In the game we assume the role of a dangerous 18th-century pirate called Cristopher Raven. He wants to exact revenge on the people who murdered his family and cut off his hand when he was young. Throughout the story divided into several chapters we traverse the open world consisting of varied sea and land locations in the eastern basin of the Caribbean Sea, including historical ports such as Santo Domingo and Port Royale. During our pirate exploits we are constantly accompanied by an unusual friend: a huge black raven who stays by the protagonist’s side ever since his parents were killed.
Gameplay
Vendetta: Curse of Raven’s Cry is a third-person action RPG with sandbox elements. The gameplay involves mostly exploration of subsequent locations, treasure-hunting and undertaking various kinds of primary and secondary quests (in total over five hundred). The developers made sure to keep the available missions and other activities varied. During our voyages, there will be numerous opportunities for sea battles, whereas the land tasks demand that we have extensive conversation with NPCs, sneak around, or engage in melee fights. A great emphasis was put on the free-flow combat system that allows the player to use a sizeable arsenal of melee weapons and firearms as well as perform different combos and finishers. We can also make use of our companion, the raven, who can distract and attack our opponents, leaving them vulnerable to our strikes.
As befits an RPG, Vendetta: Curse of Raven’s Cry offers an extensive character development system based on a special skill tree. As we progress, we can improve tactical abilities of the protagonist, learn new combat techniques, enhance weapons and our ship, and even develop the skills of our bird companion. The game has an interesting reputation system which determines the attitude of three colonial superpowers — England, and Spain — towards Cristopher. The game is complemented by realistic trade mechanics that allow us not only to buy and sell weapons and other items, but also to make profit on trading in goods. One of the new features, unavailable in the original Raven’s Cry, is the alchemy system, thanks to which we can gather all kinds of herbs and alcohols and then use them to prepare potions for various purposes.
Technology
As far as graphics are concerned, Vendetta: Curse of Raven’s Cry is based mostly on the content created for the original game. However, the visuals are visibly enhanced. Among the completely new elements are the cutscenes and video sequences as well as entirely re-recorded English voice-over. Apart from that, the developers focused on polishing things that were unsatisfactory in Raven’s Cry, and therefore the character development system, trading mechanics, combat model, ship movement and sea battles were subject to change. The in-game quests were sorted according to their difficulty and enriched with useful prompts. To further complement the main story campaign, a free game mode was introduced – it allows us to sail freely and fight battles without any limits.
