Calum Petrie reviews Sea of Thieves Vol. 1…
The enchanting and mystical life of the swashbuckling pirates has been a pleasure to embrace this year with the Xbox exclusive title Sea of Thieves. While being a massively social game about pirates on the high seas, there is a chance to inject some story into the world, which is the focus of this new series from Titan Comics.
Volume 1 of Sea of Thieves takes place in the same world as the game; while players who know the locations mentioned in the story will be very much at home, the world is also open and inviting to people who may just be taking their first steps. This graphic novel may not be the most realistic thing you read this year, but it might just be charming enough to put a massive smile on your face.
The story revolves around two siblings who wish to claim birth rights to their fathers treasure – their father being a pirate legend. The tale starts with a meeting between the children and their father’s former ship mate, and from there the journey of trickery, deceit and skulduggery begins. The characters of DeMarco Singh and Lesedi Singh make for polar opposite siblings, the charming, suave and blind luck of DeMarco is mirrored in the dark, serious and battle hardened sister Lesedi.
These characters are elevated by the array of supporting players in the series, all with a distinct personality and unique look; readers will certainly not be getting mixed up and confused by the cast of characters. The massive hulking design of Seamark or the slender and petite Rin are perfect reminders of how diverse your characters can be within the game world of Sea of Thieves.
The design of the world, landscapes, art style and backstory are a testament to the intellectual property that the team at Rare Ltd have created. The graphic novel handles the transference of the universe from console to page very well, while staying true to the source material as we find out more about the world that the game inhabits. The choice to keep things light hearted for the majority of the book is a great decision since the source material does not have a tremendously serious tone, but still allowing for the emotions of danger and urgency to shine through.
The graphic novel itself was a joy to read and I found myself smirking at the characters more than once, while being invested in the story that was told over the four issues. This volume makes a great start in what will hopefully be a lot more content to help develop the possibly limitless universe that is Sea of Thieves.
Rating – 8/10
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