operates like normal video game stuff — but if you're looking for a game that's focused on shooting blunderbusses and cutting down foes, this ain't it.