Review: Curse of the Sea Rats [PC]

Developed by Petoons Studio and published by PQube, embark on a journey of epic proportions. Cursed by dark magic and sentanced to death, traverse the land around you to save the life of the lost, as well as your own. Earn your freedom in Curse of the Sea Rats.

Yo ho me hearties.

A Rats Life for Me

The year is 1777, right off the Irish coast. A Royal Navy flagship carries a brig full of pirates, waiting to be judged. During a storm, a witch aboard the ship named Flora Burn casts a spell and curses the crew. All who survive are turned into rats, and in the chaos the witch escapes with the Admiral’s son as hostage. Mutiny follows as the ship crashes into an island, and all hope seems lost. Four remaining prisoners are given a choice: remain and die with the rest or seek out the Admiral’s son and be granted pardon.

Curse of the Sea Rats is a beautifully hand drawn and fully voiced game that has no right being as charming as it is. Every enemy, character, and animation flow like a cartoon. The music is pretty good as well, complimenting the levels and set pieces you come across. The only slight downside is the voice acting is a little lop-sided at times. Some characters feel like actual characters, and others you can kinda tell phoned in the lines. It’s still amazing that the entire game is voiced though, as that is no small undertaking.

piRats of the Caribbean

There are many layers to what makes Curse of the Sea Rats a good game. This Action-RPG has four characters you can choose to play as, each has their strengths and weaknesses that affect gameplay. Some have higher health while others have faster attack animations. You’re able to swap these characters out at save points at any time, however, skills you unlock do not cross over. As you defeat enemies, you’ll earn experience that you can use to unlock abilities within each character’s skill tree, further empowering you on your journey.

The Metroidvania layout of the game has you traveling and backtracking to a lot of locations to find hidden chests and secrets. There are points dotted throughout the maps that allow you to teleport back and forth, but only when you unlock them. I bring this up because I accidentally forgot to activate a teleport location, got stuck, and had to walk all the way back without dying. Funny, now that I think about it.

Combat is actually fine-tuned in this game more than you see in other titles. Yes, you have your standard, jump, and crouch attacks, but you also have a block and parry mechanic. Being able to not only dodge attacks but parry them is a very important feature in this game. And certainly not one that should be glossed over. The reason being is enemies are rather unforgiving. Really the only gripe I have with the gameplay is that enemy placements can make exploring the game a bit irritating. Some enemies have attack animations that perfectly time with you trying to climb onto a ledge, just to get knocked down from a well-placed explosion. If you don’t master the mechanics, you will be in for a bad time.

Buried Treasure or Cursed Coin?

Curse of the Sea Rats is a fun experience. If the movement was a little faster, or the enemies a little more responsive to being attacked, it’d be amazing. Its flaws keep it from being perfect, but as it stands its remarkable and deserves its praise. I definitely recommended it if you’re looking for something new.

Curse of the Sea Rats is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Review code provided by PQube.