Corsairs Legacy demo impressions. A worthy heir to the iconic “Corsairs” or dancing on the bones?

Modern gamers in 2023 will hardly remember the once cult series of games – “Corsairs. In the early 2000s, a large-scale pirate freemen role-playing simulator drove the profile press and players crazy. Russian developers of “Akella” managed to fit naval battles, ground battles, travel on an interactive map with dynamic weather changes, trade, quests and character leveling into one game. Against the background of the worldwide success of Pirates of the Caribbean, games about filibusters were popular, and the first Corsairs were considered a reference representative of game modifications.

Due to the global economic crisis of 2008 and a sharp drop in the quality of Russian games, Akella canceled the development of “Corsairs 4: black spot. Only ten years later, an unknown studio BlackSun made an attempt to revive the cult series and began raising money for development through a crowdfunding company. The developers of the original Corsairs series found out and urged players not to donate to this project, accusing BlackSun of stealing intellectual property.

The developers promise a large open world and many interactive placesThe developers promise a large open world and many interactive places

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag brought back players’ former interest in the pirate theme. Also successfully fired Sea of ​​​​Thieves and Ubisoft invested 120 million in Skull bones. It seems that this is the perfect window for the announcement of the fourth “Corsairs”. But the producers of Akella are still silent and BlackSun is still looking for investment. And now the Mauris studio appears on stage and announces “their Corsairs” with the subtitle legacy. I got acquainted with the demo and am ready to answer the question – is it really the spiritual successor to those very Corsairs, or some other parody of the cult series.

What is Corsairs Legacy and what can you expect from the game?

Mauris promised to make the project ambitious, but due to a small development team, it was split into several parts so as not to delay development. In late 2021, they planned to release a story campaign with the ability to explore land and sea. But as usual, development was delayed and the first part of the Corsairs Legacy was delayed until this year. In general, a full-fledged open-world release is promised by 2024.

duel battlesduel battles

At the time of the announcement, Mauri’s staff revealed that they had done a full analysis of all parts of the Corsairs to identify problematic points and weed them out in their game. They understood that the development of such a large-scale game would be very expensive and it would take a long time to implement all the mechanics in the open world. Corsairs Legacy is developed on the free Unity engine and most models are ready-made assets from marketplaces. The studio has a limited budget, but the Mauris employees did not want to follow in BlackSun’s footsteps with crowdfunding. The developers intend to prove that they are serious and not trying to monetize the famous game.

At the moment, the game has 15 years of outdated graphicsAt the moment, the game has 15 years of outdated graphics

Earlier this year, the first gameplay trailers for Corsairs Legacy appeared. Mauris thus confirmed that the game really exists, and published a small demo a little later. Based on player feedback, the studio plans to finalize the first part of the content so that by the time of release it feels like a true successor to the first Corsairs. And, judging by what they saw, they still need a lot to finish.

First impressions of naval battles

The demo of Corsairs Legacy can hardly be called a demo that we are used to. In fact, this is just a small demonstration of the execution of naval battles. There are no journeys, plot twists, minor quests, or a role-playing system. It’s hard to believe that the story campaign will be released this year. It can be seen that the studio is packed with work and it’s too early to even think about a specific release date.

Naval battles in Corsairs Legacy are divided into several stages. First we fight with one ship, then with two, and then we board. Schooner battles are conducted in the traditional style for the Corsairs. Each action is performed very slowly, even slowly. Having played the original games for a long time, I can say that Corsairs Legacy has even less dynamism than the 2000 game.

Naval battles take place in a completely empty and inconspicuous part of the seaNaval battles take place in a completely empty and inconspicuous part of the sea

Modern players who enjoyed large-scale battles in Black Flag will be bored in this project. Corsairs Legacy tries to give a more realistic depiction of the naval battles that took place in the 1600s. Ships are slow to get going and are completely dependent on the tailwind. For each artillery shot, the sailors slowly reloaded the guns. And due to not the most convenient controls and an incomprehensible delay before firing, grenades often fly everywhere, but not into an enemy ship.

Ships sink quickly if you shoot them with hailShips sink quickly if you shoot them with hail

Like the original Corsairs, we have different types of ammunition and have to constantly keep an eye on the sails so as not to accidentally get stuck in one place. There are different health bars responsible for certain parts of the ship. For example, if the enemy often hits the sails, you will not be able to move, making the ship as vulnerable as possible to enemy attacks.

Due to the long reload time of the guns, the combat can drag on for a few in-game daysDue to the long reload time of the guns, the combat can drag on for a few in-game days

Finally, there is no detailed destructibility in the demo. If you’re used to ramming small boats, this trick won’t work in the Corsairs Legacy. Maybe the feature isn’t finished yet, or won’t exist at all.

Control layoutControl layout

In terms of visuals, this is a typical Unity game with simple graphics that won’t create a wow effect. The project is far from the scale of Sea of ​​​​Thieves, and to be fair, the leaked version “The adventures of Captain Blood looks more interesting. But for fans of the original Corsairs, the work done may be enough, previous games in the series always looked mediocre.

Combat system and entry stage

The entry-level portion of the demo demonstrates the combat system that will also be used on the ground. And she repeats the mechanics of the second “Corsairs. I must say that this is a rather dubious decision. In 2003, this kind of gameplay was still acceptable, when action elements were just starting to take shape. Today, such game design looks outdated and boring.

The combat of the Corsairs Legacy has less impact (feedback) than in the old Corsairs. Weapons and attacks are absolutely not felt, and animation curves only exacerbate what is happening. The developers seemed to be trying to recreate realistic behavior in saber combat, as it was Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but at the same time the gun automatically reloads while hanging on the belt – a serious minus for realism. The added ability to aim freely is completely useless, the damage to every part of the body is the same. I remember how in the original “Corsairs” the hero would shoot at the nearest enemy automatically, without slowing down the pace of the main sword fight.

Shoot gunShoot gun

From a visual point of view, everything is very budget-friendly and modest. Character models from the late 2000s. Minimal detailing of the environment and lack of modern effects. I already talked about animation above – nothing good either. And all this is served with a minimal sense of taste. There was a sense that the team lacked an experienced art director. Visually, the pirate theme can be implemented in many different ways, and clever styling allowed the team to hide the shortcomings of low-budget graphics. Yes, at one time the original “Corsairs” tried to be as realistic as possible, but the pace of graphic development is such that today these games are godlessly outdated.

Much more offensive is that the Corsairs Legacy demo presented does not give a complete picture of the future game. When we hear about the Corsairs series, first of all we remember the deep role-playing component and not the same type of naval battles. Demos are put together to give the player a summary of the overall vision of the project. Here there is not even 10% of all mechanics, according to which at least some conclusion can be drawn. After getting acquainted with the Corsairs Legacy demo, it only became clear that the game will not be released this year – nor next year. At the current stage, the project is most likely still in the stage of general sketches and sketches. A small team should not have played such a big game.

***
Despite all the skepticism, we can commend the Mauris studio for not giving up on a monstrous project. Unlike the producers of Akella, who are all looking for an opportunity to take the first step, or BlackSun, who need money even for a basic presentation to investors, developers of Mauris are trying to do something with burning eyes and a small budget. doing.

The developers have captured the right atmosphere and recreate all the classic Corsair gameplay on Unity. There is not enough content in the demo to understand what kind of game it will turn out to be, but it is enough to believe in the existence of the game. At the moment, the release of the story campaign with sea and land travel is scheduled for 2023. Corsairs Legacy is a true successor to those Corsairs from 2000 with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails.