Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG Review

Yo-ho, ho ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me

“I’ve got a jar of dirt I’ve got a jar of dirt!” said Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow. No, you aren’t Jack Sparrow. However, if you happen to remember that quote from the Pirates of The Caribbean films or if you’ve ever imagined you’d like to be a pirate then Helio games’ Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG definitely gives some insight. Unfortunately, however, Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG‘s many, failings would test the mettle of even the mightiest of pirates.

Tutorials, Tutorials and More Tutorials

Everyone loves a robust tutorial. You know what’s annoying though? Having to deal with tutorial after tutorial before you get to the actual meat and potatoes of a game. The beginning of  Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG consists of a long series of tutorials. Want to know how to craft a rowboat? There’s a tutorial for that. How about building a workbench or a hut? Yes, there’s a tutorial for that too. Maybe you’d enjoy some physical activity cutting down bamboo or mining limestone? Uh-huh, you guessed it, another tutorial.

Now, that’s not to say the entire game is tutorial heavy. Players do have to use some survival skills to, you know, survive. For example, you must find food, cook said food so you don’t starve and make sure you keep yourself hydrated to avoid death. This is rather annoying, especially if there is no food or water in the vicinity. It hinders exploration and the more your hunger and thirst grows, the more your health depletes.

Tasks, Items, and Leveling Up

Do you like tasks? Fabulous! Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG offers players a hefty variety of tasks. What are they? They can be as simple as hunting for food or as difficult as making sure you have all the materials you need to help you craft specific items, like a kitchen, workbenches, an armor workshop, a loom and even a foundry. Pretty cool, right? One neat mechanic is the ability to dispatch members of your small crew to other islands. Basically, players send the crewmate to an island, wait approximately 30 minutes and when the crewmate returns, they bring back items for you to use.

Players can also upgrade items in their inventory provided they have enough materials to do so. In short, not enough materials, no chance at upgrading and improving certain items.

Overall Impressions and Final Thoughts

Good roleplaying games provide interesting challenges for the player. Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG however, doesn’t fall into that category. While Helio Games does a decent job at making the survival aspect feel as real as possible, forcing the player to use their wits to get out of a situation, it fails to deliver on swashbuckling pirate action. Mutiny: Pirate Survival RPG seemingly has a lot to offer but falls short in the way of actually mustering up a functional pirate RPG, or even a decent game for that matter. It’s so bad that any captain and his loyal crew would force it to walk the plank.