A bone-pale fog rolls in on the harbor. Fleshless fingers haul a black sail aloft. Pirates Never Die is sailing onto Steam on January 24, but it raises a question. Why isn’t pirate survival horror more of a thing? The popular success of Subnautica and Iron Lung proves that many gamers are primed for oceanic terrors, but few games capitalize on that. Even counting some spooky imagery like the skeletal pirates of Sea of Thieves or the haunting waters of Black Flag, there’s not much actual pirate horror, let alone survival-themed. Can Pirates Never Die turn that tide?
Pirates Never Die (So Why Did This Subgenre?)
Whether Pirates Never Die ends up being a hidden gem or sinking to depths that even krakens fear, it’s at least taking a cutlass stab at the subgenre. Survival horror requires just the right blend of atmospheric chills and mechanical thrills, puzzles, and perils to work. Resource management, stealth, and combat can rise and ebb like the tides, and every gamer’s taste will differ. I want Resident Evil but with more cannons and squid. I want Alone in the Dark but with a ghoul in every crow’s nest. Isolated at sea or on some forsaken island, starved of resources, the opportunities for horror are many.
With Pirates Never Die, developer Konvenant aims to mix psychological horror, puzzle-solving, and atmospheric adventure with survival-driven gameplay. It’s an order taller than a Brigatine’s masts, but all the ingredients are there. The prioritization of sound design in particular could help the game immerse and disturb its players. The creaking sails and lapping waves were foreboding enough. The shuffling of dead things, clad in swashbuckling rags, begs for the video game treatment. Even if this ship goes down, I hope to see a dozen more ghastly galleons like it on the horizon. Pirates Never Die sails into Steam on January 24.
