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Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates
Released On: Oct 4, 2017
56
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
56
20% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
40% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
40% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
56
20% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
40% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
40% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Empyre: LordS of the Sea Gates offers an innovative style of gameplay to liven up the RPG nature of the game. The writing is well above average and does a great job of setting the appropriate tone and, at times, is quite witty. Combat is approachable in the early stages, but becomes increasingly difficult as the game progresses.
The adventure to take down the gang showed off how the game itself worked. It actually provided room for mistakes and was easily forgiving at the start. Players new to this genre, and this game, will certainly appreciate it. As the game progressed, though, it became steadily more demanding. That’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s an impressive way to do things, as you always want to challenge players. A steady arc of difficulty is how you want an RPG to be built and Empyre: Lords of the Sea didn’t disappoint in that aspect.
It's unfortunately easy to focus on what's lacking about Empyre, but the game's premise and setting are sufficiently original, and its combat is engaging enough to warrant a look. Perhaps given a larger team and a longer development process, some of the empty spaces could have been filled in. Some voice work, more attention to craft compelling characters, and a more nuanced and branching story in which the player could feel more important, would all help elevate the game to another level. If Empyre: Lords of the Sea was a novel, I'd say it was a promising first draft.
EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gate is a game that I really, truly wanted to love, but ultimately let me down in more ways that not. Glitches aside, it doesn’t do anything offensively bad, it just doesn’t really do anything all that cool either. I love the idea of a pseudo-steampunk turn-of-the-century waterworld, but the game fails to use that creative setting to tell a meaningful story or explore much of the world’s possibilities. With a serviceable but unremarkable story, basic writing, and combat that doesn’t often outreach “fine,” this is a title that's destined to slip silently down into the murky waters of time.
There’s only one thing I can say; Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is not a finished product. It’s not even close. Things are hollow, broken, and un-freakin-readable. I love the premise for this game, but that’s the only affection I can have for it. So, so badly, I wanted this to be a fun experience, yet it’s anything but. In every aspect of the phrase, this game lacks the depth it needs to be called an RPG. The final rating can only reflect what’s presented, and that’s not much.
In addition to poor audio and visual qualities, including large re-use of assets, Empyre is let down by the poor world and character building. Sadly, in addition to this are poor audio and visual qualities. Sadly, I can't say much positive about the game, besides it having an interesting setting and a decent combat system, neither of which are used as well as they could be.
Perhaps the best overview of Empyre is as a collection of theoretically good ideas that were never fleshed out, with a storyboard rather than a story, and a hodgepodge of gameplay mechanics rather than a coherent set of fun game systems. And that's unfortunate, because the game is full of unique and intriguing elements in its setting, overarching plot, and combat, and could have easily made for an excellent experience. But as is, it's not much more than a buggy proof-of-concept in need of serious refinements and overhauls of all its core components.
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Summary New York in 1911 is flooded. Avenues are now canals, rooftops are now the streets and slowly the buildings crumble into the sea. Life is precarious here. But Manhattan has endured and transformed into a collection of City-States. Now a new crisis threatens and the city needs your help!
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Oct 4, 2017
Genres:
