January 2, 2008 - Reading up on Swashbucklers Blue vs. Grey prior to it’s release got me shivering my timbers on the poop deck in anticipation. The concept of an action RPG pirate game set in the United States during the Civil War era sounded intriguing. Alas, just like a Christmas with presents of socks and underwear, this budget title disappoints. With all the potential behind the original concept Swashbucklers can never quite pull the trigger into an enjoyable game.

In Swashbucklers Blue vs. Grey you play the part of Captain Abraham Gray: an alcoholic split personality who’s constantly looking for work. The split personality turns out to be Abraham’s inner voice who talks you through how to play the game as you progress. Work comes from people located in cities around the map which reward Abraham with money to increase his arsenal and attributes for performing various tasks. Each quest adds to Abraham’s experience points as you wreak havoc by foot or by ship.

The game progresses by accepting and completing missions one at a time. You get to choose which mission you'd like to attempt next, some of which are side missions for money and others are part of the main storyline. I found on many occasions that I would accept a mission only to find out that I was not experienced or equipped enough to succeed, so saving regularly is a necessity. During the searching, accepting, and completion of each mission you will go through the various gameplay modes. During your adventures you will either be running through any of the nineteen cities in the game, visiting any of the businesses in any of those cities, sailing your ship, or engaging in battle.

After entering a city (by docking at its port) the screen layout presents you with an elevated view of your current section of that city. Each city at differing degrees gives you the opportunity to buy/sell supplies, upgrade/sell your ship, save your game, or find new missions to accomplish. When traversing a city you are limited from interacting with anyone within the town unless it is part of your current mission. This makes going from one place to another within a city purely functional and frankly quite boring. Entering each building presents you with a static picture view of the interior with the various avatars moving in short pre-set movements. Interacting with people in Swashbucklers is done on a pre-set text basis where you either respond with the only choice provided or choose when being asked to perform a mission. The interior of each type of building (bar, shipyard) have variations from town to town but not enough to squash the overall lack of repetitive tediousness. The controls during these parts of gameplay are limited to the left analog stick and X-button which means that most of the game is X-button mashing.

Violence is a natural part of any true pirate's life and in Swashbuckler's you'll find yourself maiming and defending on both land and sea. Abraham inflicts damage by ship or on foot depending on the battle. Captain Abraham has the ability to use his ship to attack other ships or protected ports for gaining resources or as part of a mission. To engage in a naval battle you press the X-button once in range of your target and select the option to attack. Naval battles put you in control of both the steering of the ship and the weapons. You can equip different weapons for your ship you've purchased from shopping at a city. At the beginning of the battle the opposing ship will start off at a bit of a distance. Controlling the orientation and speed of the ship is a bit tricky and takes time to get used to. Naval battles progress with you and your opponent lobbing weapons fire at each other until you either lose, run away (or sail away as the case may be), destroy the opposing ship, or board the opposing ship. If you choose to board the opposing ship you will enter an on-foot battle against the remaining sailors and eventually duel with their captain. If you manage to defeat their captain you can take what you want from their resources and auction off the ship (or use the new ship and auction off your old one) to make money. Of course if you feel in a destructive mood you can burn the ship to a crisp just for fun.