_During E3 2017, DualShockers' staff writers Azario Lopez, Logan Moore, Tomas Franzese, and Noah Buttner went hands-on with Rare's upcoming Sea of Thieves. The four-person crew suited up and took to the open seas in hopes of finding treasure and excitement. What they discovered is that they might in fact be the worst pirates ever, but that didn't stop them from having an amazing time in this open-watery worl

Like many titles announced in the last few years, Crackdown 3 has experienced numerous delays, with the latest information saying the game will release later this year, with Project Scorpio support . That said, player excitement for the massively destructive action game has waned very little, if at all, since the game was revea

This isn't commentary on the fact that Skull & Bones has all the potential in the world to muscle in on Sea of Thieves ' territory, either. We went hands on with Rare's upcoming multiplayer pirate experience and came away wanting more, both in terms of gameplay (because it was good) and features (because it seemed largely the same). Sea of Thieves is still a good game, and there's some enjoyment to be had within its colorful pirate world, but it feels like it hasn't evolved since the last time we saw it, and that's cause for some disappointm

Azario: The first thing I wanted to yell when jumping into _ Sea of Thieves patch notes of Thieves _ and seeing the DualShockers crew on our ship’s deck was, "Come on boys, we’re going on an adventure!" The game provides a unique type of immersion the moment you pick up the control and you immediately feel the need to play the role of pir

What Redditor m4rx hauled in from their dive into the Sea of Thieves data was pretty interesting. While many of the assets have yet to be decrypted, it turns out some the elements found were also present in the Pirate Legend video released previously by Rare. But there's also quite a lot m

Below is another highly-anticipated indie title , except this one comes from a small developer that has already garnered plenty of respect in the industry. Capybara Games, the developer working on Below , previously released Super Time Force , the action shooter title that received rave reviews from both gamers and critics with it released in 2

Unfortunately, we all know that didn't happen. While some other titles got their time in the remake spotlight, including an exciting new 3DS game in Metroid: Samus Returns , there was no mention of Nintendo's generational fighting IP. That could be due in part to the surprising success of ARMS , a game that initially existed as an afterthought in the Switch's early launch lineup previews thanks to Breath of the Wild but has quickly gained steam as a viable new IP in its own right. Still, though, would it have been so hard to just throw together a teaser for 2

Neate is not the first developer to offer this explanation, with former Uncharted developer Amy Hennig also saying that loot boxes and microtransactions are a result of rising game development costs . This means that players can likely expect more microtransactions in games going forward, but many will be hoping that they follow Sea of Thieves ' lead and only offer cosmetic unlo

That said, the gameplay and information that have been released has many gamers excited for the possibilities coming in Sea of Thieves . There will be a strong focus on cooperative gameplay between players, plenty of customization with ships and activities, and engaging player-versus-player battles that will undoubtedly rival any multiplayer title currently available. Oh, and of course players will have to battle Scurvy, that wonderful sea disease brought on by a lack of vitami

When Sea of Thieves debuted a year ago, its gameplay trailer really showcased the kind of potential the title had, especially with the talented team working on it. There's so much space for multiplayer fun in a pirate setting, and hopefully Sea of Thieves manages to harness more of that before it finally launches – by all accounts, it still has the potential to be one of the premier reasons to own a current-gen Xbox console, even with Skull & Bones looming large as a potential conten

"When we talk about visual effects in games, we normally mean particles. That's what we're using to create all of the cannon effects for example, like the different explosions. You want to give the player strong feelings when they're playing the game... You should just feel like you're really part of this beautiful wor

Azario: There’s a possibility that some players might have trouble with finding things to do, but in the case of our adventure, I thought we made a fine crew of rookie pirates on our first voyage with many more plan

This cosmetic content will "either be on a shoulder, like a monkey, or like a cat on the ship" or even potions that change the appearance of the player character (e.g a potion that makes them look very old). Neate also suggests that Sea of Thieves players will be able to earn the currency to unlock this content through normal play. For example, players may be able to earn premium currency as a reward for completing high-level quests, or the content could even be found in the game world. Neate also says that anything available via microtransactions will provide "emotional value, not mechanical val