Between Fallout New Vegas, the original Black Ops, and dozens of other PC hits, 2010 was a reputable, if not superlative, year for videogames. There were some great games – Halo Reach, Red Dead Redemption, Civilization 5 – and plenty that you might not remember at all. The great chasm of time has claimed many games and studios, and yet, among the morass, one totally forgotten hack-and-slasher has somehow managed to cling to life. Canceled 15 years ago, and hitherto confined to the footnotes of gaming history, it’s a bit Prince of Persia, a bit God of War, and a bit Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. It was never meant to exist – and yet here it is. The almost mythical Captain Blood is now on Steam.
The story of Captain Blood begins in 2003, when Akella, the publisher behind the original three Postal games (including the now-infamous Postal 3) announced it was going to make a pirate game based on the work of novelist Rafael Sabatini. After an initial reveal at E3 2004, production on the game was restarted. Playlogic, which you may remember for cult horror hit Obscure 2, signed on as publisher. But in 2006, progress on Captain Blood again came to a halt and development of the game was restarted a second time. The first trailer arrived in 2008. A website went live in 2010. And after that, silence.
But now, 15 years later, Captain Blood has returned – the full game has been assembled and relaunched on Steam via the combined efforts of Seawolf, one of the original developers, and porting experts General Arcade. Boasting a bold, heightened visual style and lashings of cartoonish gore, as well as pirates, the biggest inspirations behind Captain Blood seem to be Prince of Persia Sands of Time and the original, mid-’00s God of War games. It might be a decade and a half too late, but this is definitely a curio. If you want to try it, head here.
Otherwise, enjoy some of the best old games that you can still run today, or maybe look to the future with the best upcoming PC games on their way to you.
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