The inspiration behind Pirates Outlaws is easily referenced to 2017’s Slay The Spire. Honestly, the only difference is that BlitWorks’ title is based around pirates, the sea, and swashbuckling instead of venturing through dank dungeon-like towers using magic against fantasy monsters.

Even though it is a direct Slay The Spire clone, I am okay with it because the challenging gameplay loop is just as fun and addicting as ever.

Pirates Outlaws is a roguelike deckbuilder based around strategy.  The player uses ammo points to execute actions from the cards that have been dealt.  Some cards, like a simple melee strike, will cost 0 ammo points but shooting a pistol will cost one. Then toss in reloading, some cards that consume 2-3 ammo points, blocking, status effects, bosses, venturing through random paths, resupplies at vendors along the way, fighting multiple targets at once, and you have yourself an addicting gameplay experience. This might sound confusing or complicated but I assure you it is simple fun that anyone can play. However, as a minor complain, I understood the ruleset almost immediately since I am familiar with Slay The Spire. Newcomers, however, might feel a little lost as the opening tutorial is somewhat lacking, leaving the player to test the waters through trial-and-error gameplay. At the same time, the gameplay will be understood by the end of the first non-tutorial run.

If there is one thing Pirate Outlaws does better than Slay The Spire, it is providing the player with tons of things to unlock and upgrade.  In fact, there are so many things to unlock and purchase, it can be intimidating and overwhelming.  Negatively, the player has very limited access to the wealth of content packed into this digital download as the game begins but only slowly starts to open with each passing hour.  The game keeps track of all your progress and awards the player with currency in which to unlock more characters, cards, and gameplay modes but the cost to unlock these extras often takes a lot of time and effort. I can’t imagine the number of hours required to unlock it all, probably hundreds.

The pirate presentation is steady and accurate throughout.  From the peglegs to planks to parrots, everything is visually based around a pirate’s life on sea. Even the soundtrack is yo-ho-ho-y but doesn’t become annoying after spending hours trying to clear that final run. 

If you enjoyed Slay The Spire, then there is no reason you will not like Pirates Outlaws.  Newcomers might be initially intimidated at and the vast amount of unlockables as it can be overwhelming, but it is all designed to keep you coming back for more with “one more run” addicting gameplay.   

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By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

Twitter: @ZackGaz

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