High Seas Hero: A persistent journey of leveling up on the seas
A review of the free2play (f2p) idle game with RPG elements
I have always been a fan of games with elements of sea warfare, I have spent over a year playing Rovio’s Battle Bay (in 2017), nearly 6 months last year on Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones, and over 200 hours combined on Assassins Creed Black Flag and Freedom Cry: if there is a game on naval warfare, I generally try it. High Seas Hero, an f2p game with RPG elements, is no different and I was soon off on my phone, running the game through its paces.
There were two things about the game that stood out to me in the initial few minutes: firstly, its 90s game vibe where its design and action aesthetic resembled iconic aerial-shooter games like the Falcon, and secondly, the game was an idle experience where I had nothing to do except watch as the guns on my ship automatically attacked all enemy units be it in the air or in the water. However, I couldn’t just watch because I needed to help my ship survive and that required forging new equipment.
About 15 minutes in, I was hitting the forge button with gusto as the game offered me an endless series of parts that could be fit onto my ship – some good, a few great, and many that didn’t make the cut and needed to be sold. With each new part my ship’s capabilities improved and with every part forged it gained experience points.
Once I reached level 10, my ship could ascend and again at level 30. I soon had a gun boat and my auto-combat had seen me finish the normal campaign and move to the hard phase. At this stage only great parts would do and a suitable one would require the discarding of at least 30-40 items.
In terms of gameplay, the game offers a variety of things for the player to do beyond the campaign (called “adventure” here) like a guild system, an online player ranking system, an expedition mode where you fight iconic ships, and the usual incentives like daily logins and spin the wheel.
Even the bosses are repetitive. However, there is a lot to do if you like shiny gear – all the ship’s equipment has immense variety – in terms of level; quality, and rarity. The game’s developers have done a great job in displaying the quality of cosmetic items on the ship in a screen that is filled to the brim with UI elements.
If you are looking for an idle looter-shooter that is based on a ship, this could be your game. However, if you are looking for skill, strategy, and mastery then please stay away, there is little here other than RNG mechanics.
Sneak Peek:
Title: High Seas Hero
Developer and Publisher: Century Games PTE. LTD.
Game Type: f2p Idle with RPG elements
Platforms: Android and iOS
Price: Free to play with in-app purchases and ad-based bonuses
Verdict (all scores out of 10):
Innovative Gameplay: 6
Game Handling and Quality: 5.5
Value for Time: 6
Potential Progression without in-game purchases: 8
Overall: 6.38
What Stands Out:
The game’s makers have put a lot of effort into designing the various components of the ship. They have also put in some well thought out tweaks on the consistently used forge function.
The arena mode, guild mode, and expedition mode add some much-needed variety to the game. Their implementation is simple and precise as they work almost like clicking on new- tabs.
Fails to impress:
Despite the well thought out RPG dynamics their implementation is superficial at best. After a while, players are just looking at colors, numbers, and stats rather than developing strategies.
There is very little variety in types of enemies and bosses – you are consistently fighting the same robots, planes, or ships (even in terms of size). There is very little separating various level tiers but for the water color.
