Tabletop games come in all shapes and sizes. Games Workshop has been the master of the open board game for decades now. They have always tried new ideas and the seafaring battle game of Man O’ War allowed players to paint ships and take the battles to the high seas. The team at Evil Twin is now bringing this game to Steam. Fans of any type of ship combat game should certainly give this one a try. Even though it is glitchy and rough around the edges, the game does have some serious depth. This is our Man ‘O War: Corsair Review.
We tried the campaign out and immediately took the side of Khorne as Captain Deathmonger. Chaos has always been critical in Games Workshop’s fantasy universe and it was an obvious choice to play. We scuffled around a few ship battles and fought off some invaders. The game launches you quickly into combat on the high seas. The Khorne ship begins with several weapon options and two giant pincers in the front. It looks like a floating scorpion.
Combat happens rapidly and getting used to the camera angles took some time. The interface could use some work in terms of a tutorial, but once we got the hang of it things became easier. Firing weapons and blasting other ships is cool, but as a Khorne-worshipping maniac, we wanted to board and kill enemies face to face. The ship top battles are actually a lot of fun despite some slower combat mechanics. The game really does shine in this area.
The third element which is fun is some of the beasts that roam the waters. Yes, you can fight giant sea creatures and they are nasty. Some of them will appear out of nowhere and wreck your ship. Others may fly over you and kill your crew. You can also use some of these beasts to attack opponents. You can launch waves of monsters as well if you have them. It is a fun side part of Warhammer that has always been great. Now, seeing these monsters take form and fight on the open ocean added a lot of fun to exploring in the game.
There are a lot of ports to visit as well. You can pick up a crew of all types. Many of the Warhammer races are represented in the game. Orcs are great fun to have on board. The campaign allows you to trade as well and get the hang of the game with minimal risk. You can choose between easy, normal, and hard modes. The story is fun and interacting with the other ships along the way allows you to build rather than destroy everything. However, we did choose Khorne, so we started all of the fights.
If you are a fan of Warhammer this game will be fun. If you are a naval battle game fan, you may enjoy some of the oddball elements like sea monsters and tactically attacking other ships. The story is good as well. The only area that Man O’ War needs work is in its interface. The game just needs some polish and design updates to run smoothly. Hopefully, the team will keep updating and we will get to see a lot more in the game soon. Once the game is running more smoothly it will be a fun adventure.
NOTE: This review was conducted on PC with a code provided by PR.
