Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates

After delving into the game in its release form for several hours, I found I greatly enjoyed the game and felt that it had lived up to the expectations set by what was available in the preview. The game is unique and enjoyable with a compelling story and diverse characters that embody a complex culmination and interaction of various subcultures that deviate from each other while simultaneously holding true to what I would imagine is the nature of New York in that time era.

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.

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.

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates has a lot of potential but unfortunately it's made so clumsily that it is just painful to actually play. I wanted to love it because of some of its unique ideas, especially in the premise, but I just couldn’t get past the mechanical issues. Being a PC game and all perhaps community feedback will lead to this game being revised. I hope so, so I can come back and give it another spin.