The 20 Worst Games Of 2025

Like cowboys and vampires, pirates are one of these things that have gone in and out of vogue over the years, often dictated by what’s in the cinema at the time - or on streaming, as it may be now. The gaming markets (of the tabletop, board and video varieties) tend to be more insulated from such trends, with pirates an evergreen subject matter so long as the format is solid and the characters engaging.

On the one hand, Captain Blood ought to have been an easy win: a hassle-free pirate hack and slash set in the 1600s and loosely based on Rafael Sabatini’s novel, with all the trappings of the genre, including land and sea adventures, hordes of enemies to cut down, and ship-to-ship battles. On the other hand, its long trudge through development hell, from 2003 to now, might have been a sign of stormy seas ahead.

The game very much feels as though it began development in 2003, and that it never made it past sixth- or seventh-gen gaming. The graphics and aesthetics look like the old PS2 Prince of Persias. The fighting is very old fashioned, lacking grace or nuance and primarily consisting of literally just battering enemies into submission with your sword. And some of the key elements - like the ship battles - border on tedium, without even a strong story to fall back on.