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Yes, I have finally played through the alpha version of Extrokold Games action-packed naval combat multiplayer pirate game “Unearned Bounty” (don´t forget to watch our “Unearned Bounty” alpha gameplay video!). So I´m going to share my thoughts and concerns about the game with you guys and girls =) And right off the bat I have to say that “Unearned Bounty” made me think about a really nice mix of “Overboard” (the look and feel of the game), “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” (the battle part) and “Monkey Island” (the awesome pirate humor).

There are four different ships that you can pick from in the latest Alpha version of “Unearned Bounty” (the full version will offer six ships in total).

Furthermore, I also felt some “Pirates of the Caribbean” (the tropical island setting) and “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (the very intense ship pursuits) vibes while playing “Unearned Bounty”. Well, I don´t know if you like the sound of that, but I found that to be a big plus in my book at least. Any ways, “Unearned Bounty” is a very easy game to get into. As you simply pick a ship that you like (there are four ships in total in the latest alpha version of the game), and a color and pattern that suit your taste. Then you´re all good to go.

unearned bounty different colors and patterns

There are tons of different patterns and colors that you can choose for your ship.

In the matter of fact, it took me less than five minutes to jump into some serious pirate naval combat action. However, so far you can only play against bots (at least to my knowledge). Nevertheless, you will still get one hell of a challenge by playing against the bots, and please allow me to tell you why that is the case. You see, the bots use very small, fast and powerful ships, and they have a perfect aim (not to mention the fact that they can shoot through stones, mountains and just about everything else there is). Simply put, you will be up against a much greater foe than yourself. In other words, don´t get too cocky, or else you´re going to end up dead in the water in no time.

You have to kill either enemy ships or trading ships in-order to get gold for new ship upgrades (you also need to keep on slaying ships in-order to climb in rank).

And I´ll have you know that I had to learn that the hard way. Because each match of “Unearned Bounty” is fifteen minutes long, and during that time you´re up against seven bloody hungry bots (all of which will hunt you to the edge of the world in-order to kill if they have to). Hell, they will even try to ram into your boat if they get a chance to do so. Some boats are even crazy enough to do pure suicide bomber attacks with their own ships! So it´s most definitely a smart idea to keep a good distance from A.I controlled pirate ships, as they tend to go into a full Kamikaze mode when you least expect it.

Each ship has its own strengths, weaknesses and special attacks. For example, this ship (The spitting dragon) has a flamethrower attack.

Against all odds though, I did manage to end up in first place two times (it took quite a lot of training before I could climb in rank. However, I should point out that some ships work better or worse depending on your play style. That´s also why you have to find a ship that fits you the best. In my case, I found the ghastly crow (special attack, poisonous gas) and the spitting dragon (special attack, flamethrower) ship to work the best for me. I would also like to mention that “Unearned Bounty” is far from flawless (you will find my list of cons down below). Nevertheless, all in all, I did indeed enjoy my time with the game.

So I truly hope that Extrokold Games will be able to sort out most of the bugs, balancing and flaws of the game before they release the full version of “Unearned Bounty” (Extrokold aims to release “Unearned Bounty” for Windows, MAC and Linux by the end of this year) .

Pros:
+ Very lovely graphics
+ Nice music
+ Fun and intense battles
+ The control system is very pleasant
+ I like the idea of a Overboard, Sid Meier’s Pirates! and Monkey Island mix
+ Unearned Bounty is 100% free-to-play

Cons:
– There are too few weapons and different special attacks
– Bugs O´plenty
– More ships to choose from would be nice
– It takes way too long before you can shoot your cannons again
– The aim system is far from perfect