Survive The Sea In Feral Blue, Coming To Early Access This Year

Published: April 30, 2018 8:53 AM /

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feral blue

Feral Blue, a new survival game set on the ocean, is in active development and coming to Steam Early Access this year.

Developers Snowbird Games announced the news via the Steam page for their strategy / open-world hybrid Blood & Gold: Caribbean!. The news was accompanied by a teaser trailer, which (being a teaser trailer) doesn't show off much in the way of gameplay but does seem to be rendered in-engine. Take a look at the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za9CFrmZ_2c

The trailer depicts ships sailing in the fog, with a voiceover describing how "everything was lost in that flood". Two ships engage in naval combat, both in a misty setting and then in broad daylight. The same voiceover goes on to say, "but I don't care...I have a sea of my own". This ties into the game's premise, which focuses on an apocalyptic event in 1699, the height of the Golden Age of Piracy, during which "the sun became too bright". The world was flooded, and now pockets of civilization survive on islands around the globe. Players will "start with [their] first ship, build [their] town, subdue [their] enemies and create [their] own oceanic empire". Inspirations for the setting include 1995's Waterworld, the naval epic Master & Commander, and 2013 sci-fi Snowpiercer (namely the film's idea of a state locked in a train).

Gameplay details are somewhat thin on the ground right now as the game has just been announced, so expect more as time goes on. In the aforementioned Steam announcement post, Snowbird Games discuss their inspirations for Feral Blue and what they want it to play like. They discuss FTL (it won't be like that, apparently), their own Blood & Gold: Caribbean!, and 2000's Sea Dogs as points of reference. The Steam page promises the following features:

  • Hero Ship: players will create a dynasty of captains and crew members, engage in intrigue, revolutions, and poisoning, among other things
  • Naval battles: as the trailer suggests, players will take part in naval battles, both ship-to-ship and as a boarding party
  • Crew management: players must tend to their crew's needs and desires or risk mutiny or disease
  • Strategic state management gameplay: a small bandit state will grow into an empire, which players must manage with diplomacy, military might, and economic clout
All in all, Feral Blue seems like a cross between Sunless SeaSid Meier's Pirates! and the naval battles of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Sounds like one to watch. Interested players can wishlist the game right now on Steam.

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Joe has been writing for TechRaptor for five years, and in those five years has learned a lot about the gaming industry and its foibles. He’s originally an… More about Joseph